# Actual cost of kids poll **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 17, 2014, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actual-cost-of-kids-poll/704839 "2014-11-17T04:59:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 1\ **Showing post:** 5
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2014, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actual-cost-of-kids-poll/704839/5 "2014-11-17T15:44:40Z")
> [@Textual\_Innuendo](#): > > \*\*Parents of the Dope: > > 1. If you were to estimate how much one child has cost you in average annual expenditure, what would that number be? \*\* > > If you have multiple children, feel free to add it all up into a total and divide by how many you have. > > Even better to hear from empty nesters who might have a total estimated cost to age 18, to see if it jibed with the USDA figure. 1 kid. No need to estimate - we budget and our allocations are tracked per person. Of course, I’m typing this at work so I don’t have the budget in front of me, but a quick and dirty estimate shows that she easily costs $17,000… and I know I’m forgetting some items. Even more, we let Sophia know how much she costs us, which has proven to be extremely useful. “You want us to buy you that poster? Really - the $52.77/day we spend to maintain your existence in our household isn’t enough? Mind explaining your reasoning, honey?” This strategy has _dramatically_ cut down on the “I wants” and “Can I have’s” we were peppered with when she was younger. --- _[View the full topic](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actual-cost-of-kids-poll/704839)._