If you're of a certain age and life stage, then you might be asking yourself: Should I have a baby? Before getting carried away with visions of Baby Bjorns and onesies, consider this: Babies cost more than ever. According to the Agriculture Department, middle-income couples spend an average of $11,000 during the first year of a child's life. By the time that newborn reaches his 18th birthday, he'll have cost his parents around $204,000. (Creative solutions such as relying on grandparents for child care and swapping clothes with friends can help ease the strain.) Here is the Alpha Consumer quiz to help figure out if you're financially ready to become a parent:
http://www.usnews.com/blogs/alpha-consum...-baby.html
I always hate these quizzes because they always assume that the kid gets their own room, that they get their own car, go to college, get the latest and greatest electronics, are clothes whores, etc. It doesn't take ten to twenty grand a year to have a child if you economize and aren't a mindless consumer.
Oh I know I did get a 3 which means I'm on the right track. I was hoping for a 0 ha ha.
But then Eddy is right. Of course, not gonna happen so the quiz can stick it.
I got a two -- you get two points for saying "yes" to "life insurance and a will" and "no" to "don't need a new house/car".
I got a three. $1,000/month for a freaking genetic replica? Jeez. Not. Worth. It.
Well I got a 3, not that it matters. It would be better if more people thought of this stuff before popping out brats they can't afford.
I'm sure that I could afford it financially, but not mentally...
I didn't bother taking the test.
I got a 4, but I still don't want a baby!
I agree 100% with Eddy. If I had a kid, we would continue to live here (rent is $500 a month, change? $0), I'd buy clothes at Value Village and we'd waste less food because eating for two is easier than eating for one.
GMAFB. I hate that it's presumed EVERYTHING would have to change and I'd need three of everything because of some teensy baby. It's bullcrap.
Jo Wrote:I agree 100% with Eddy. If I had a kid, we would continue to live here (rent is $500 a month, change? $0), I'd buy clothes at Value Village and we'd waste less food because eating for two is easier than eating for one.
GMAFB. I hate that it's presumed EVERYTHING would have to change and I'd need three of everything because of some teensy baby. It's bullcrap.
No, not bullcrap for me. I would be one of those mothers who would want everything for their kid - own room, cool clothes, ski trips, car, computer, insurance, paid college education, wedding or honeymoon. And in my imaginary parenthood there would also be honest and open communication, caring, true presence, respect...did I say honesty?
I did not take the test. I know I cannot really afford all that for my kid and myself which is why I don't have any. $204K?!! that is sooo much money!! I would be so unhappy if I couldn't buy whatever I wanted for my kid. It is not that I would always say yes to whatever he/she wanted, just that if I wanted to, I really could afford it. Plus DH just flat out doesn't want kids.
Yes, I have/had all these things thanks to family. I had %100 financial support and %zero emotional support. No amount of money can equal how much I wanted my family to not fight, lie, cheat, put down each other, ignore, cry, get mad, hate each other, etc.
Opilies... I suppose if you *want* those things, then it can get expensive. You can also WANT your kid to only eat caviar at every meal, only go to private schools, etc., and you could double or triple that number. I think want vs. need is what annoys me about those made-up numbers they release every so often.
What I mean is that it's POSSIBLE to raise a kid for a very minimal change in income. The porblem is that when you become that SAHM you lose ONE WHOLE INCOME, or if you do go back to work, you have to pay for daycare and that's where the expense goes. But the simple items of life -- shelter, food, clothing -- those things don't have to be expensive at all.
I haven't done the quiz, either btw.
Fuck. I scored 6.
"6 to 7 points: Congratulations. You seem to be financially prepared to have a baby."
Financially, yes.
Emotionally, physically, mentally, no.
I'm not willing to do Life 25 in prison 'cause Lord knows, I'd kill the fucking thing within the first week.
Got a 6, but where is question 8:
"8. Do you want to sleep only 2 hours a night, have crayon all over your walls, have holidays at Chuck E Cheese, and spend your Friday nights sanitizing bottles?"
I got a 1. No surprise there!
I'm in about the same position as Fiona. I took the test and scored 7, but I only recently did a will for work, and life/health insurance are through work too.
I wouldn't get a bigger home or car, although I'm sure some would want to expand.
The final weirdness is the parental policies as technically I have an idea of what they entail because my coworkers have been known to take them, but I'm not clear on the details. I do know that they apply equally to both parents, and also to adoptive parents, which I do find very cool. I have had about as many male coworkers as female ones take 'parental leave', although I think the men take it for 6 months or so on average rather than a year (by choice).
Either way, I don't have to worry!
LMAO I scored a Zero 0
LOL and YES I KNOW there is no fucking way I will ever have a child in this house, lol
But FTR, ITA with what EDDY said about the $ and how it is spent on a child. People today go overboard when it comes to material goods. IMHO, a child does not need
everything in the world to make it happy. All it really needs is LOVE!
Another zero here. Don't know how I missed this quiz the first time around. I knew it would be a zero when the question asked about a thousand a month less to live on. WTF? I don't make that much a month in take-home pay as it is.
ozarkmoon Wrote:Another zero here. Don't know how I missed this quiz the first time around. I knew it would be a zero when the question asked about a thousand a month less to live on. WTF? I don't make that much a month in take-home pay as it is.
LMAO ITA Ozarkmoon Like we could afford that kind of pay cut either.
Hell right now, with hubby being laid off, we are almost living off of his mother, lol Nah just kidding, but she is helping TG.
I know we're nowhere near being financially ready! I don't need a quiz to tell me. I also live with my mom and stepdad... and my fiance lives in a child-free building (and I'll be moving there).