With the most recent member of BH.com being born, it made me think of a topic that I have been concerned with for some time. How do people afford quality day care? My nearest relative lives 2 hours away. Same for my fiancee. So we will most assuredly have to put our kids into day care. I've researched some of the more respected day care centers in the area, and the average cost is upwards from $300 per week depending on the age of the child, and the number of children. Now I make good money for someone my age, but I'm not sure it is enough to support entire family on it's own, with us still being able to enjoy some of the better things in life. So I'm not sure if the option of my fiancee staying home is any better than paying for day care. We aren't planning on having kids for about 5 years from now, so all this panicking is a little premature on my part, but it really scares the hell out of me. I've grown accustomed to a certain lifestyle, and I'm worried that I won't be able to adjust once I have too.
"I've grown accustomed to a certain lifestyle, and I'm worried that I won't be able to adjust once I have too. " That is a given when you have kids. But don't worry, your pre-planning for daycare this far out shows you are a smart individual. That will take you a long way in your ability to ward off any negative financial impact that having children brings. I jumped head first into having children without thinking. I was stupid and I am still paying for it financially. Until last year I had two children in daycare simultaneously for 5 years. This year I only have my baby while the other two are in school. Thank god. Here is one bit of advice I wish someone would have given me at a time prior to me having children. Start taking 5% of each pay check and put it into a savings account you WILL NOT touch unless it becomes an emergency AFTER you have children. You will be surprised how much money one can accumulate if they start early and place a percentage of their paycheck into an "untouchable" account. And after you have children, continue to place that 5% of each paycheck away, just as you had before children. And plan your life accordingly in terms of what you can/cannot afford based on your overal salary minus that 5%..do not even include that 5% in your spending decisions or budget.
I used to say I was never going to have kids as well and meant it 100% back then. Once I got a little older (25ish) I started thinking OK, maybe one day. Once my wife and I married after 7 years together I actually wanted a kid. Now he is 7 months old and while I am pleased we waited (for maturity and financial reasons) I can't believe that I once thought I would never want one. Watching him grow and learn is unreal.
I had my first and only when I was 43. Sometimes its tough being 48 and having a 5 YO. Keeping up can be difficult.:D We live in the counrty and childcare is a good bit less expensive than in the D/FW area. Llily is in pre-K now. We send her to a private Christian school that offers daycare, school, and afterschool care. Daycare was $85 week. Pre-K is $90. I think infant care,(they start taking kids at 2 months), is $110 a week although I'm not sure on that one. What we're having a debate about now is whether or not to keep her in private school next year or not. If we put her in public school we get an extra $85 a week. That sure would be nice to have the extra cash. But she is getting a great start on her education in a Christian environment. Thats pretty important to us. One thing I can tell you, when starting the search, look around long and hard. ask questions, ask to see the facilities, ask for references. Good luck.
Sir Hooker what does your fiancee do? My wife is a teacher which makes less time for day care. My nearest relative is down the street, but we still use daycare. My wife and I decided to have our kids with a little time between them. This was for a cost reason and it really helps out. We have had only one kid at daycare at a time. With the way jobs are these days you may want to start looking for a job one of you can do from home as an option. I told bukeye kids make you think your life is perfect at times, and at others you want to go screaming out of the room:D My daughter is now 9 and son 4, it's funny to think back when they were 7 months old what a fun we had with both of them. Last night we had quiet time in the car, the boy was not going to make it home. Like Scott I waited, I was 28 when we had Hillary
Don't forget that child care is tax deductible and a lot of work places will give let you take it pre-tax so that $300 just turned into $225 or so. As far as not being able to afford to have children, when we were getting married our priest asked us if we planned on having kids, we told him when we could afford to, his answer was basically that you will probably never have them then. I laughed but he had a good point. Once we had our first, the priorities change some (for the better) and we found that it wasn't nearly the financial strain that we thought it would be.
She manages a retail store at the moment, so her hours aren't the regular 8-5, but she is thinking hard about going back to school to become a teacher, which I support wholeheartedly. Yeah, we definitely plan on waiting, we are both 26, and we plan on waiting till atleast 30 to have our first. All this wedding/future planning is stressing me out. I need a drink. 8 am isn't too early, right?
Same here. Jill and I got married in June 2000 and really enjoyed our time together without the kids. Then one day, we felt like something was missing. We had Wyatt in Jan 2007 and now Zeviah on New Years Eve and I wish we would have started earlier. We even talked that we would only have 2 kids, now were talking that if we have an "accident" in the next few years, no big deal. As far as daycare, I'm not a lot of help there. We both work from home, but we do send Wyatt to daycare twice a week so he can interact with other kids. Its actually pretty cheap at $35/day and its a very good daycare.
Good for her, when the kids are off she will be off. We are truly blessed in this aspect. You're only 26, I thought you were much older
Good for you for planning so much in advance. Bottom line with kids is that BOTH spouses must REALLY WANT kids...once that is true - you will make the rest work no matter what. NOTHING lights a fire under my arse more than knowing I'm a Dad to 3 kids...
my best buddy spends about $18,000/yr on daycare for two kids... great spot but i almost crapped when i heard this!!!!!!!
You may also want to check out some individuals that watch children in their homes. We had our son in a daycare for a couple months, but when I went to pick him up (the only time I had ever been there and they had never seen me before) they buzzed me right in the door, walked me to my son and out the door I went. I later went back in and had a discussion with the owner. Now we have two kids and the woman that watches our kids is great and way cheaper than any daycare. Just another option to look at.
I had my son when I was 21 and my daughter when I was 45. There are pro's and con's to having children sooner and later but money really isn't one of them. Daycare will not be the biggest expense in raising a child :D . As suggested, though, I would look for a smaller private home type daycare. Not that larger ones are bad but in the smaller ones you know who is watching your child, you get to know them well and your child gets more one-on-one attention. A daycare that you and your child are comfortable with is worth whatever they charge you .
We pay $425 a month for our daughters daycare. Thats about average for a daycare center in our area. We considered using a babysitter, but I didn't want our daughter being out of the house( trips to walmart,etc), unknown people being at the sitters house, etc. The peace of mind was well worth the extra cost of daycare to us.
My daughter is almost 20 so I don't have to worry about daycare anymore. But she'll have to worry about it for me in a while!!:D
Lol!! I spend $429 a week for two boys. Heck, one of them is in the first grade. He's only there two hours a day after school.
We spend 15 dollars a week for our neighbor to watch our daughter. She only watches Avalyn 1 hour before school so we've lucked out on that. My fiancee had Avalyn when she was 17 and in HS so she had her mom around to watch her. I didn't meet my fiancee until Avalyn was 4 so I didn't have to experience any diapers but it took awhile for me to attempt to wipe her butt! My co-worker pays 550 a month for daycare which is crazy IMO.
