The Cost of Kids Archives - Page 4 of 4

Am I Saving Enough for My Child’s College Education?

In its Annual Survey of Colleges 2015-2016, The College Board estimated that a student living out-of-state at a public four-year college can expect to pay almost $15,000 for room, board, and other expenses, on top of an average $24,000 in tuition.

After adjusting for inflation, that’s an astounding 40 percent increase over the past 10 years, which leaves many parents to wonder — will I have saved enough to give my children the best education possible by the time they’re ready to go to college? [Read more…]

7 Secrets for Saving Big on Your Baby

Note: This post contains affiliate links. Read my policy here.

If you’re like most new parents, your first two emotions after a positive pregnancy test are excitement and paralyzing fear. You’re having a baby . . . but you have no idea what you’re doing! You’ve got just nine months to figure out not only how to keep your kid alive but also what gear you need to make that happen.

Before you find yourself in a frenzy buying everything at Babies“R”Us, check out these 7 tips for saving big bucks on your baby. [Read more…]

Want to Save Money on Your Kid’s College Tuition? Don’t Pay It

“Have you started saving for college?” a co-worker whispered apprehensively when I announced my first pregnancy at the office. The question wasn’t unreasonable — even though my kid will be in the graduating class of 2037 . . .

Do you wonder how you’ll ever foot the bill? Try this concept on for size:

Don’t pay for college.

Grab your smelling salts. You can absolutely do it.

My parents were educated beyond college and wholeheartedly believe in the importance of higher education. Still, while they offered to pay for room and board for their five kids, they gave us the responsibility of handling the rest of the bill.

At the end of the day, we all managed to enter excellent college and graduate programs, land great jobs and do it all with little or no debt.

Here’s how you can help your kids do the same . . .

Read the rest of my recently-published blog post on The Penny Hoarder, the world’s largest personal finance blog with more than 8 million readers!

7 Baby Items I Thought I Needed . . . But Totally Didn’t

Note: This post contains affiliate links. Read my policy here.

The new mom is faced with a dizzying array of “must-have” baby products. Before that first little guy or girl makes an appearance, you’ve likely accumulated mountains of baby swag — new stuff gifted to you, random secondhand stuff that everyone you know is happy to throw at you, and the stuff you buy on your own.

Here are seven things that I thought I needed (or that everyone else thought I did) before my son’s birth that are now off to a new life at Goodwill . . . [Read more…]

Make It From Scratch: Baby Food

Note: This post contains affiliate links. Read my policy here.

Baby products come with major sticker shock. Of the many hefty baby expenses out there, one that really adds up over time is baby food.

When my son started solid foods at four months of age, I was baffled by the fact that a minuscule jar of mashed bananas — on sale! — cost more than a full-sized banana from the produce department. For standard Gerber fare, my supermarket wanted to charge me, on a good day, $0.50 per portion of Stage 1 foods, $0.60 per portion of Stage 2 foods, and $0.75 per portion of Stage Stage 3 foods. The Beech-Nut foods usually hovered around twice that price!

There was no way I was willing tho shell out that much money for groceries when a simple solution would allow me to have high-quality baby food for so much less — making my own baby food. [Read more…]