So basically, Mini Gel is costing me a fortune at the moment (and there was me thinking I'd be better off once I'd moved up North)

Including childcare I reckon Mini G costs me approx £550 per month, which seems like heaps to me, but is it? How much does one of yours cost? And is it true there are economies of scale, so I might as well have another :D?

PS: Please tell me it gets better not worse :glare:

I really don't know how much my children cost me as I don't keep count anymore but it is loads......

And I am sorry to say it does get a lot worse!

Only the thought of Ebay is keeping me sane :sad:

Gigi is pretty cheap to run. Childminding costs are minimal (Cockney), she eats what we eat on the whole, and we get given lots of clothes by our posh rich friends :ninja: .


Toys are the only real expense and family and firends are pretty generous there too.

Sorry Gel, I'm not helping much am I? :bag:

Fairly low childminding fees/bus fares. Lunch money. Packed lunch. The odd treat (don't get pocket money), haircuts. Probably just tips the £250.

On an average month - not too bad. NO childminding fees - all at school full time, and I didn't work until they were, £20 pocket money between them. Ocassional treats.....probably about £100 per month in total on them.

send her down t'pit as soon as she can walk!!!!

They cost a blummin fortune and even MORE as they get older, I bet it costs me 50 quid a week just to FEED Lewie, let alone all the "extras".....its about 50 quid a week for Jade which includes the "i neeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeed them" toiletries etc......

then there are the regular "can I have a couple of quid" requests.....

Good job im back at work :glare:

I'd highly recommend getting them second hand - they are satisfyingly grateful for every crust and hand-me-down that heads their way :thumbsup:

I've been doing it all wrong, I got all the baby stuff second hand but he was new. Wonder if it's too late to correct my error?

As they get older and start working they get less expensive!!

And - sometimes they buy you a drink:beer:

Yes they are.


Buy a kitten, quicker to housetrain :)

M

I don't even want to think about it!

Just the wages Mrs Secrets has lost to stay at home and raise five kids is staggering.
Just sending Clare to University has cost me 12k so far.:sad:

My children are pretty cheap at the moment - I think it is the BOGOF thing Tesco are doing!!!

No seriously, at the moment - they are costing us very little - they both get the school bus to school [paid for by the Edu Dept], they both have extra school things [again free supplied by the school], the eldest gets pack lunch with whatever scratchings I can find. The youngest does have school meals & milk - but that is food and I don't really count that.

And other than that, all I have bought for them in the last year is one pair of trainers [tiddles - so cheap]. The eldest gets his elder brothers hand me down [Gucci, Prada, Replay and YSL hand-me-downs], and tiddles gets whatever he is given and loves it all.

My only expediture, that I can think of is Tiddles gets the Action Man comic every fortnight or month or three weeks [I can never remember] - but this keeps him occupied for at least two weeks.

So Gel - they are cheap. I say no to all requests and maintain that going and playing outside with worms and bikes is the best way to be as a child. It did me no harm and I still hate my mother!! [joke!!]

My only expediture, that I can think of is Tiddles gets the Action Man comic every fortnight or month or three weeks [I can never remember] - but this keeps him occupied for at least two weeks.[joke!!]

Ooh I bought my two this comic and the free gift in it was a spy scope.
My two have been running round the garden looking for worms and insects to scope out. They are into discovery kids channel at the moment.

My two don't cost me that much I don't think. No pocket money, get hand me down clothes from my sis that go through Sean then onto Steven. If I do need to buy them clothes, Matalan, Primark and Asda are the shops of choice. Comics and small treats every now and then.
The only thing they do cost me on is food. They are both such fussy eaters the only thing that they eat that me and hubby eat is roast dinners. So I am buying them stuff every week from the shops.

Ooh I bought my two this comic and the free gift in it was a spy scope.
My two have been running round the garden looking for worms and insects to scope out. They are into discovery kids channel at the moment.

.

Top Tip Andrea - enter every competition in the Action Man comic - one day you will win, keep the prize and give it to one of the boys as a b'day pressie!!

We do this every month, and he won once - but I was soooooo excited that he won we gave him the parcel when he came in from school - his face was the bestestestest face in the wooooorld - it was like Christmas 10x over!! He was soooooo proud that he had won [although we did the comp for him - we pretended he was the clever and special one].

But let me tell you the next one - I am defo keeping the prize for Xmas or a birthday!!

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Kids don't really have to cost a lot, I know if you take school fees out of the equation [I don't consider that equation] and food - they really shouldn't cost a lot at all. Most expense is down to peer pressure - or other kids parents spending ludicrous amounts of money on their kids.

One of my eldest son's friend is spoilt rotten - his allowance is obscene, he has every gadget, download, cd, mobile phone, camera thing, etc know to man. His parents allow him to buy stuff off ebay wiolly nilly without checking - he bought 72 cans of Mountain Dew [a fizzy drink from the US] it cost him 55GBP. He is 14 years old?? How stupid and irresponsible is that?? Apart from the fact that the child is FAT and has horrible teeth!! Ooo I get really annoyed about this.

Blame the parents!!!!:ranting:

My boys cost me a fortune in food, they never stop eating ever so that is a large expense I didn't have when they were little. Then of course they grow so quick and need new clothes and shoes all the time. And when you buy new shoes it is not just shoes, but new football boots, new AstroTurfs, new trainers as well!

Then of course there is football subs, athletic subs, travel expenses to the tournaments and meets. Money for the disco once every 2 months, money for cards and presents if they go to party, money for trips at school etc etc and that is only boys, my daughter was way more expensive!

So teenagers are definitely more expensive to run than babies! :laugh:

My son is very cheap to run except for the food - he is just an eating machine, and I get really annoyed when I stock up the fridge and then turn around and it's empty again!! But other than that he really is relatively low maintenance ... as am I ... any rich men out there wanna take us on?!?!

Now he's 11 we don't get hand-me-down clothes anymore, but when he was little these were a godsend.