The United States Department of Agriculture has released its annual report on the cost of raising a child. According to the report, a child born in 2009 will cost her parents $222,360 by the time she is 17-years-old. The amount includes the cost of housing, transportation, food, clothing, health care, child care and education, and “other”, which are all the extras like Silly Bandz.
Want a more accurate report on how much your kids cost? Fill in all your info in the USDA’s calculator and get the results for how much each child costs. You see, the more children you have, the less each one will cost. I guess it makes sense. My little one gets 95% of her clothing from her older sister, which saves us major money. She also is sleeping in her sister’s old crib, rode in her sister’s old stroller and plays with her sister’s toys.
I think I’m going to buy her something really special for her birthday next week, so she doesn’t resent me.
How much do your kid’s cost?
The second kid costs less unless you have twins, in which case you don’t quite get all those cost savings…
If you read the fine print, you’ll find that it costs $222, 360 if you haven’t bothered to save for your kid’s college tuition. If you have done the responsible thing and saved, total costs come to $535,933.
And I’m sure if you grow your own veggies, show at places like Milk Money, and have a brother who already has a kid then your totals will probably come out to somewhat less.
i love the roll of hundy’s…best Barista graphic ever.