Looks like we’ve spent an additional $869.42 on el bebe since our last update a month and a half ago, jeez… And that doesn’t even count any of the hospital bills for when he was birthed!
But I should have those numbers here shortly – still waiting for 1 or 2 more things to come in and I’ll add ’em all up and see what our TRUE costs were vs. what they’re billing our insurance… and a damn good thing we were on top of all that stuff too, or we’d be in deep doo-doo having to pay all those bills ourselves! Man, what a racket…
Other interesting things since our last update on Baby J:
- He now recognizes his mom and dad :)
- He
talkscoos and smiles all over the place! - He’s mesmerized by our couch cushions (??)
- He’s less than 2 months old, yet fits in 3-6 months clothes!
- He one time slept for 5 hours at night, setting a new world record
- We’ve had zero scares since those debacles 6 weeks ago ;)
- He hates Pawn Stars, but LOVES The Wire! Even though we cringe when he hears cursing :( And then feel like bad parents for not turning it off! (It’s sooooo good though, we just started season 4!) When do kids start understanding all this stuff anyways?
- We’re now gonna start breast pumping so Dad can help out more at night.
- We have a hard time not talking about him all the time, but refuse to be “those” people!
- And I officially became a dad when I said (I kid you not), “He’ll poke his eye out with that thing!” in response to giving him a slingshot later… Wow.
- UPDATE: Last night was the first time Baby $ slept in his room alone! WOOHOO!!
You can see our entire costs so far from pregnancy and beyond here: Ultimate Baby Costs Tracker. And I’ll continue giving you lovely updates about him as time goes on too ;) 11 months in and 17 more years to go! Haha… then we FINALLY get to see the true costs of having a kid this whole time – should be interesting… Anyone want to make any predictions?
Happy Weekend all :) Start saving now if you’ll be making your *own* babies this weekend!
———-
PS: That portrait up there is titled “Don’t Shoot!”
Get blog posts automatically emailed to you!
OMG…. What a beautiful baby ! The title for the picture is funny too.We have two boys.They’re both grown.19 and 22.Enjoy them while they are so tiny.They seriously grow up too fast.I wasn’t ready a year ago when my oldest moved out of state to Texas.
I have a 2 year old, 15 year old and 17 year old and I can assure you that your expenses have just begun. The 2 year is far cheaper than the teens. That being said, the joy they bring is priceless. Enjoy this time to its fullest. Oh, just want to mention too that giving birth here in Thailand costs just $1000 or so (including 3 days, 2 nights in the hospital). Aren’t the insurance companies and government interference into healthcare a wonderful thing?
Definitely not planning on making babies anytime soon but hopefully this will be a wake up call for those who want one about how you need to be financially prepared. I’m not shocked at all, I figured they were pretty expensive!
How are you going to calculate your lost time. For example, taking time off working because Baby J put a worm down a girl’s shirt, I mean, won an award for helping senior citizens cross the street, and you and Mrs Money were summoned, I mean invited, to the principal’s office?
Do you have ceiling fans? Our boy loves staring at the ceiling fan… loves it!
We’re six months pregnant and we love the baby updates! It makes me a little anxious that we don’t have enough money saved, but it’s great motivation. Thanks!
LOL, I like the picture title! I think becoming one of “those parents” is inevitable, since every single one of my friends who said the same thing actually did become “those parents.” But it’s OK really! He’s your kid and you earned that right! (Just don’t turn it into a daddy blog-lol!) :)
Love the picture! I gave my niece a winnie the pooh and piglet stuffed animal and she is facinated by Piglet. This is funny because I just do not like Piglet at all–I don’t even know why. And I think becoming one of those parents is fine–totally entitled to it.
Cutie, cute, cute!!
He is so cute :) Good luck! Babies are $$$$ pit :)
Definitely will be interested to see how the expenses all shake out. Would it ever make sense to use all your $2 bills instead of baby wipes on his little behind? =). Kidding, of course.
I’m terrified of the costs of infants (and infants for that matter) so am eagerly awaiting all the future updates!
He’s a cutie pie. Our kid is not costing us a lot extra these days. Diapers and whole milk cost probably around $40/month and he’s eating the same food we do now. He is getting a lot more picky though and is learning to throw tantrums when he doesn’t get what he wants….
Diapers are a killer. Maybe you should start a dad blog.
I started a savings fund for having future babies, but seriously thinking of taking the money and spending it on school instead. By the time I can truly afford a baby I will be too old to have any. Besides with no family except the hubby I don’t see any way of handling a baby. I am sure there are ways, but my logic brain is screaming hell no you idiot lol.
I think I will spend the money on Broncos tickets in November and be a lot happier. ;)
What a cutie ! Too funny about the couch cushion. Babies are expensive, definitely going to need to get into better financial shape before we even dream of having one!!
Oh those couch cushions!
I know puppies aren’t 100% like babies, but Bullet will sometimes sit and watch a closed door just to see if someone will come out of it. Like the door to the basement when no one is downstairs. I think it’s like the longest game of peek-a-boo.
I can’t imagine how much it costs to have a child! And raise one! Makes me feel like we have to prepare, but parents always tell me, you can never be financially ready to have a child.
Thanks everyone!! You guys are too sweet :) He smiles and coos right back at ya! And says he’ll be blogging to you all here soon too, so get ready! Haha…
@Dena – Oh man, I bet! I swear ours has doubled in size in the past three weeks – it’s insane. Next thing I know he’ll be asking for the car keys and running around with women, right? ;)
@Steve – Haha, indeed my man, indeed. Had no idea you had some teens on your hands too, that’s awesome. Next time I’m in Thailand I’m stopping by to meet everyone :) Which may be forever unfortunately since I have yet to go out there!
@Lance @ Money Life and More – One day the time will come and you can look back fondly to these posts of mine and see what you’re about to get into ;)
@Slackerjo – Hahahhahaha… omg, best comment of the year right there, well done ;) kids and their worms… Seriously though, I don’t think I’ll count that stuff. Unless it costs me money somehow cuz I don’t finish a project or throw up an ad and then lose it or something, it’ll be too much to deal with and I’ll just give up the next time ;) Plus, even if I had a normal 9-5 and salary, I’d still get paid for leaving here and there from work, so it wouldn’t cost anything outside of my sanity anyways. Interesting idea though, I hadn’t thought about that yet.
@tom – YES!! We do! Like 5! Haha… and you’re totally right, they are mesmerized by those things! It’s pretty funny.
@Jackie – Awww you guys will be fine! They change your life soooo much that money isn’t as high of a thought like it was before cuz they’re so damn cute ;) Even though, of course, money is even MORE important from that point going forward, haha… but things have a way of working themselves out. And people love helping too, so let your family and friends when they offer! They have fun doing it too for the new baby :) I’m so excited for you guys, congrats!
@Budget & the Beach – HAH! Def. no daddy blogger here ;) Though I have thought about starting a separate one for all that kinda stuff, but it’s probably best I spend the time on the baby *instead* of yet another online project, haha… so I don’t think we’ll be seeing DaddyJMoney.com anytime soon.
@bogofdebt – Haha… what did piglet ever do to you?? ;)
@Lauren @ LBee and the Money Tree – Thanks thanks thanks!
@SavvyFinancialLatina – Yeah they are. But also a cuteness pit!
@MrsPoP @ PlantingOurPennies – Hahahhaa… omg that would be prety funny. It would probably cost around the same swapping out $2 bills with diapers too! ;)
@Joe @ Retire By 40 – Very cool! You guys must have a good system down over there. And blinders on when you walk into kids stores – I get sooo excited to pick him out a new outfit or something, it’s so new and fun! :)
@Brent Pittman – See 6 comment responses up ;)
@LB – HAH! I’d probably spend or invest the money now rather than later too. You just never know what’s gonna happen in life, and maybe you’ll want kids later or you won’t. But either way it’ll be fine and you just re-prioritize things :) We only have a little family around us, but for the most part it’s just the wife and me taking care of the babe and we don’t know what the heck we’re doing, haha… the little guys train you though :) It’s all a learning process and pretty surreal.
@Gillian @ Money After Graduation – You’re gonna have fun when that day comes though!! With or without a lot of money, all they REALLY need is tons of love! That’s what our nurse actually told us when Baby $ was first born: “If all else fails, just love him. You can’t ever overdo it” I liked that :) And will never probably forget it either.
@Jenna, Adaptu Community Manager – How freaky would it be if he started barking down there and someone WAS in your basement?? ACK! Or maybe he sees a ghost?? A good one? Haha… Should I stop? :)
@John – Yeah, I think that’s totally true too. You figure it all out along the way anyways, and even if you had a lot less you just re-prioritize and come up with a new strategy :) As long as they’re breathing and fed and healthy, that’s all that really matters. They can go far with love and the essentials. Btw will I see you at FINCON again? Hope so, bud!
Congratulations on the sleep! Five hours is a big deal! Babies only get more expensive as they get older. I can’t believe how much our one-year-old son can consume in a day, and he isn’t even weaned yet! Food bills…ugh.
He’s a cutie! Man I can’t believe the cost of having a baby in the US though, I’m so glad it’s ‘free’ here in Canada… I do want kids but the cost would definitely be a consideration for me if I had to spend that much just to get to past the pregnancy. Yikes.
Hospital and medical billing IS a racket and one needs a Philadelphia lawyer and CPA to decipher them. Word of advice… go over each and every line of each and every bill…guarantee there are errrors and you can believe they are not in your favor. Many years ago when we had our second child I discovered meds and treatments that had been administered to DW……7- 10 days AFTER she and the baby were home. Don’t know who got the care but we sure didn’t….Still waiting for that explanation.
Enjoy every moment of your wonderful child…before you know it they’ll be grown and on their own…leaving you to ask your spouse…”what just happened”….
BABY J$ SLEPT ALL BY HIMSELF LAST NIGHT!! WOOHOO!!! His first night as a big boy ;) He woke up every 2-3 hours and screamed his head off, but at least he’s starting to get used to his crib now – no more sleeping in his parents room… unless he gets nightmares ;)
@Wayne @ Young Family Finance – Oh boy, I guess I’ll find out about that soon, eh? Congrats on your new addition to your family as well :)
@Andrea – Yeah, insurance stuff aside we all have to pay for their food/clothes/toys/etc ;) I wonder if there’s any countries that pay for all that stuff too? Haha…
@jestjack – Okay, I will – thanks! I have a bad habit of just skimming and assuming everything is fine w/ medical stuff (not so much with other bills, which is funny, but only the medical ones?), so I’ll def put in the extra minutes just to make sure – thanks for the reminder :)
He is so cute!! My son was always well ahead in sizes too. He seemed to need a size double his age, so when he was 1 he was in size 2. Eventually he started fitting in the right size at about age 5. :)
I will say that your baby posts are the only ones I have read that even make me think that having a kid may not suck. :-) That is a cutie McCutie pants. :-D See you at FinCon!
@Melissa@LittleHouseIntheValley – HAH! Five years is a long time to wait for normalcy, haha… that’s great :) Have a picture of your wee one online somewhere I can see?
@Crystal @ Prairie Ecothrifter – Awwww, well good! They really aren’t all that bad once you get past all the scaredness :) And you get super used to them too – it’s only been like 2 months and it already feels “normal!” I wouldn’t have guessed that before he came out… Excited to see you too next week! FINCON is gonna be awesome!!
Your baby is adorable. Money costs really scare me about having kids. Still on the fence whether I will ever have a child. Its good that you guys have that part figured out.
Yes, you never realize how expensive kids are until you have them, but they are such precious things! You can not stop thinking about them and protecting them even for a second since they are born. Thanks for sharing your experiences with us!
Aw, our expensive little miracles arrived right around the same time. My baby is now 2.5 months old –where’d the time go?! — and she sure is an expensive monster. Darn diapers, hospital bills, diapers, onesies, diapers, and oh, yeah, did I mention diapers ;-)
@Debt an the Girl – Thanks so much, we love him to death! :) I think people change over the years too (our priorities, wants, etc), so you never know – maybe one day you’ll wake up and have an epiphany!
@Elena @ First Aid Myths – Yup! That’s the awesomest/scariest part of it all too, haha… You’re totally 100% responsible for their well being! :)
@Christa – I know right?? Those diapers keep on disappearing! Congrats on your precious little one too!! We’re so lucky :)
You should offer your findings to schools for their sex ed classes-let teens see the actual costs of raising a child.
My nephew is 9 months and he’s in 12 month clothes. At his last check up, the dr. said he is the height of the average 12 month old and has as many teeth as the average 22 month old! But he’s the sweetest happiest baby ever! Just enjoy him while he can’t move, once he starts crawling there’s NO relaxing!
Have you any intentions of having a second child? I have my 2nd on the way and as I look back on our first child, I am shocked at how little we are spending this time around. Economies of scale really do apply. Our attic has enough boxes labeled “NEXT BABY” for us to start our own consignment store. There is a TV commercial that captures the phenomenon perfectly: in it, a young mother is loading her precious little one into a decked-out stroller with every imaginable baby device and accessory before they go out for a walk. The scene is captioned “FIRST CHILD.” A second scene, captioned “SECOND CHILD” follows in which the same mother – dressed more practically with a baby in a Baby Bjorn, a small purse, and none of the surplus junk she had in the first scene – grabs her firstborn toddler by the hand and briskly walks out the door. I hope that you are blessed with another child, otherwise you’ll never get the joy of fully realizing how much you’re saving on the second (and third, etc) one.
@amanda – Hahaha… I should, huh?? But even better would be the total cost on the pack of condoms or something ;) Everyone gets in trouble in the heat of the moment!! Haha… tell your larger than life nephew Mr. J. Money says hi.
@Judson – HAH! I like that – totally true :) We are thinking about having our 2nd child, but I’ve been told not until at least a year from now, so we have some time… I bet as soon as my wife forgets how hard life without sleep is though, we’ll jump right back into it ;) Congrats on your 2nd child being on his/her way! I hope you’re right about the 2nd not costing that much – keep us updated!