The only way having same genders will save you a lot of money is if you plan to keep both genders in the same bedroom until they go live on their own, and you can buy/rent a smaller house. Otherwise one terrible over or underbite requiring years of braces or one season of club sports wipes out a couple of years of baby clothes.

I have a boy and a girl and girls cost more early on. Mostly because you can buy a dress and dresses can cost. At a certain age they may not want a dress. Personality is a big determination of cost for a girl. On the whole girls cost more than boys. I am more expensive than my husband when you add in the things I can/need like sanitary products, makeup, etc. But again I defer to personality when younger. I personally think it evens out. Don't forget that either gender would have same costs if it's academic or school, therapy, tutoring, activity costs, etc. it's really only clothing that's the huge difference.

Anonymous wrote:There are a lot of stereotypes here. Gender isn’t going to be the biggest factor in your expenses. It is eye-opening to read about what people spend money on. Neither of my kids have interest in expensive clothing (probably because I don’t), and I would flat-out say no if they asked for it. I see families pay $2000 for their 7-year-old’s soccer team — you need to decide if that’s reasonable.

Gender and being able to share clothes is negligible in my opinion.

lol

At first I thought that number was nuts. Then I realized I pay that much for my kids swim team.

2 girls then a boy. He wore all the hand me downs for the first year. Even the pink ones😁. But I’m cheap like that.

My 5yo DS is wearing my 7yo DD have me down winter coat this year and gets passed down lots of her basic clothing, and PJs. We certainly re used all of the baby gear, and don't, say, buy them separate overly gendered water bottles or whatever that they don't want to share. Now that my DD has a much greater say in her wardrobe I assume less will be handed down to my son, but the overall cost differential is negligible.

Anonymous wrote:Find your local consignment store.. most of my kids clothes are used and cost very little.

+1. It’s also better for the environment.

I have a friend who had three girls then a boy. I see that baby in pink onesies and jackets all the time.

Similarly there’s a girl in my daughters 2s class that wears boy hand me downs all the time. My daughter wears her brothers hand me downs sometimes too.

I save the gender neutral stuff and get gender specific wardrobes. I don’t go nuts but I enjoy dressing my kids. Wouldn’t sweat it.

Anonymous wrote:A year or two's worth of onesies is like the most negligible cost of parenting. It's barely worth mentioning.

+1

Not really. I have boys 2 years apart and there aren’t really that many hand me downs after the first few years. Mostly just speciality items (dressier clothes that were only worn a few times, some outerwear etc). Most of the other stuff tends to be pretty worn out.

I have two of the same gender and because they were born in different seasons, I still have to buy more than I thought I would.

I also find that once they are in bigger sizes (like 24m/2t), I have to replace more since the first kid is in the clothes for longer, so they get grungier.

Sports gear, winter gear, baby accessories (high chair, car seat) and other seasonal/sports items tend to be passed down most easily. I'd make sure these are all gender neutral.

I do have two girls who are close in age and we pass down tons of stuff, including clothes and toys. But there's not much you can do if you're having a different gender for #2. You j

A year or two's worth of onesies is like the most negligible cost of parenting. It's barely worth mentioning.

This doesn’t affect anything.

I do admit that I paid slightly more attention to buying gender neutral snow pants and cleats do both kids could use them. However the difference in costs of buying a pink shirt for a girl or a Batman shirt is negligible.

The biggest cost difference is if you need an extra bedroom (versus sharing) and move to a new place. Other than that it’s negligible.

There are a lot of stereotypes here. Gender isn’t going to be the biggest factor in your expenses. It is eye-opening to read about what people spend money on. Neither of my kids have interest in expensive clothing (probably because I don’t), and I would flat-out say no if they asked for it. I see families pay $2000 for their 7-year-old’s soccer team — you need to decide if that’s reasonable.

Gender and being able to share clothes is negligible in my opinion.