Cost of a child

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JacquesZA

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Me and the wife are thinking of starting a family. So we starting to do all research needed. My 1st question is what does a child cost on average. And when i talk the frame of reference is a middle class house hold.
 
Millions.

Private school 60k plus per year...
 
Our son is 2 years old and ja, still realising on a weekly basis it was never possible to even try calculate this amount. Best option would be a rough guesstimate. For one thing...lets take food. We had an idea of what's needed when he moved onto "solids". So you go buy the Purity foods etc...and sure you can keep a record of what it cost in a month. What they dont tell you (friends and family) is the lil dude prob eats only 50% of the food....so thats 50% of the money you spend on food down the drain...

Now the issue you see...is this is a personal experience and will differ greatly...realistically you will get a rough number and that might be a worse case scenario...

Maybe someone out there has been keeping tabs on their costs, we just decided to take it as it comes...

Qwikslver said:
I'd say have at least 5grand a month spare.
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Yeah...prob a good amount to have, think thats a "safe-ish" amount
 
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JacquesZA said:
Me and the wife are thinking of starting a family. So we starting to do all research needed. My 1st question is what does a child cost on average. And when i talk the frame of reference is a middle class house hold.
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As much as you can afford - there is no general answer.

My 2 kids cost R11K
- nanny R4K
- school R2K (incl petrol)
- crech R1K
- Clothes R1K (they grow)
- Medical R1K
- Food R2K

That excludes treats and gifts which is about another R1K.

Now we can afford this but I have a friend who raises her son on R2K per month and that includes a full time day-care.
 
CrazyFig said:
Our son is 2 years old and ja, still realising on a weekly basis it was never possible to even try calculate this amount. Best option would be a rough guesstimate. For one thing...lets take food. We had an idea of what's needed when he moved onto "solids". So you go buy the purina foods etc...and sure you can
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If you do have a kid, I hope you learn the difference between Purity and Purina first..:D
 
Firstly, make sure you have decent medical aid. Cost of all the scans and then the delivery is sky high. In addition, remember that the baby will need to be added onto your medical aid once born. A cost a lot of people forget about.
Next is a lot of once of costs for a cot, pram, baby monitor, car seat etc.
Monthly costs for a baby is diapers and food. We tend to wait for specials at game where you can buy a big box for R289. This lasts almost a month. We also use Nan, which is R186 per tin. In the early stages this lasts 2 -3 weeks, but as the child starts to eat solids, this can extend to a longer period.
Day care range from R1000 to R2500 and this will continue for pretty much ever, as school fees will probably be the same.
Would say our one child added about R2500 per month to our budget, but we are lucky with the daycare only costing R1200.
 
Short term some examples.
Disposable vs non disposable nappies (yuk) could save you around R300 to R400 a month (or cost you that per month).
Public vs private hospital.
Paediatrician vs GP.
Generics vs branded medication.
Baby food vs making your own or a combo (we made various flavors for our daughter, some went better than others, she loves butternut for example and I used to just make one or two at a time, divide them up into meal size chunks and freeze them, same for mixed veggies and other things).
Clothes the baby will be wearing?
A well organized baby shower should see you set for the first 6 months or so.
 
Sinbad said:
Millions.

Private school 60k plus per year...
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And an excellent public school is R10-15K per year. Thank goodness my kids have access to good public schools (in our area you only put your kid into private school if they cannot get into one of our better public schools)
 
JacquesZA said:
Me and the wife are thinking of starting a family. So we starting to do all research needed. My 1st question is what does a child cost on average. And when i talk the frame of reference is a middle class house hold.
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It all depends where you buy them from. Zimbabweans are cheap, but often come with health problems due to malnourishment. Swazis are generally a good deal right now. I've heard that you can get very good deals in the Eastern Cape, but I have not bought one there since the last one turned out to have diabetes.

Remember: you get what you pay for, so shop around.
 
I saw someone mentioned Nan. Remember breast is best. The Anitibodies in breast milk help build up the babies immune system and can't be created artificially.
 
I think a better question would be to ask is,
What is the one thing that you as a parent didn’t realise or expect you'd have to keep cash for something you had to provide for your child.
I mean we all know the basic's, i.e food, clothes, diapers etc.

So I'd say remember to keep cash for medical bills, I know this seems like it should be a "basic" but I’ve seen some parents forgetting to budget for this, if you have medical aid then obviously your safe.

I’m not a parent so I don’t know what other surprise costs there are,
you will also need quality per day, because those one bag of diapers won’t last a whole month…. :P

Good luck with growing your family :)
 
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scudsucker said:
It all depends where you buy them from. Zimbabweans are cheap, but often come with health problems due to malnourishment. Swazis are generally a good deal right now. I've heard that you can get very good deals in the Eastern Cape, but I have not bought one there since the last one turned out to have diabetes.

Remember: you get what you pay for, so shop around.
Click to expand...

:D
 
JacquesZA said:
Me and the wife are thinking of starting a family. So we starting to do all research needed. My 1st question is what does a child cost on average. And when i talk the frame of reference is a middle class house hold.
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time frame....

Yearly? Monthly? Total?

Then there are 10 000 variables eg: where / what is he / she going to be studying if they are going to study?
 
JacquesZA said:
Me and the wife are thinking of starting a family. So we starting to do all research needed. My 1st question is what does a child cost on average. And when i talk the frame of reference is a middle class house hold.
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get a xbox its cheaper in the long run :D

Seriosly there is no true amount, have decent medical aid, budget a 3 or 4 thousand extra a month from the start whether you use it now , add another 2K if you planing on a nanny/ day care - and increase the amount by 2K every year and it still wont be enough. - but love the expensive buggers none the less
 
scudsucker said:
It all depends where you buy them from. Zimbabweans are cheap, but often come with health problems due to malnourishment. Swazis are generally a good deal right now. I've heard that you can get very good deals in the Eastern Cape, but I have not bought one there since the last one turned out to have diabetes.

Remember: you get what you pay for, so shop around.
Click to expand...

Classic reply!
 
cbrunsdonza said:
And an excellent public school is R10-15K per year. Thank goodness my kids have access to good public schools (in our area you only put your kid into private school if they cannot get into one of our better public schools)
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wait .. what??
thought public schools were meant to be "free" .... a small school fee!!
surely if they charging that, they are no longer "public schools"??
 
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