£186,000. And no, that’s not street value. That’s a recent average figure arrived at by the investment group LV, which performs an annual survey on the costs of raising children.
There are lots of variables involved in that calculation, of course. Where you live has an effect, as does whether you send them to university, and a great deal depends on your childcare situation – some parents need to pay large amounts in childcare, others have no costs in that area at all.
Most importantly, not all of that money could be called essential spending, and the survey also includes things such as holidays, hobbies and pocket money. Many items can be bought cheaper second hand, like clothes (babies usually outgrow them before wearing them out) and toys. Don't be too proud to use services like Freecycle either. Be aware that parenting is now a lucrative industry: if the manufacturer can convince parents that their product is important, they can make a lot of sales from guilt-trips, so use your judgment on what’s actually necessary.
Be sure you know where to start, websites such as www.moneysavingexpert.com offer good advice on almost every aspect of saving or being smarter with your money. Mortgage and loan holidays can be arranged (depending on the type of mortgage/loan you have) which may offer help in the early stages. Be aware that means holidays from loan payments, rather than using loans to fund holidays.
Also take the opportunity to find out about what you and your family are entitled to from the government such as tax credits, child benefit and maternity pay.
Don’t get sucked into one-upmanship with other parents, competing to see who’s treating their child best – where ‘best’ means ‘to the greatest quantity and quality of consumer goods’. Take pride in managing to save money rather than how much you can lavish on your kids – it’ll set them up well for the future if they follow your example. Ultimately though, we reckon you’ll find the reward of being a dad and watching a child grow will far outweigh the £25 a day it costs to raise them.