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We are kicking off a new series called Milestones, says, gonna focus on the major life events that we are all facing, like getting married, buying a home and retirement. Today's milestone is all about the high price of bringing up a baby. Lots of due parents rush out to get the crib, and those cute little clothes and too often they are not ready for the long-term financial responsibilities. Sam Grobart, senior editor of Money Magazine and expectant father is here with some tips on creating a baby budget.
Good morning, Sam.
Good morning, Rene, how are you.
Well, first of all congratulations to you. (Thank you very much) It's a very exciting time for you (It is) but and/end it, as it is , for a lot of expectant parents, but there are lot of things to consider. You have cribs, and strollers, and diapers, and college for crying out loud, how can one little bundle of toy costs so much money?
Well, when you factor in health care, education, food, clothing, shelter, the average amount that the parent is going to spend to raise their child from birth to 18 is about 200, 000 dollars. (wow) And it can be a lot more.
Yeah, you, you've got these tips that you've come and you are using them yourself, right? (I am). You are used to doing, you , you are anyway, you are not sucking the joy out of this pregnancy for her, are you?
Ah, I hope not.
OK, right! The first tip you say is to buy in bulk.
Yes, my wife and I, um, have never been to a Cosco before.
What? Come on!
We just have another way that came up, we're just two adults. (It's great, isn't it? Yeah! ) It's amazing. (Yeah) And now, all of a sudden, we started to kind of check it out cause we know that we are probably gonna be spending a lot of time there. (Yeah! ) The prices are a lot better for things like diapers and formulae and other things, such are just amazingly much more cheaper.
You, you also say and I can remember this with the first baby, you want to have the best thing, you want to have the, the newest in all the labels and I remember telling my husband we've got to have this type of stroller. (Right). We really should be buying for the baby, not for us, isn't it? Cause at, at some points it's all about status. (Exactly)
Right, I mean you know, there is a certain point when you're buying a good product, and it costs a certain amount and then after that, it's all about what you want and what, you know, you think is important. The baby is a baby, baby is probably not gonna really know the difference. So long as something is safe, you know a good stroller can cost about , maybe 200 dollars at the top end. (All right. ) But there are strollers that go to a thousand dollars and, really, that's just like buying a little BMW for your kid or something. (haa, yeah)
Um, you say the other thing is you really need to figure out what your, say a monthly expenses will be an end. To that, you and your wife are sort of budgeting for a baby. You are taking this month (Yup) and tracking everything down to a pack of gum (inaudible)...
Absolutely. We walk around with a little piece of paper, during the day, and this is a good idea for anybody to do if they want to get a sense of where the money is going. And when you have a kid, all of that sort of good personal finance ideas really come into play, so I get the soda, I write it down, I take a cab somewhere, I write it down. (Even little things like that? )
Absolutely. Because that's what you are gonna start to see where some of your money is going. And you can say I have no idea I was taking that money taxies or something (inaudible). (Wow) Maybe I shouldn't be , you know, getting a soda every two hours and I should just get a bottle of water and refill latter, things like that.
Think about where. Think before you spend another. . . (exactly, yeah)
Um, one of the places that a lot of people miscalculate is, is right out of the gate. (Yup) You know, as soon as they leave the hospital, they're, you know , they perhaps don't have the right insurance (right) or what have you and they're paying more out of pocket than they ever thought they would.
Absolutely, I mean, the average parent once they're paying about 775 dollars out of pocket when they are going for a birth and the number can be as high as 2000 dollars. So what you want to do is call your insurer before you go to the hospital and find out exactly what's going to be covered and exactly what you'll have to pay for. There is probably not much you you can do at this point to change that but you at least can be prepared.
These are an awful lot of expenses. Er, they, when, when the baby comes and all of a sudden, things are, maybe then you were planning for (ur) prop-up, maybe an extra , a visitor tour to the doctor. (ummm) You know, one of the things you say also is that we should save, even if it's just a little bit, we need to save for, what, retirement?
For, well, we should save for both college education for your child and retirement. Um, if you can spend, if you can save ten dollars a week, for your child's college education, (40 dollars a month. ) Yeah but 500 dollars a year, you put that into something like a 529 plan or tax shelter that will, you know, grow without affecting your income tax. You have 30, 000 dollars by the time your kids are 18.
So you are saving for the college tuition but if you have to choose(oh yah) then the choice is retirement.
If you are prioritizing, um, it sounds a little kind of intuitive, but save for retirement. It's not to be cruel, it's just that there is a lot of financial options to pay for college, they're scholarships and financial aids. There are none of those things if you're trying to retire.
Ok, now here is the thing you and I were just talking at the green room, (Yeah) these kids outgrow these clothes. Like this. You, you've got an i(dea), yeah, right, you've got an idea that to, to help us there?
Well, "go used" is one big idea. I mean talk to your friends who've had children, do a clothing swap, get a circle of people together and do that. Go on eBay, go to the discount stores, I mean, you don't have to spend a lot of money on really fancy newborn equipment, you can just get a T-shirt.
Sam Grobart, good luck! (Thank you very much) You've been depending delivery.
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