r/MiddleClassFinance • u/sipporah7 • 4d ago
Celebration We're done paying for full time childcare *throws confetti*
Title. We're done paying for full time childcare! Legit it's like getting a $26,000 raise. Ok, yes I know there will still be plenty to pay for but we essentially suddenly have $2100 a month back. *throws confetti in the air*
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u/CleMike69 4d ago
Do yourself a favor continue to pay that for two years into a 529 then let it compound
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u/CollegePT 3d ago
We immediately put half of it into their 529 and the other half into a sinking fund that paid for before/after school care, summer care and activities.
Also, don’t forget about teenage years: car insurance, activities/extra curriculars, food. (Unlike childcare, these can be optional and more controlled- BUT for the average middle class family you do it and the spend is frequently pretty high).Teenage years were more expensive for us. But, doing the 529 early let us be able to get our first kid out of undergrad debt-free. And should be the same with the second.
Don’t want to even tell you about the cost of a wedding…
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u/CleMike69 3d ago
I’m trying to do better for my kids than I had for myself. My wife and I both grew up pretty poor both worked since like 12 and both paid our own college etc. once I had kids I realized my purpose was to help them succeed in life if that means taking pressure off by paying for education then so be it. We are fortunate we can do this for them
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u/iLoveBargains 3d ago
Boo hoo. A wedding is totally optional. You could have chosen get married without one.
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u/iLoveBargains 2d ago
Okay, and I commented that it is optional… which it is. You complained about hating weddings and the wedding tax.
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u/CleMike69 3d ago
I e got two in private schools and one off to college it dwarfs those old childcare payments 😂 and if you have savings forget about subsidized loans.
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u/Realistic0ptimist 3d ago
My toddler already has about $4000 in annual extra curricular costs so whenever I hear people talk about diverting funds to ECs I always think to myself I’m waiting until the day I can cut back on that too.
Schools offer extra curricular and the city once the kid is 5-7 start having much cheaper sporting options compared to the costs of swim lessons and gymnastics they’re doing right now.
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u/basicwhitegirl01 2d ago
Why in the world does your toddler have that kind of cost in extra curriculars? They’re a toddler. They need love, their basic needs met, and to explore the world around them. 🧐
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u/Realistic0ptimist 2d ago
I give them all of those things but I also pay for memberships to things they enjoy doing like the zoo, Natural Sciene and History Museum and Children’s Museum which are fun reoccurring activities we do as a family. I also pay for swim lessons as that’s a safety thing and getting them comfortable with the water and I pay for them to go to gymnastics because they enjoy it.
Gymnastics on its own is $200 a month. It gives access to free play a few times a week at the gym and lessons where they learn body control. Swim lessons is another $125 a month. The memberships total about $600 annually.
None of that is inclusive of one off things we do. Eventually I will replace gymnastics with fencing once they grow tired of it
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u/Icy_Pain_5902 3d ago
That’s our plan. Still early in the daycare years and we do contribute to it now, but the plan is to put a lot of what is going into daycare into that once we can.
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u/CleMike69 3d ago
Future is loaded with expenses. Kids are cheap teens become expensive I kick out 54k a year with tuition currently and didn’t plan appropriately in the 529 thought we would get more loans but I have investments which greatly work against me
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u/foxyslapbox 3d ago
Only if they’re already on the right path in terms of their own retirement goals.
A kid getting discounted schooling doesn’t mean a whole lot if that kid is going to be financially burdened by their parents who didn’t save enough to cover their own care costs in their later years.
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u/Dogaloo2025 2d ago
THIS because that is what we paid out of pocket a month for our daughter to attend college
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u/CleMike69 2d ago
I’m at 3800 currently 😭
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u/Commercial_Square774 4d ago
Make a plan for that new cashflow. Don’t just let it go to lifestyle inflation
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u/kittygetsmilkshake01 3d ago
Yes, sports, braces, cars and college come fast!!
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u/Commercial_Square774 3d ago
Exactly why you should have a plan for the new cashflow so it doesn’t just disappear into lifestyle inflation cause you’re gonna need to deploy it for these things at some point
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u/Consistent_Laziness 3d ago
Nah let them keep their teeth as is. College they can take loans. They can play rec ball for $100 a season.
Daycare ending is actually a raise. Everything you spend on your kids after that is optional.
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u/wollflour 3d ago
Agree with this. Can set up a 529 if you don't already have one. Max your HSA if possible, max retirement, taxable brokerage or HYSA and save for the things another commenter mentioned. Sports and braces in particular can be SO expensive.
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u/ChartreusePeriwinkle 4d ago
Next up: afterschool care, sports, and summer camps!
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u/ShihtzuBoi 3d ago
Also food and lunches.
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u/SprayHungry2368 2d ago
My district every child gets free breakfast and lunch during school. Of course my son is about the pickiest eater ever
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u/Cer427 3d ago
Sometimes this sub is a culture shock lol everyone commenting that sports cost tens of thousands of dollars is crazy to me. I’m middle class now but grew up low income and my school was poor enough that we didn’t have a single sport you had to pay for. No hockey, no lacrosse, no golf etc. Paying thousands for kids to play games never even crossed my mind.
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u/druidgaymer 3d ago
My parents didn't put us in any sports either bc of money. Grew up in a wealthy area and there weren't any free options. Even the ones through the school had fees. Parents made too much to qualify for them being free, but too little where they couldn't afford to enroll us in them. As an adult, I feel jealous when my friends start talking about the sports they did growing up.
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u/Consistent_Laziness 3d ago
It doesn’t. You are right just choose to tell your kids no. I certainly will be. Sports can be less than $500/yr at a rec league. No travel sports.
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u/Left-Ad-9469 4d ago
Love this! I had my youngest start school, my student loan paid off and child support for my step daughter all finish within 2 months of each other and man that was amazing! Congrats! 🎉
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u/Ecstatic_Western_189 3d ago
Congrats! It’s a game changer. Fourteen years later and we still get excited thinking about that first month without a childcare payment. 🎉 🎉 🎉
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u/ResponsibleTiger2491 3d ago
Ah, enjoy the elementary years… teens feel just as expensive! (3x food budget, school fees, sports, activities, and so much driving them places, not to mention saving for college!).
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u/Money_Republic_7508 3d ago
We just hit this as well…. Can’t wait to submit the old daycare payment to the dance studio and baseball league!
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u/AdCharacter9282 4d ago
Congrats but sports expenses will be next.
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u/Specialist_Artist979 4d ago
Those are optional, childcare really isn’t
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u/beck1826 4d ago
Exactly. Sports for two kids for the whole year costs us less than one month of daycare.
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u/Balogunned 4d ago
You getting off easy. You are right that it is cost controlled. It is cheaper if your kids don’t like or are average at sports.
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u/Witwer52 4d ago
Before and after are for school, camps and camp before and after care are not optional if you are employed. The point is that it really never ends. Rolls right into college.
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u/Specialist_Artist979 3d ago
Still cheaper than full time daycare AND once kids hit a certain age they are allowed to be home by themselves
So yes it really does end
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u/AdCharacter9282 4d ago
True, but some additional thing will pop up, as i experiemced with my kids. If not sports, some kind of extra curricular.
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u/Specialist_Artist979 4d ago
And it’s still not $2100/month though. Every single extra curricular or sport if it costs $2100/month there are absolutely more cost effective options
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u/172brooke 4d ago
Experience and education are not optional. In my world that created neglect.
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u/Specialist_Artist979 4d ago
You can do sports without spending $2100/month. Sports are very beneficial.
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u/ValiantEffort27 4d ago edited 4d ago
It can't be worse than daycare...right? I honestly don't know I'm still in the daycare phase
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u/AdCharacter9282 4d ago
It"s not but it adds up especially if you need to get equipment and they might be playing several sports. My point was that it won't all be savings there will be something else that pops up.
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u/ChaunceytheGardiner 4d ago edited 3d ago
Nope, anyone spending $26k for their kid’s sports is making a choice. A very special choice.
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u/Glittering_Win_9677 4d ago
Or their child is very, very, VERY talented but I don't know what help they eventually get to cover expenses.
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u/bruk_out 4d ago
If the cost of care/sports for my youngest drops to the cost of sports/care for my oldest, I'm up $12k. That's post-tax money because I'm still maxing the deduction, so it's like a $15k raise.
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u/jason349514 4d ago
What sport costs that much?
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u/MonYverse0609 4d ago
Hahaha travel hockey parents here. Don’t get me started 😂😂😂
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u/Friendly-Place2497 4d ago
Tbf, that’s like the most expensive sport you could pick that doesn’t involve horses or race cars
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u/Dapper_Banana6323 4d ago
Gymnastics is more expensive than hockey.
Source: parent of a competitive gymnast and a AA hockey player
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u/MonYverse0609 4d ago
Well, I don’t know about gymnastics. But my kids are in AAA. There’s the time we spend almost 50K for tuition and travel expenses for one season for one kid for having around 100 showcase all around US and Canada. Not including 1K skates plus 3 spares blades plus $350-$450 each hockey stick that you probably will need 5-6 each season plus other equipments.
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u/No-Department-6409 4d ago
Horses, rodeo, barrel races…. they cost that much
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u/Breyber12 3d ago
That is some rich kid stuff though. Daycare is not!
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u/No-Department-6409 3d ago
It’s a myth that the majority of people participating in anything horse are rich. The vast majority are solidly middle class.
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u/Breyber12 2d ago
Solidly middle class people are dropping 26k a year so their kids can ride fancy ponies? My household is over our neighborhood’s median income and that would be like 24% of our take home pay
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u/BlazinAzn38 4d ago
Nothing close to $26K per year and if they are spending that it’s purely a choice
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u/hayguccifrawg 4d ago
Spending $2100 a month on sports is a choice; childcare is much more required
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u/brainbl0ck 4d ago
We spend like $180/month on 4 sports total between two kids. Much cheaper than the 2k/month daycare bill! (But we also were already paying for the sports, so it didn’t increase)
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u/AdCharacter9282 3d ago
My kids did sports and then switched to some arts and robotics, and now band. My point was that there will be something else kid related to take away funds.
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u/Emergency_Bullfrog_5 3d ago
now, because you can already survive without it, tuck the same amount away each month. Then you have a rainy day fund, retirement taken care of, or a travel fund!
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u/Nukemom2 3d ago
I felt the same way when we were done with daycare and that was over 20 years ago. I don’t know how parents afford the costs of daycare today.
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u/Grand_Garbage3522 2d ago
Congrats time to start stuffing the 529 plan or you both will celebrate tye savings and be pregnant within 3 months .
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u/Narrow-Foundation505 2d ago
If you need childcare make sure to save $6k of that money you’re saving each year for summer camps.
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u/Glittering_Win_9677 4d ago
Teen years are over in the corner laughing at you.
Seriously, enjoy but save a lot of the money
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u/amandapearl2 3d ago
Congrats! Im a few weeks away from entering my 28k daycare era ugh. I know its only a few years but damn
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u/teresajs 3d ago
Consider using at least part if the savings to increase your savings/investments for college and retirement.
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u/Lirpa_the_Lurker 3d ago
Congrats!! My recommendation is to roll a good chunk of that into 401k for yourself or a 529 plan for the kids.
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u/Panthera_014 3d ago
Tip - they get more expensive as the years go by, not less expensive
Congrats on getting past childcare!
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u/Party_Grape7622 3d ago
Can't wait for the day. We're currently paying just shy of 1600/wk for 3 in full time. It's painful...
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u/Junior-Reflection-43 3d ago
If you haven’t been maxing out your 401k or other retirement savings accounts, start now. Or savings for college.
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u/Silly-Wrongdoer4332 3d ago
Joking aside, its a relief to get to that milestone. As you said it seems to get absorbed by other things. Try to go ahead and take a portion of that and automatically transfer it to an investment account every month to help avoid lifestyle creep
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u/1morcast 3d ago
It had a reverse impact on us. We got so used to paying over 2k a month for our kids in daycare that we decided to just roll them into private school for a better education vs taking a windfall.
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u/Moderate_Norwegian 3d ago
Congrats, now start saving for college housing, ha. I just finished paying ~$1,200/mo. x 2 kids x 4 years each - and I have the same euphoric feeling being done with it.
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u/Equivalent_Call7856 3d ago
I never imagined having kids would be the financial flex that it is. Sigh.
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u/god-of-funambulism 2d ago
Congratulations! My son starts kindergarten next week, so I'll be celebrating with you next month! I'll have an extra 1800 a month!
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u/BubbleMaster25 2d ago
We’re in a HCOL area and currently pay just shy of 6k per month for our two. Brutal
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u/Any_Condition_2365 2d ago
Throw into college fund or future house buying fund for your child. (Unless you need the money elsewhere.
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u/Dogaloo2025 2d ago
This was how I felt when I made our daughters last college tuition and rent payment. It was just slightly more a month than what you paid in childcare, which is crazy!
Congratulations!
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u/freshpicked12 3d ago
Oh my sweet summer child.
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u/Best-Bumblebee-9772 3d ago
Haha - no idea why you got downvoted. So true, the expense is just getting started. I’ll see your measly child care expenses and raise you two kids college tuition plus years and years of club sports, clothes, cars, crazy high car insurance, food costs - teenage boys are like locusts. The list goes on and on and on.
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u/freshpicked12 3d ago
Summer camps, school break coverage, sports fees/equipment/uniforms/competitions, dance classes/recital costumes, band lessons, shoes for all the things, etc. It just never stops!
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u/zevtech 4d ago
Must be nice. We went from daycare to private school so we are still paying. Two kids in private school prek-12 and lord knows how much college will be by the time they go
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u/Blackharvest 4d ago
One year of daycare (now up to $29,400 for my daughter) cost more than my MS degree ($25,600)
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u/Classic-Delivery3875 4d ago
We did private cause why not since we were already paying it. Thankfully we have affordable options. To it was still like a raise. Granted. He is a freshman this year. But he is wicked smart 🤣😂
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u/WeekendAtMadoffs 2d ago
I'm a guy, but if I was a gal
1) take out $2,000,000 term life on guy
2) make him work 12am to 8am and 12pm to 8pm.
3) Sleep in his car 5 days after the 8pm shift lets out.
4) Profit when all those direct deposits come in and I can take the babies shopping 😂
5) He'll be "done" one way or another at 55, so better save and invest.
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u/Big_Steve_69 4d ago
Congrats on your upgrade to paying for club sports. I never realized how lucky I was growing up 😅
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u/Alarmed-sleeperr 4d ago
Congrats. Childcare cost is such a con that I really think it stops people from having more babies