The Price of Children
Moms View Message Board: General Discussion: Archive April 2004:
The Price of Children
I got this in an email...
The Price of Children
I have repeatedly seen the breakdown of the cost
of raising a child, but this is the first time I have seen the
rewards listed this way.
It's nice, really nice!! Enjoy!!
The government recently calculated the cost of
raising a child from birth to18 and came up with $160,140 for a
middle income family. Talk about sticker shock!
That doesn't even touch college tuition.
But $160,140 isn't so bad if you break it down.
It translates into $8,896.66
a year, $741.38 a month, or $171.08 a week.
That's a mere $24.24 a day!
Just over a dollar an hour.
Still, you might think the best financial advice
Is don't have children if you want to be "rich." Actually, it
is just the opposite!
What do you get for your $160,140???
Naming rights. First, middle, and last!
Glimpses of God every day.
Giggles under the covers every night.
More love than your heart can hold.
Butterfly kisses and Velcro hugs.
Endless wonder over rocks, ants, clouds, and warm
cookies.
A hand to hold, usually covered with jelly or
chocolate.
A partner for blowing bubbles, flying kites,
building sandcastles,
and skipping down the sidewalk in the pouring
rain.
Someone to laugh yourself silly with, no matter
what the boss said or
how your stocks performed that day.
For $160,140, you never have to grow up.
You get to finger-paint, carve pumpkins, play
hide-and-seek, catch
lightning bugs, and never stop believing in
Santa Claus.
You have an excuse to keep reading the Adventures
of Piglet and Pooh,
watching Saturday morning cartoons, going to
Disney movies, and
wishing on stars.
You get to frame rainbows, hearts, and flowers
under refrigerator
magnets and collect spray painted noodle wreaths
for Christmas, hand
prints set in clay for Mother's Day, and cards
with backward letters
for Father's Day.
For $160,140, there is no greater bang for your
buck.
You get to be a hero just for retrieving a
Frisbee off the garage
roof, taking the training wheels off a bike,
removing a splinter,
filling a wading pool, coaxing a wad of gum out
of bangs, and
coaching a baseball team that never wins but
always gets treated to
ice cream regardless.
You get a front row seat to history to witness
the first step, first
word, first bra, first date, and first time
behind the wheel.
You get to be immortal.
You get another branch added to your family tree,
and if you're
lucky, a long list of limbs in your obituary
called grandchildren
and great-grandchildren.
You get an education in psychology, nursing,
criminal justice, communications, and human sexuality that no
college can match.
In the eyes of a child, you rank right up there
under God.
You have all the power to heal a boo-boo, scare
away the monsters
under the bed, patch a broken heart, police a
slumber party, ground
them forever, and love them
without limits, so . . . one day they will, like
you, love without
counting the cost.
ENJOY YOUR KIDS AND GRANDKIDS!
Yes!
I like that!
This is so beautiful! Thank you.
Ame
It reminds me of why we have 3 beautiful daughters
That came at a perfect time. I have a custody hearing in the morning, and this is a perfect reminder of the beauty the kids bring to my life. Thank you so much for sharing.
That is soooo sweet!!!
Excellent! Thank you for sharing
Your Welcome, i'm glad you all enjoyed it!
One last remark. I do some financial modeling in my job (e.g. look at various payment scenarios, figure out which one is most viable). I do this for our home budget as well.
Dh and I were fretting about making ends meet (who isn't?) so I did a quick comparison of what our monthly expenses are WITH our son and what our expenses would have been (pro-rated, based on % of income) if we hadn't had ds. I was just curious.
Funny thing:
- The "No Kids" model had an $80 remainder after all expenses were considered. This assumes doubling the % of what we currently spend in clothing, entertainment and vacation.
- The "Struggling" model had a $60 remainder after all expenses (nothing to savings, though).
- The "Current" model (where we are now that some debt has gone away) has a minor decrease in % to savings/vacation as the "No Kids" model - but still a $40 remainder.
Gosh, for basically a difference of $40/month... you get everything in the original post. My comment on the spreadsheet was "This is a value comparison to show 'What would our expenses and income have been like if we'd never had Jack?" The answer I came up with: only slightly more in cash flow but ever so much (like 1000 times) less rich. Even when struggling.
Bottom line: - Less entertainment, clothing, stuff = about -15%
- More diapers, childcare, extra groceries, etc. = about +15%
- Cash flow change = -$40 BUT
- Kids = Priceless
That is adorable!!!
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