Have you ever sat down and calculated how much money you’ve spent raising your child?
Think about it; if you crunched the numbers from the moment you first discovered you were pregnant until today, the amount of cash you’ve likely dropped on your precious bundle of joy probably exceeds five figures.
It’s no surprise that the cost associated with raising kids is a hot topic among parents. So much so that you can visit just about any baby-centric website these days and calculate how much a child will set you back financially. For example, Babycenter.com features a handy dandy calculator that computes how much a baby will cost to raise depending on where you live and how much income you generate. Just be prepared; the results may surprise you. For instance, type in “Northeast U.S.” and reveal that you are making more than 100k per year and the calculator will tell you that you can expect to pay more than $500,000 on your child from birth until age 18. And that doesn’t even take into account splurges on fancy accessories, family vacations or designer baby duds.
Pareting.com did some number crunching of its own and found that the average middle-income family will spend roughly $12,000 on child-related expenses—in just the first year of their baby’s life. Each additional year will run an extra $1,000 plus.
Of course, there are parents who don’t think twice about dropping $1,000 on a single stroller or five grand on crystal-studded bassinets. I don’t know these parents. However, according to Bundle.com, they’re out there, and most of them reside on the East Coast.
The site recently published the results of a survey it conducted to determine which cities are home to the most spoiled kids in America. Bundle examined spending by households with children at stores that sell toys, clothing and other services for infants, kids, and teens. Turns out parents living in Manhattan, New York spend nearly double the U.S. average on their offspring. In other words, dropping a million dollars on baby is nothing out of the ordinary for moms and dads living in the Big Apple. Rounding out the top 10:
*Brooklyn
*Miami
*Minneapolis
*Tulsa
*Dallas
*Atlanta
*Los Angeles
*San Diego
*Fort Lauderdale
Interestingly, I happen to live near two of the cities that ranked at the bottom of the list.
Apparently, frugal living reigns supreme here in the Midwest.
The cities boasting the largest number of penny-pinching parents include: Columbus, Ohio; Indianapolis, Indiana; Milwaukee, Wisconsin and Madison, Wisconsin.
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