How much does it really cost to raise a child?

Cribs, baby beds, changing tables, childseat, bouncy chairs, exersaucer, tricycles, scooters, bikes, skateboards, baby monitors, playpens.

Triple your grocery bill because one boy can eat enough for three people. And, because kids want the cook cereal with Dora on the box. And, because between working and caring for the kids, you pay more for convenience foods.

An allowance.

Health insurance premiums. Life insurance premiums. College savings.

Prenatal visits, hospital stay when you give birth, and followups.

Well-care checks. Many insurances don't cover them, and they can cost $200.

10+ diapers a day, approx 10 cents per diaper. Say $1 per day.

3 years, times 365 days = $1095 if your child potty trains at exactly age three. You might need pullups for night time for a few years. They are more expensive. Add another $300-400.

Formula, baby food, baby cereal, baby fruit juice, bibs, diaper rash ointment, baby shampoo, wipes, etc. Formula is like powdered gold.

Doctor visits. Medicine. One of my kids had asthma medicines that cost almost $300/month. Medical equipment like a nebulizer. Braces. X-rays because you're not sure they have pneumonia, or sonograms because they had more than one kidney infection. You're going to see your pediatrician so often that you'll think you live there, and you might as well have your paycheck sent directly to his office..

Childcare, $165 per week from birth to age 5 (free public kindergarten). 5 years times 52 weeks time $165. $42,900.

School lunches, $2 per day, 5 days a week, 9 months a year, 13 years (K-12). $5200.

Complete new wardrobe every spring and fall, every year, including jackets and shoes, underwear, socks,hats, mittens, whatever (kids grow fast). $1000 per year, for 18 years = $18,000.

Summer daycare, at least through age 11. $165 * 12 summer weeks, times 6 years (K-5). $11,880. plus registration fees every year. $150*6 = $900. Total around $12,780..

After school care, $50/week, 35 weeks a year, 6 years. $10,500.

If not public school, then add tuition for private school.

Swimming lessons, dance lessons, gymnastics, cheerleading, activity fees, field trips, registration fees, uniforms, sports equipment, musical instruments. Costs vary wildly, and can be VERY expensive. Let's just guess around $1000 per year or more.

PTA fees, school fundraisers, t-shirt order forms, etc.

A car for your young driver. Auto insurance (very expensive). Gas. Registration. And repairs when they wreck it.

Money for dates and outings with friends.

Christmas, Easter, Valentine's day,Halloween,New Years, birthdays, including the party AND the gifts. Depends on your budget, but very expensive. Many familys spend over a thousand just on Christmas.

Family vacations.

Famly portraits.

Trip to Disneyworld.

Doing the "in" things, like BuildABear, Sweet n Sassy salon, Chuck E Cheese, Arcades, movies at the theatre (priced tickets recently?). Most are $100 a pop several times a year. State fair. Street carnival.

Purchasing a van, because your little 4 seater's not going to cut it. Gas for running back and forth to school, dance lessons, girl scouts, daycare, McDonalds, etc.

Redecorating your child's room several times, from nursery to young kid to teen.

Buying all the necessities for when they leave for college.

Add an extra 15% on every shopping trip, because baby is tugging on your dress asking "Can I have one of those?"

Enormous utility bills because your darling teen takes hour long showers, your young one never learned to close the door, and your teen thinks the thermostat should be set at 68 in the summer.

The cost of missing work every other week and not getting paid, for ear infections, stomach viruses, unexplained fevers, lice attacks. Kids get sick A LOT. Plus staying home or paying daycare for those frequent days and weeks when school is not in session for teacher in service days and fall and summer break. By the way, you go to work when you are sick, because you used all your sick leave on the kids.

Replacing your carpet, because it looks like you've had farm animals living on it. Replacing your furniture, because the kids have been using it as a see saw and a trampoline, or they're not quite potty trained, or they had that unfortunate accident with the chocolate milk.

Buying a trampoline, swingset, maintaining a pool, etc.

A new more expensive place to live with another bedroom, because baby needs someplace to sleep, with a yard, because baby needs fresh air and sunshine.

Interest on your debt, because you weren't fully prepared for the onslaught on your checking account.

If you divide $300,000 by 18 years, you get around $16,666 per year, or around $1390 per month. You'll pay an extra $600 to $800 a month on childcare, groceries and dry goods and medical, and the remainder will hit in large random chunks throughout the year. For a person making $50,000, that's about 33% of their income. And, then there's Christmas.

$300,000 might even be low.

They base that on the insurance you have to pay and the copays for every child. I believe copays are about 1,000 a year unless you have prescriptions than can be $1500. The clothes you buy them every year and cost about $200-350 a year for shoes, clothes and coat. Childcare cost about $500 a month for one child until they are 5 or 6 years old then it may be $300 a month for 5 years. Then college $20,000 a year for college and car may cost you $8,000 and the insurance would cost you about $150 a month. This would all be multipled by the number of children. The exception can be if clothes are in good shape can use them for the other children and some insurance companies do not make you pay per child, but one sum for all. The average household income is based on $40,000-$75,000 a year before taxes. I hope this has helped. These figures are all estimate and not actual.

Depends on where you live and how you plan to raise your kids.

For example, do you have to pay for daycare?

Will you send your kids to private or public school, or homeschool?

Will each child have new clothes or hand-me-downs?

Brand-new crib and bed each, or hand-me-downs?

Do you have a private insurance?If so,prices go up with a bigger family (especially with 6 kids, statistically speaking at least one will have a medical problem like asthma or something--usually minor though). Price of vaccines, dentist visits, yearly physicals, braces, things like that all add up too.

Will you have to move to a bigger home or will you have your kids share a bedroom?

Will you need a bigger car (SUV perhaps), which will use more gas which will be even more money?

Are you planning on paying for college? High school/ middle school tutors? SAT Prep when they get to high school? Sports teams (and equipment, and membership fees, and gas used to drive to all the practices and games)?

See, it all depends on how you raise your kids. Florida is cheaper than New York, Texas is cheaper than California, so it's all relevant.

If you have a good source of income, then you can give your child new everything. But many people can't do that. We are blessed enough to be able to have a very comfortable income and only 1 child, so she gets everything new, and a college fund in her name.

If we had 6 kids though, I can't even imagine how we would manage (financially and time-wise) because my husband and I have very demanding jobs, and more than what we have would stress us out as a family, and being in that situation is no good for anyone.

Depends on where you live really. But honestly, 300,000 dollars sounds about accurate. I mean as an infant youll be buying diapers, wipes and possibly formula weekly for 2 years or more. Along with new clothes every 6 months or so till there 5 or 6.

Pre-teens and teens, need new clothes every year, along with school expenses and friend expenses, maybe even sports expenses. Children require quite a bit.

Honestly, it depends on how the economy fluctuates and what you would consider being put towards the children alone.

Where I live this is my approx monthly budget:

Rent~ $550

Elec~ $100

Oil~ $200 ($2400 yearly)

Phone/internet~ $65

W/S/G~ $100

Food~ $600 (household of 6, 4 of which are children)

Clothing~ $200

Car insurance~ $170 (3 vehicles)

Gas~ $200

Misc exp (christmas fund, school supplies, field trips, birthdays, etc)~ $200

That comes to a grand total of $2385 monthly; $28620 yearly; $515160 over the span of 18 years.

Now, divided by 4 (as I have 4 sons) it comes to $128790, not including college tuition because I am too busy scraping by to even think of a college fund at the moment.

I would say raising a child can cost a fortune. You have to be prepared for not only 18 years of clothing, food, necessities, but then there is schooling, weddings, etc.

A lot of this cost is things you would have to have even if you don't have kids. A house and food and so on. That figures out to about $15000 per year. $288 per week. If that's the case only the wealthy could afford kids.

More than you can calculate.

I want 14 kids so just imagine