If you’re thinking about having children, I’d absolutely urge you to whip out a calculator before getting down to business. Children are wonderful and life-enriching, and you shouldn’t be put off by some of the scary figures you see banded about, but having a very basic idea of what your monthly outgoings will look like as you morph from a 2 person household to a 3 person one, can only be a good thing - knowledge is power after all.

Of course you can never fully plan for the future - we should never lose sight of the fact we are all only an accident away from disability, and we’re bound to chop and change jobs a few times in our lifetimes - whether that’s intentional or not. Even a change of government could have a significant impact on your household budget as the below infographic shows. Still, knowing how much children cost is fascinating, if not totally frightening stuff:

• FOOD is likely to be one of the biggest expenses. It’s actually laughable to think your 8-10lb baby will send your grocery bill skywards, but they do. Although breastfeeding is free, if you choose to move on, you can expect to pay £15 a week for formula. Yet this is a mere drop in the ocean when weaning starts. Carrot sticks and yogurts soon give way to food jars and packets of biscotti, and don’t even get me started on packed lunches. As a family of 4, we can easily spend £200 a month on food, and that is being extremely conservative
• NAPPIES & WIPES are another big expense. Toss in child-friendly bath products and you’re looking at around £50 per month
• CHILD CARE is yet another whopper. The average cost of sending a child under 2 to nursery per week is an eye-watering £116.25 - and that’s just part time
• ACTIVITIES such as dance lessons, drama classes or football subs could set you back around £60 - especially if you need all the gear that goes with it
• CLOTHING your little ones also quickly mounts up. You might assume a baby needs only a handful of babygros and a decent pram suit, but those quickly become soiled and need replacing regularly. You’ll also be staggered how quickly your child grows, and how often you’re photographing clothing bundles and posting them on buy and sell groups on Facebook. Of course there are ways of slashing the cost down - handing clothes down from generation to generation helps, as does receiving donations from relatives with slightly older children. You’ll also find tons of cheap bundles of clothes on eBay, maybe even for free on FreeCycle - yet if only shop bought threads will do, kitting your child out every month could cost as much as £150
• Then there are TREATS - try as you might to cut them out, you can easily spend £30 a month on Kinder Eggs and other tat

These numbers are just an average estimate of what a parent may spend on one child monthly. Bear in mind you have plenty of other things to consider, such as outings and school trips. Transport may also be required to and from school, and of course the above does not take into account the impact of birthdays and Christmases, and inflated cost of holidays on your purse strings. If you’re not careful, then the cost of children each month can easily reach £1000.

This is a shocking figure, but you shouldn’t let it put you off having children. Making sure you create a family budget and sticking to it is key to ensuring a comfortable life, as is embracing a more frugal approach to your spending. Having savings helps too. Finally, make sure you find out if you’re entitled to any money from the state- the government has been pretty quick to address rising child poverty over the years, and there are a number of welfare subsidies in place that can provide a much needed boost to those most in need. The infographic below can give you more information.

credit to benefits system