Monthly living expenses with a child

I can hardly believe that, at 3 people that would be about €1.30/meal with 3 meals a day? Do you ever eat out or have a nice barbecue with friends or enjoy a bottle of wine and some good cheese in the evening?

I think you shouldn’t go below €500 for those things unless, of course, you enjoy your life in a different way......

The more you cook, the cheaper it is per portion. Especially when you cook yourself (from a sack of potatoes you get a lot of side dishes). Non-main meals are (for us) cheap; if I eat a slice of bread "with something on it" in the evening or a cup of muesli in the morning, that’s well under €1.30. Occasionally you do eat something more expensive, but I think that’s very individual. Aside from that, my wife and I have actually stopped drinking alcohol since the little ones arrived (the evening also starts later and is often filled with work or housework), and cheese as a "treat" not either. Even though there is often something of high quality, we manage with low amounts as well.
Oh yes, and eating out with two small children (2.6 and 0.6 years) is not exactly relaxing... it’s really not worth it. Occasionally we do order delivery though.

With private health insurance and daycare (which for us won’t start until the end of the year) I estimate about €500 per child. But daycare spots are cheaper for us (there are other cities where it’s almost free). The second child can also wear some things from the first, so that’s certainly a bit cheaper with purchases as well (I certainly won’t build a second climbing frame).

It’s more about how much money you have to reckon for food, personal care, and clothing (neither luxury nor very basic, but solid middle range) and occasional weekend activities (like going to a water park, zoo, or indoor playground).

Here two children (5 and 7 years old), average values 2015: - Clothing including shoes 50 euros/month - Toys/gifts 30 euros/month I can’t tell you the amount for food and personal care specifically for the children, only that the catering in daycare/after-school care is about 40 euros/month/child. Leisure ... no idea, in my opinion it’s hard to compare.

I think so too. Gifts, parties, food, clothing (very important), shoes, higher vacation costs

That fits well to live a reasonable life. From the second child on, it gets cheaper. However, you will never manage with your vacation money. It gets really expensive when you have to travel during the holiday season and pay the "holiday price." Even two weeks of camping cost us more all in than your budget last year (three children, rented a caravan in Austria).

Our child is almost 2 years old. Initial equipment was pretty much exactly 8300 EUR. No luxury... but everything new and high quality. Examples: stroller + Quinny 1300 EUR, car seat + seat approx. 600 EUR etc.

Monthly costs for diapers, clothing etc. have settled at approx. 200 EUR. I leave out food... that's not worth mentioning. Daycare costs us around 700 EUR. Since our child is compulsorily insured under private health insurance, that's another approx. 200 EUR. In total about 1000 EUR per month. Makes the ridiculous child benefit kind of nice. Daycare and private health insurance don't apply to you... be glad.

Regards, Steffen

Daycare costs 700 €? Wow, that's really expensive. Was this amount determined based on income?

What do you think?

And initial equipment is not a luxury at 8300 euros??? Well, we bought the stroller new from Teutonia (which we would never do again), but otherwise all that stuff didn’t cost much. Roughly estimated, maybe 1000-1500 euros...

It depends on the perspective, what you invest and whether that is a lot... so the question from the OP can’t really be answered.

For us, it was also more like €1500. You weren’t exactly the hippest in the park when walking the dog - um, taking a walk - but if you’re beyond that