So…. a question I hear a lot of times with new and wanting to be dads is the big finance question… How much money does it take to raise a kid? Honestly in my opinion it all depends on the lifestyle you want for your child. Too many times I see on social media parents living beyond their means and spending unnecessary finances on their child. Especially when they are so young and will only remember the events in pictures. Personally since I live in Florida, Disney World will be a vacation we take once my daughter can give me 4 complete sentences about her experience. My wife and I love to travel too so we want her to travel as soon as possible, but at the same time we want her to be able to take in, and observe the cultural activities we participate in outside of the US.
So prior to having my baby girl I watched a meaningful radio interview the Breakfast Club had on Youtube with a rapper by the name Young Dolph. Young Dolph said something that resonated with me. “Kids don’t care about how much money you spend on them, they don’t understand money yet, the most valuable thing you can do as a father or parent is spend time with them.” Don’t get me wrong I will be teaching my daughter the value of money and how to make it grow at a young age, at least younger than when I started to learn about money. I’m always thinking about finances, but hearing that out loud made me remember, no matter what you can’t put a value on time. You see it time and time again a kid who has parents who makes a lot of money but they don’t spend any time with their parents because they are always working.
You can never get time back, it’s priceless. Kids are expensive, or atleast that is what I have been told. According to the Dept of Agriculture it will cost $7,000 per year to raise a kid through the age of 17, if you have two kids that number jumps to $14,000. Just having the baby delivered will more than likely be the first most expensive thing you will spend on your child. I was fortunate that my Wife works for a company that has excellent medical benefits so that hospital bill will be mostly covered under insurance and we were in the hospital for 5 days. Once I knew my wife was pregnant I sat a certain amount of dollars aside in a savings account just for her.
Put money aside that you are comfortable with. I’m always saving and practicing my budget skills (Budget skills are ok but can be better), It was important for me to start saving for anything that could pop up that my baby girls needs. Saving for a rainy day is always best practice in my book. Now that my baby girl is here I must meet with my financial advisor to determine the best method of saving money for college. From what I heard from other parents the state of Florida has a great pre-paid college savings plan. I’m hoping she will have a full ride scholarship to the school of her choice, but just incase, her parents will have money to fund her collegiate education.
