Anonymous
Post 01/13/2026 21:12     Subject: Cost per child per month
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:We have one in college and his rent and utilities alone are $1200/mo, tuition roughly comes out to 3,500/mo, Groceries and food are $500/mo, sports related expenses are probably averaged out to $500/mo, so at a bare minimum he costs us $5700/mo. We purchased him a care when he turned 16 at at the time that was 28K.

We have one in high school and he probably costs us $600/mo in food, we recently purchased him a car for 32,000. He plays sports and enjoys skiing and downhill mountain biking.

Now when we vacation we rent two hotel rooms if we cannot get an airbnb and of course 4 plane tickets, not 2. 4 people eating out, not 2. We just did a NYC trip and could not get out of any sort of eating establishment for under $100 for the 4 of us, it was often $200, plus the cost of 4 tickets ot see the Knicks at MSG at $400/seat and the cost of our annual excursion to see a show on Broadway that cost us $700/ticket (stuck going over the holidays beucase that is the only time we were all free. That weekend trip alone was probably 5K and would have been 2.5 K with only 2 of us.

Then of course over the years we have had braces, physical therapy, tutoring, camps, broken bones and doctor bills,

I'd say allin we probably spend 100K more per year having kids than if we were child free. However we do priorotize travel, good food and lots of experiences that run the spectrum. We also will not be saddling our kids with school debt.


You are clearly rich, that's not normal.


I’m not that poster but none of it is outrageous. Yes they are clearly high income, but not much extravagance there. Plus for most people those college expenses are realized only after 18yrs of saving.
Anonymous
Post 01/13/2026 18:56     Subject: Cost per child per month
Preschooler: at least 3400/month (private school, summer camp, food, sports/activities, clothes)
Toddler: at least 5200/month (nanny, food, clothes, diapers)

10k/year to 529s

But also we just wouldn’t have as big of a house, we’d probably still be in an 2 bedroom apartment if we didn’t have kids….so the cost of that is pretty astronomical too.

HHI 800k.
Anonymous
Post 01/13/2026 18:50     Subject: Cost per child per month
Anonymous wrote:We have one in college and his rent and utilities alone are $1200/mo, tuition roughly comes out to 3,500/mo, Groceries and food are $500/mo, sports related expenses are probably averaged out to $500/mo, so at a bare minimum he costs us $5700/mo. We purchased him a care when he turned 16 at at the time that was 28K.

We have one in high school and he probably costs us $600/mo in food, we recently purchased him a car for 32,000. He plays sports and enjoys skiing and downhill mountain biking.

Now when we vacation we rent two hotel rooms if we cannot get an airbnb and of course 4 plane tickets, not 2. 4 people eating out, not 2. We just did a NYC trip and could not get out of any sort of eating establishment for under $100 for the 4 of us, it was often $200, plus the cost of 4 tickets ot see the Knicks at MSG at $400/seat and the cost of our annual excursion to see a show on Broadway that cost us $700/ticket (stuck going over the holidays beucase that is the only time we were all free. That weekend trip alone was probably 5K and would have been 2.5 K with only 2 of us.

Then of course over the years we have had braces, physical therapy, tutoring, camps, broken bones and doctor bills,

I'd say allin we probably spend 100K more per year having kids than if we were child free. However we do priorotize travel, good food and lots of experiences that run the spectrum. We also will not be saddling our kids with school debt.


You are clearly rich, that's not normal.
Anonymous
Post 01/13/2026 18:47     Subject: Cost per child per month
We have one in college and his rent and utilities alone are $1200/mo, tuition roughly comes out to 3,500/mo, Groceries and food are $500/mo, sports related expenses are probably averaged out to $500/mo, so at a bare minimum he costs us $5700/mo. We purchased him a care when he turned 16 at at the time that was 28K.

We have one in high school and he probably costs us $600/mo in food, we recently purchased him a car for 32,000. He plays sports and enjoys skiing and downhill mountain biking.

Now when we vacation we rent two hotel rooms if we cannot get an airbnb and of course 4 plane tickets, not 2. 4 people eating out, not 2. We just did a NYC trip and could not get out of any sort of eating establishment for under $100 for the 4 of us, it was often $200, plus the cost of 4 tickets ot see the Knicks at MSG at $400/seat and the cost of our annual excursion to see a show on Broadway that cost us $700/ticket (stuck going over the holidays beucase that is the only time we were all free. That weekend trip alone was probably 5K and would have been 2.5 K with only 2 of us.

Then of course over the years we have had braces, physical therapy, tutoring, camps, broken bones and doctor bills,

I'd say allin we probably spend 100K more per year having kids than if we were child free. However we do priorotize travel, good food and lots of experiences that run the spectrum. We also will not be saddling our kids with school debt.