llow (about $25). If you plan to return to work after 3 months, consider investing in a hospital grade breast pump, which will run you about $400. In comparison, a year's worth of ready mix powder formula costs about $1,350. If you buy the ready-to-serve type of formula, the cost is even more running well over $2,000. You'll also need a year's supply of bottles, at about $90, and you'll have to add another $40 to replace the nipples at least twice in a year.
When your baby is ready for solid foods, you will also need to account for the cost of rice cereal and baby food.
Diapers are another expense you need to consider. Cloth diapers are the least expensive option. Disposable diaper costs for the first year run about $850, and a diaper genie costs about $40.
Child care expenses vary widely. Child care in a day care center costs much less than a live-in nanny (unless you have multiples, then a nanny or au pair is the less expensive option), and prices for day care centers vary widely. Child care in a day care center costs much less than a live-in nanny. A mid-priced day care center charges on average $975 per month for your infant's care, or close to $12,000 per year.
Your infant will visit the doctor about six times during his or her first year, including well-baby check-ups as well as the inevitable colds and fevers of infancy. How much you will spend for doctor visits during the first year depends on your health insurance.
Toys and Clothes
You will spend about $500-$600 on toys and clothing during the first year (in addition to what you bought for the layette.)
Total for the First Year
Your total expenses for the first year run about $15,000-$18,000. The biggest variable is the cost of health care.
During these years, you'll spend about $1,000 on toys and clothes, and about $2,200 a year on food. If your child attends day care or pre-school, add in the cost of these services. Day care will cost you an average of $12,000 per year, while pre-school costs vary widely. Again, health care costs depend on your health coverage.
This is the time when the overall expenses of child-rearing drop and families can save more. During these years, your child care expenses will drop drastically. Health care costs generally stabilize unless of course, your child begins orthodontia during this stage. Then, you'll have to pay more. You are likely to spend more than in the previous stage on clothing, toys, and entertainment, but your kids won't be demanding the high-ticket clothing and other items of adolescence. The bill for food will be just slightly more than what it was in the previous stage. On the negative side, now that your kids are in school, you'll want to pay for all those extras that middle class kids have: dancing and music lessons, sports participation, and so on. And, if you decide to send your kids to private school or to summer camp, these expenses will have to be added in.
During this stage, you can expect your child's food, clothing, and entertainment bill to greatly exceed what it was during the previous stage. For instance, food costs will increase as a result of growth spurts in your adolescent and clothing costs are likely to rise as well as your teen takes more of an interest in his or her appearance.
Once your teen starts driving, your auto insurance will go up. The extra cost could be anywhere from $300 to $1,000, depending on your state of residence and whether your child is a boy or girl. If you intend to buy your child a car, add this expense in as well.
Sweet-16 parties, bar and bat mitzvahs, orthodontia, SAT-preparation courses, music lessons, sports…these are just some of things you might be paying for during those years.
The best time to start instilling financial skills and values is when children are young. Start giving your kids an allowance once they reach school age. Let them participate in making the decision of how much their allowance should be.
Some parents may want to require kids to do household chores to earn the allowance. Or, parents might want to provide an allowance, but pay kids extra for th