Parents out there

:( My pay is public record. Well...not mine, specifically. But anyone can look up what a GS makes. You just have to know the grade and step.

:)
 
Not enough, and two kids. :) Seriously, there is no equation to figure out the money/kid thing. You have kids because you want to, and then you work hard enough to support your family. It all works out--usually. If you're planning on having 1-2 kids, it's doable on a reasonable income. I find time is a bigger issue than money. What kids add to your life is immeasurably greater than what they consume.
 
I am not a parent (that I know about at least), but I can tell you definitively that NC says that you should pay $1416.57 a month for a child (this is for a newborn who will attend day care). They take both parents annual income and decide what percentage of this amount that you are responsible (for exmaple, if you both make the same amount it is $708.28/mo).

If you are interested in this purely financial aspect of parenting in the tarheel state then I can scan a ton of the lawyer brochures and state documents that I have copies of.
 
You don't know how many friends I have who say they are waiting to have kids until they have more money. They are lying. Kids don't cost that much (well, a couple anyway, having 8+ is kind of excessive on a Best Buy wage!) What I'm saying is, if you are waiting, it's for another reason.
 
JoeFowler said:
You don't know how many friends I have who say they are waiting to have kids until they have more money. They are lying. Kids don't cost that much (well, a couple anyway, having 8+ is kind of excessive on a Best Buy wage!) What I'm saying is, if you are waiting, it's for another reason.
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Yup, and you are fooling yourself. Everyone's choice of a life style is their own choice, so if anyone here is a 'late bloomer' when it comes to getting married and having kids, I don't criticize that choice.

But I can't imagine I'd do all the same crazy things with my kids if I had them in my thirties instead of twenties (including running across the forbidden line with a 3.5 years old and a pregnant wife). I got married one month before my twenty-first brithday, after going out with the same girl for four years. Once you hit thirty, you are just not that adventurous any more.

And now, I am not even forty five, and my life is about to begin. One kid in university, the younger one finishing high school in less than two years.... whoa! Travelling, making movies, early retirement (maybe), ... doing things I couldn't dream of if I waited until I have 'enough money' to support a family. As Barry said, time is more an issue than money. I spent some time on welfare, and my first 'job' in Canada paid me $119 in one week (after that one week, I didn't come back for a second).

I also had years when I claimed too much income to mention without embarrassing myself and most people here. You know what? The years when I was poor, at least I had time to be with my kids.

Anyway - it's getting too long. Don't wait, young man, marry a girl & have kids, and don't look back! Life's too short to spend it waiting for something that may never come.
 
GenJerDan said:
:( My pay is public record. Well...not mine, specifically. But anyone can look up what a GS makes. You just have to know the grade and step.

:)
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What grade and step are you? I too am on the GS scale, although since I am only 18 I am a GS-2 step 1.....
 
The key is to train your kids as film crew.

Your first-born can assume DP duties, your second can handle the lighting, your third can monitor the audio. Children have served as free family labor since time immorial. :thumbsup:
 
Barry_S said:
What kids add to your life is immeasurably greater than what they consume.
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Yeah, like stress, therapy and grey hair! I have one daughter and she is hell on wheels. haha!! I am trying desperately to raise her (by myself) to be a responsible young adult and I see the light at the end of the tunnel. She will be 18 on her next birthday and I plan on having myself a party. But your question was how to afford to raise kid(s) and still be able to pursue your passion. There is a delicate balance of all things to be considered; what lifestyle you want to live, what you can do without, and what you can't. Its been just me and my girl since she was 2 yrs old, and I am just now affording myself the luxury of even KNOWING where my passions lie. But that was my choice. Actually, no..it wasnt a choice. I never gave myself a moment's thought while raising my girl. She's more often wanting to be on her own nowdays, so I am using the time to myself as wisely as possible. :thumbsup:
 
Jubal28 said:
Hmmmm.

Kinda rude to ask people what they make . . .
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It's actually not that rude. Sometimes I like to make strange animal sounds when I'm alone, or great homemade porn when I'm not alone.
 
Sean Michael said:
The key is to train your kids as film crew.

Don't forget the family band. I've got my daughter hitting the drums. My next born has to play guitar. A family filmmaking crew that performs our own soundtracks. A well-oiled creative machine!
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