Baby costs

[Uncle Joely]

I am looking for a chart giving the approximate cost for raising a baby in Canada. Any ideas would be helpful

Thanks

 

[Kelly]

If you are trying to decide if you make enough money to afford a baby, you'll never be satisfied. Go ahead and have 'em!

If that's not your intent....carry on...

 

[okiemommy26]

just go to dogpile or google and but in what you are searching for you should be able to come up with something but I agree with what Kelly said.

 

[Katydid]

I don't think you will find anything helpful. There are too many variables. Think about this.

Diapers, which brand? Cloth?

Formula, Breastfeed? Formula? Which type of formula?

Food, make your own?? buy? which brand?

clothes, what store? What brands?

That is just a start. I mean there are so many variables that no chart could accurately or even estimate at a number.

 

[mamaneenie]

I don't think you will find anything helpful. There are too many variables. Think about this.

Diapers, which brand? Cloth?

Formula, Breastfeed? Formula? Which type of formula?

Food, make your own?? buy? which brand?

clothes, what store? What brands?

That is just a start. I mean there are so many variables that no chart could accurately or even estimate at a number.

I agree with this statement.

My son is nearly 3 and we have managed to save quite a bit of money by using cloth nappies and breastfeeding. I did make the majority of his baby food, and bought tins for travelling or outings (same goes for disposable nappies) I also knit and sew so that helps make the cost of his clothes cheaper. Not to mention the amount of things you can buy second hand if you don't mind having second hand clothes and toys. I find that the quality in most second hand shops is quite good.

 

[Uncle Joely]

It's too late to make that choice, we will be heading into the hospital in a few weeks at the most. We just moved back into Canada from overseas and I was looking at our budget. Hard to do though!

 

[LynnMcG]

Raising children is like a Mastercard commercial:

Labor and delivery: $20,000

Diapers, formula, toys and clothing the first year: $5,000

Being blessed with the most amazing (exhausting, trying, frustrating, maddening, etc.) experience of your life: Priceless

God Bless!

 

[NancyMomof2]

I heard a Canadian stat (I am from Canada too) that said that it costs (on average) $100,000 to raise a child from conception (prenatal vitimans included) to 18 (college not included). However, we have two kids, and have techincally been living below the poverty line our whole lives (family income $29,000 gross) and we do fine. There are lots of ideas out there on the web for saving $1000's of dollars along the way. Kids are worth it! Some of my favourtie money saving sites are:

Dollar Strecher at http://www.stretcher.com/index.cfm
Saving Moms at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/savingmoms/

 

[Jinn_Ku]

"If I had waited until I could afford to have kids, none of you would be here."

- my dad, father of 8

 

[AlinaK]

I never was able to 'afford' my daughter - I was 17 when Ekaterina was born, living in the Communist Soviet Union with a single mother on a pathetic state pension as my father died when I was 12 and my older brother died when I was 4, but we made it thanks to God and maybe we didn't have a lot of material things, but we did have a lot of love and that got us through.