ONCE YOU’VE HAD YOUR BABY
- Get busy in the kitchen! Learn how to make baby food – it is quick and easy and even the novice cook and blend up some carrot and sweet potato. It will be much better nutrition for your baby and more cost effective for you!
- Recycle old clothes – take those second hand clothes from your friend’s sister – say yes to everything! Even if not your style, old clothes make for fantastic kindy clothes or painting and craft time clothes.
- Use household items as toys. Yes you will go out and but the newest Fisher Price to that promises to lead your child into the realms of child genius – but fact of the matter is – they will much more enjoy pulling apart your Tupperware drawer every day (yes that’s right – every day) and bang on pots and pans with a wooden spoon. Embrace it! That will mean a lot less toys to pack away each evening (on top of your Tupperware).
- Keep expenses to a minimum – meet friends for a walk instead of lunch, have a coffee out once a week instead of 3, buy cookbooks or downloads recipes to jazz up your dinner repertoire….
- Keep an eye on our Facebook page for more clever ideas for raising kids without spending a fortune.
HOW MUCH DOES IT COST TO RAISE A CHILD?
The most recent thorough modeling on the cost of raising kids in Australia, released by AMP and The University of Canberra, found the cost of raising two children in Australia for a family on a middle income will set you back $812,000. For a higher income family, the cost rises to $1.09 million from the time the children are born to when they leave home, while a lower income is looking at $474,000.
Why the differences in costs of raising children?
The differences arise from assumptions that those with more money are more likely to send their children to private schools and have a higher standard of living overall. The top private schools can cost more than $30,000 each year. And that’s just for tuition.
The study found the cost of raising two kids has increased 50 per cent from when the same research was conducted in 2007. In contrast, household incomes have only grown 25 per cent in the same period.
How much do I budget a week?
The average family with two kids will spend $458 a week on their children. That may seem like a lot of money (after all, how much do kids really eat) but it takes into account factors such as housing — an extra bedroom in a dwelling can cost up to $200,000, or if you’re renting $300 a week.