Reply to Two Kids in Daycare/School and So Many Expenses...Best Ways to Manage?

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[quote=Anonymous]I kind of disagree with everyone who says that costs don't really go down as kids get older. I have a toddler and a teenager and three is no way I am spending the same amount of money on the teen as I am on the toddler right now. The toddler is far more expensive...

As they get older it's true that clothing costs  somewhat increased, but they are not really that much more that than when DC was a toddler. I spend about $300-$400 on the toddler/year for clothes, and probably $700-$900 on the teenager. Both have enough clothing to get by 2-3 weeks for the summer. Granted, it's mostly Target, Old Navy, consignment, Carters, and TJ Maxx, but unless you care about labels, you don't need to outlay a lot. Shoe's for a teenage can be pricey, but I tell DC that I will only spend X-dollars on X-number of shoes 2x/year, and anything he wants above that amount, he has to pay for with his own money. That way I control some of our costs too. And he's usually content to spend within my limit, or just $20-30 above when I tell him I plan to spend.

Our food costs actually seem more expensive b/c of the toddler, not the teen. For the teen, he usually just eats anything my husband and I eat or will snack on. But the toddler, the toddler requires Vitamin D milk we wouldn't normally keep in the house, lots of different toddler-friendly food we wouldn't normally have (chicken nuggets, fish nuggets, graham crackers, cheerios, etc). And of course, let's not forget the diapers and wipes you have to spend monthly on a toddler- that's easily another $40/month.

Activity costs can add up as kids age,  but really, but really, those are totally discretionary. When my older DC was younger, he was completely happy with 1-2 activities per week, and they were usually programs through the local parks and rec or YMCA. When he was older, he did  spend a few years doing travel programs for a couple different sports - including one sport with a lot of expensive gear- and even that outlay, combined with what I spend on average for him for clothing, food, and summer camps, was no where near what I spend yearly  just on our toddler's daycare (just under 20K/year).

Sure, there's braces, but even that, combined with all the other normal outlays for a teenager, doesn't usually total up to the average of what one year of daycare for a toddler costs in this area. So I just don't see where people are saying costs don't really go do. They do. Even if you still end up shelling out $600-1000 or so a month for DC after the daycare years are over, that's a significant decrease from $1500-2000/month norm during the toddler years. [/quote]

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