Your kids are still young, you can drop $100k each into 529s and basically consider college funded, then the last $100k is your emergency fund. Your retirement savings seems low for 2 workers.

If you need aftercare to have your jobs then you need it and there's no real argument to be had, but you can look for cheaper camps. 10% of your gross on aftercare/camps seems high to me but I'm kind of lucky in that we don't have to pay for aftercare at all so I may have unreasonable expectations.

Anonymous wrote:I have a rising 1st and 4th this summer too. They said they didn't want camp so we got a summer sitter and it's just under 1k per week for both and we don't have to drive them anywhere. But my kids are chill, they like going to the pool for swim, playgrounds, library and just chilling at home and reading/playing. You choose to support their high energy needs with camps and aftercare so you pay for it. I would set aside one week where each kid is home and you WFH DH needs to take care of just one kid while working to see how that goes. Many friends send their kids to simple camps like the Y and other day camps and the kids don't get a say in what they do for $$ reasons. I was one of those kids too and only did day camp and no specialty camps and no overnight camps.

Is this a lot or little? 1k a week is still 12k for just summer right? How much are summer camps? Is it more than 500 a week per kid?

Anonymous wrote:I have a rising 1st and 4th this summer too. They said they didn't want camp so we got a summer sitter and it's just under $1k per week for both and we don't have to drive them anywhere. But my kids are chill, they like going to the pool for swim, playgrounds, library and just chilling at home and reading/playing. You choose to support their high energy needs with camps and aftercare so you pay for it. I would set aside one week where each kid is home and you WFH DH needs to take care of just one kid while working to see how that goes. Many friends send their kids to simple camps like the Y and other day camps and the kids don't get a say in what they do for $$ reasons. I was one of those kids too and only did day camp and no specialty camps and no overnight camps.

It kind of depends on your kids, where you live, and what is available. We had a week off, and my kid went stir-crazy - all their friends were in some kind of camp. I found that some of the shorter camps (3-4 hours), plus a nanny and some summer swimming, are a good combination. But staying home all day was not a fit. The playgrounds are too hot. Hanging out at home meant too much screen time. You can only spend so much time at the pool.

I have a rising 1st and 4th this summer too. They said they didn't want camp so we got a summer sitter and it's just under $1k per week for both and we don't have to drive them anywhere. But my kids are chill, they like going to the pool for swim, playgrounds, library and just chilling at home and reading/playing. You choose to support their high energy needs with camps and aftercare so you pay for it. I would set aside one week where each kid is home and you WFH DH needs to take care of just one kid while working to see how that goes. Many friends send their kids to simple camps like the Y and other day camps and the kids don't get a say in what they do for $$ reasons. I was one of those kids too and only did day camp and no specialty camps and no overnight camps.

Since you are in Maryland, put at least $5k a year for each kid into the MD state 529 plan. It is deductible off state taxes. (The deduction maxes out at $2500 per kid per parent. So since there are two parents you can put $5k for each kid, $10k total, to get the maximum state deduction. You can put more in if you would like but there is no state deduction after that. As far as paying for college Aim for at least 1/2 from 529, 1/4 from your salary, and perhaps 1/4 from Federal Stafford loans. These currently max out to $27k for four years. That should be around enough to cover college in-state for Maryland.

I like the global equity fund for the MD 529. It is roughly 70% US and 30% international stocks.

You both should also be close maxing out 401ks at work at your salary level.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So you spend an average of $2300/month for two elementary kids? Yeah, that’s a lot.

You have good savings. I would make sure you have 12 months of an emergency fund and then invest the rest. And yeah, you need to start putting money in 529s.

Also, what do you guys do that you don’t get paid more?

OP here. I feel more worrying and uncertainty under Trump rule these coming few years, so I don't know what to invest. Stock market has been rumored to be crashed one day. Where to invest?

It was DH's ideas not to do any for 529 for our 2 children. What are 529 rule for MD now? What happens to MD 529 if kids do not go to any colleges in MD?

I don't know how much we need for retirement if we are in mid-40s. Our current jobs are stable. If we change job, we may earn a lot more. I don't trust current job market since I hear of many stories. I have no desire to change my job, so does DH.

Yes you spend too much but being an idiot is your biggest issue.

Why isn’t your husband home on the evenings and the weekends? You said you are the primary caregiver but your kids are in school / after care and summer camps so the only caregiving time is evenings and weekends.

Is he working a second job or just not at home or where does he go?

Is your mortgage paid off or are you renters?

(You mention no mortgage.)

Or did your family buy the house for you?

Agree with the poster that the childcare will resolve itself as the children get older.

We always tried to find the more quality/expensive camps. This weeds out a lot of the competition at registration for starters, and keeps my kids in good company and maybe not associating with people they're not ready for so young in a setting where maybe teenagers are in charge.

Of course these weren't elite camps; we don't have the funds for that and probably don't even know where they are to sign up. We don't run in those circles!

We cut back in other ways, like vacations, to make this happen during these prime years. So don't feel bad if the camps seem expensive, OP, or not what you did as a kid. It's a very good expenditure.

Anonymous wrote:Op here. How much is needed in 529 for a kid to attend college for 4 year colleges?

To pay for in state college four years with savings, you will need to save roughly $1000/month for each kid. Roughly.

Dear god- google is your friend. Use it!

And if you’re scared your husband won’t parent his children if they’re home with him you have bigger problems than where to go to camp.

Op here. How much is needed in 529 for a kid to attend college for 4 year colleges?

Op here. Kids will be rising 1st grader and rising 4th grader. It is easier to say than to be done to make a school sport to replace school aftercare. Someone has to take them to sports lesson, and they are not M-F for all school year and subject to weather cancelation. We cannot do summer nanny because they are quite handful and opposite interests. They are the types with tons of energy after the end of day camp or school aftercare.

How old are the kids? Sounds pretty normal if you are doing camps all summer. My kids hate camps. A summer nanny is cheaper.

How old are the kids? Child care expenses start to take care of themselves by middle school. Depending on the school and what it offers, have the kids play a school sport each season. Those are much lower cost (or free for many public schools) and keeps the kids busy until 5-6 ish. They can also work as CIT or do online summer courses. Cheap local camps are also fine for now. Do a week or two of specialty camp.

If you kids are already upper elementary, I would keep them in aftercare at school where they can get their homework done and then make a plan for after ES. Soon you will be done with a lot of childcare and camps altogether. Just take that same amount of money after you are done with these childcare expenses and put it in a 529 or other investment accounts. By college, you will have some savings. If you have always put away 28,000$ a year from your budget even when you don’t need childcare, you have that money to cash flow some of college. Just don’t let lifestyle creep eat into it so you don’t have it to spend on college.