Almost off topic... Are children really becoming more expensive?

Hello,

I have 2 babies - girl and boy - now 33 and 28 years young ;)

Because it is often read here that as long as the children are small, the costs are still low, but one should consider that this will change.... I wonder if that is really the case...

Oh yes ....

Currently we pay a total of €330 for childcare (was still €430 until recently) plus €130 for meals. Our little one uses about €50 worth of diapers per month.

The kindergarten fees have - compared to earlier - felt more affordable; but with us the 2nd child (in the same kindergarten) was free of charge. We didn’t get to benefit much from that since we moved around a lot for work. Our granddaughter currently attends her kindergarten completely free of charge, only the midday meal costs around €70/month.

Your note about diaper costs is interesting. I can well remember that diapers were always a fairly expensive item and mysteriously always ran out when no drugstore was open. So off to the pharmacy with emergency service and paid an extra fee that covered the emergency service. Washable diapers were never my cup of tea o_O My daughter was clean day and night at 1.5 years old, my son only at 4 years. I always wanted to calculate what we spent on diapers over the years but gave up for the sake of my nerves.

Therefore, I assumed that it would get somewhat cheaper at some point. :eek:

Just think about your own childhood, what you might have "cost" ?

Sure, they eat more. They also go on class trips max once a year. Fortunately, we have free teaching materials. Okay. And you can’t dress them in everything anymore.

Food is still the least of it ...

Until the end of kindergarten time everything is still bearable. During this time, you can buy many used items; clothes of course, but also strollers, tricycles and so on - relatives shower you with gifts which protect your wallet. The outings in kindergarten are modest in cost and you can still book your vacation outside the holiday season. However - if I observe the young generation of parents around me, it starts quite early these days with ballet, gymnastics or riding lessons, for example. The dear little ones have to be driven to the respective venues - from my own experience I can tell you that the “surroundings” of riding lessons were not cheap at all; the fee for the table tennis club of our oldest hardly made any difference. However, this changed drastically when he discovered BMX riding; overnight I learned that in this sport nearly every weekend races are held where trophies were awarded to the winners. Oh yes - our son tried just about everything; sometimes for reasonable prices, sometimes we went quite pale when presented with the bill. On the whole and in retrospect, our daughter’s riding lessons were the cheaper long-term option; even though that meant each year: new pants, new boots, new riding helmet, renewal of the necessary care utensils for the dear animals whose backs meant the world ;)

They grow more slowly, and don’t have to be constantly newly clothed. They don’t get as dirty, so they don’t need every piece of clothing multiple times. Two pairs of rubber boots, two pairs of mud suits, two pairs of snow suits... eventually fall away completely.

What actually costs more??? What have I overlooked?

As soon as our babies started school it became more predictable. Every half year new pencils, new notebooks, new extra books, “the” special fountain pen/compass/calculator etc., copying fees, class fund, milk/cocoa money and always - I still don’t know why that is - a little extra pocket money for the poor school. Not to mention that the classroom had to be renovated. Class trips became more expensive but still affordable compared to what awaited us in secondary schools. Clothing-wise it became more difficult, although I still covered part of it with used clothes. Had I not done so, nearly every garment would have had patches. I sewed a lot myself; I still do, it’s like a holiday from everyday life :D Speaking of holiday - the cheap holiday season is over with the start of compulsory schooling!

Secondary school is then the absolute knockout; only topped if your children aim for university studies. In addition to the half-yearly new purchases (of course more expensive in grammar school) come bus tickets (I think it was called the Schokoticket at our place) and school trips which we as adults would not have dreamed of affording. Clothing-wise the dears have reached an age where much psychology is needed. We handled this through pocket money and part-time jobs (e.g. delivering the church newsletter). “This is what you get from us for clothes; if you want brand clothes, you have to add on ... from your money!” For both children - besides unpleasant experiences with money (money management also has to be learned) - this led to them being very careful about who they called a friend and who not ;) Oh yes, before I forget: in secondary schools teachers fulfilled secret vacation wishes; at least that’s what we imagined. A week “class trip” to “skiing” in Switzerland could cost DM 800.00 per child; “without” pocket money and “without” necessary clothing (not everyone has ski clothing in their closet). The pocket money discussion with the other parents for this week was also “interesting” :mad:

At university - for us thank Mother Nature only for the eldest - costs for books are called up, you go pale ...

At this point I’ll stop, otherwise it will be a novel, because there are still: insurance/pocket money, new shoes twice a year, gifts for birthday/Easter/Christmas/driving license/car and all the little things which I will also leave out here. In short - it used to be said that a child costs you DM 100,000 until the age of 18; that included university/original vocational training costs. Today - even if converted 1:1 into euros - parents will not get by with that.

So much for the topic “it will get cheaper at some point” ...


PS: I just forgot. “Only” because children move out, get married or become parents themselves, they don’t get cheaper overnight either: cost participation 1. apartment, stay abroad, wedding costs, grandchildren costs. The called-for amounts (euros) change, but basically it applies: once a parent, always a parent :D

Rhenish greetings

Smiling and with an approving nod, I read Epi's post. There is virtually nothing to add to that... Best regards

I was just about to write exactly the same thing!!! :D

Ok, I have gotten a certain idea of what is still coming our way.

In terms of vacation, for professional reasons we are already tied to the holiday periods...

Nevertheless, I notice that I have a somewhat different attitude about whether I am willing to finance all wishes.

Someone put it aptly. You can only spend as much as you can afford and I would add a WILL to that.

I was probably a comparatively inexpensive daughter, which was partly because I had quite inexpensive hobbies, and partly because I had to (co-)finance my wishes quite early.

I/we will certainly be a bit more relaxed about that, but basically I find it important and right to get children used to handling money in time.

Well, I don't want to start a fundamental discussion now.

I received some good food for thought, was quite surprised by some answers.

Thank you!

Hello,

I have 2 babies - a girl and a boy - now 33 and 28 years young ;)


Oh yes....


The kindergarten fees have - compared to earlier - felt cheaper; on the other hand, our 2nd child (in the same kindergarten) was exempt from fees. We didn’t benefit much from that, as we moved around a lot for work. Our granddaughter currently attends her kindergarten completely free of charge, only the midday meal costs around €70.00/month.

Your note about diaper costs is interesting. I remember well that diapers were always quite an expensive item and would miraculously run out just when no drugstore was open. So off to the pharmacy with emergency service and paid an additional fee to cover the emergency service. Washable diapers were never sympathetic to me o_O My daughter was clean day and night at 1.5 years old, my son only at 4 years. I always wanted to calculate what we spent on diapers over the years, but eventually gave up for the sake of my nerves.


Think about your own childhood and what you might have “cost”?


Food is still the least of it...

Until the end of kindergarten, everything is still bearable. During this time, you can buy many used things; clothing of course, but also strollers, tricycles, and the like – relatives shower you with gifts which save your wallet. The kindergarten trips stay within a reasonable budget and you can still book your vacation outside of school holidays. However – when I observe the younger generation of parents around me, it starts quite early nowadays with ballet, gymnastics, or horseback riding lessons, for example. The little ones have to be driven to these places – from my own experience I can tell you that the “extras” around horseback riding were not cheap at all; the fee for our oldest’s table tennis club hardly made a difference. This changed abruptly when he discovered BMX riding; I learned overnight that races were held almost every weekend in this sport, with trophies awaiting the winners. Oh yes – our son tried nearly everything; sometimes at reasonable prices, other times we went quite pale when presented with the bill. All in all and in hindsight, horseback riding lessons for our daughter turned out to be the cheaper long-term option; even if it meant every year: new pants, new boots, new riding helmet, renewal of necessary care products for the beloved animals whose backs mean the world ;)


Once our babies started primary school, things became more predictable. Every half year new pens, new notebooks, special extra books, “that” special fountain pen/compass/calculator etc., photocopy fees, class fund, milk/cocoa money, and always – to this day I don’t know why – a little extra pocket money for the poor school. Not to mention that the classroom had to be renovated. Class trips became more expensive, but still cheap compared to what awaited us in secondary school. Clothing-wise it became more difficult, although I still covered part of it through used clothes. Had I not, almost every garment would have had patches. I sewed a lot myself; I still do, it’s like a holiday from everyday life for me :D Speaking of holidays – the cheap holiday season ends with the start of compulsory schooling!

Secondary school is then the ultimate knockout; only topped if your children favor university studies. Besides the half-yearly new purchases (naturally more expensive at the gymnasium), there are bus tickets (I think they called it the “chocolate ticket” in our case) and school trips, which as adults we wouldn’t dream of affording. Clothing-wise, the dear ones have reached an age where a lot of psychology is needed. We handled this through pocket money and 1st jobs (e.g., delivering the church newsletter). “This is what you get from us for clothing; if you want brand clothes, you have to chip in ... from your money!” For both children – besides some unpleasant experiences with money (money management also has to be learned) – this led them to look very closely at whom they called friends and whom not ;) Oh yes, before I forget: in secondary schools, teachers secretly fulfilled holiday wishes; at least that’s how we imagined it. A week class trip for skiing in Switzerland could cost up to DM 800.00 per child; “without” pocket money and “without” required clothing (not everyone has ski clothes in the closet). The pocket money discussion with other parents for that week was also “interesting” :mad:

At university – for us, thanks to Mother Nature, only for the older son – costs for books were charged, that made you go pale...

I’ll stop here, otherwise this will become a novel, as insurance/pocket money, 2 pairs of new shoes/year, gifts for birthday/Easter/Christmas/driving license/car and all the little things, which I will also save myself at this point, are still missing. In short – it used to be said that a child costs you DM 100,000 by the time they turn 18; university/original vocational training costs were already included. Today – even if converted 1:1 into euros – parents won’t manage with that.

So much for the topic “it will get cheaper someday”...


PS: I just forgot. “Just” because children move out someday, get married, or become parents themselves, they don’t suddenly get cheaper: cost contribution 1st apartment, stay abroad, wedding costs, grandchildren costs. The listed fees (euros) change, but fundamentally: once parents, always parents :D

Rhine greetings

Exactly that :D When children move out, it doesn’t mean they are independent right away. :D

Children certainly get a bit more expensive as they grow older, but the voluntary portion of the costs is significantly higher than the "must-share," that is, the bare subsistence level, which today is just under 230 euros for children under 6 years old - and for those over 6 years, the amount is only 30 euros higher. All expenses except housing are covered by these amounts. Of course, then there is no pocket money for cocoa at school, no hobbies, no vacations, no outings, and no mobile phone - also no driver’s license at 18. This corresponds to how I myself grew up. Earning money was not possible, as every euro was immediately deducted from the rate. Did it harm me? Yes. It was tough as a child to always be the only one left empty-handed when milk and cocoa were distributed, never able to talk about vacations, and I still don’t have a driver’s license today. I wouldn’t voluntarily raise a child like that. But I consider the other extreme just as wrong. However, I also believe that no child should have to earn the money for a bus ticket or pocket money themselves if the parents have enough money. For educational reasons or whatever else. My husband had to work in the hospitality industry for pocket money from the age of 16, even though he also had to study all day for school "on the side." Not even the weekend was free, but he had to work through it, often late into the night even though there was school again in the morning. I thought that was rather inappropriate on the part of the parents. A basic amount of pocket money is necessary, in my opinion.