Real Cost of Toddlerhood | Philippines Mommy Family Blog
Back in my pregnancy days, I shared with a mommy friend how I was beginning to get overwhelmed with the growing expenses. With my monthly check ups, boxes of milk I consumed, and vitamins and supplements, our monthly expenses were skyrocketing. Guess what she said: “Naku, not to scare you, but once you give birth, the expenses are just going to balloon even more.”
Of course that got me scared.
Now that I have a toddler, I understand that what she said was true. Money goes out of our pockets like water from a faucet! Of course there are expected expenses that come with toddlerhood such as daily essentials and school, but there are the hidden costs no one ever told me about!
Here are a few of them:
It’s surprising how my toddler just won’t stop snacking. I cannot emphasize enough how much she snacks, from morning until evening. She’ll snack right after breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and yes, even before sleeping at night!
When we go out, there are even stories of snacks bought but not eaten. Imagine how much I wanted to rewind time just so we could retract the purchase!
Her growing need to hydrate also asks us to buy more bottles of distilled water, adding up to the cost.
Oh, believe me when I say one or two sets aren’t enough! There are dedicated utensils for the home and for going out. There is a special cup for milk and for dipping water—and yes, this is different from the sippy cup where she drinks water.
There are different-colored bowls for when she has rice and viands, and there are storage containers with lids (which are all thankfully intact). I’m not complaining though for the sheer number we have, for they’re most useful when my energy’s all used up to give dishwashing a go.
Until my daughter turned one, we survived on hand-me-downs and clothes she already had. We’re so thankful we didn’t have to buy a lot.
Now that she’s almost three and recently attended summer playschool, she needed more clothes appropriate for her height and for the occasion. No one warned me this stage was the one we’ll need to buy a lot of clothes for her!
My husband and I went shopping for her clothes and were surprised with how much a few pieces of her clothing – and a few pairs of her socks – cost.
My daughter had her first set of crayons when she was one. It was amusing to see her grip the chunky crayons and doodle her heart away. Now that she’s two, she’s had a lot of experience creating arts and crafts with paint, stamps, glue and paper, googly eyes, and the list goes on!
Don’t ask me if I’ve carted a few more non-toxic paint and painting tools. I admit to sometimes enjoying them first before she does!
Since birthdays and Christmases have already passed, her toys have already accumulated and we don’t spend as much on them as we did when she was younger. However, there’s a mandatory train, carousel, or kiddie ride every mall time. It doesn’t cost as much and spare changes usually do, but this is an amount we have to set aside and take note of every time we plan to go to the mall.
Our invitation to birthday parties are steadily increasing! Would you believe that in a span of a week the previous month, we received three? Of course we always have the liberty to decline, but since none of those parties are in conflict with our schedules and we also want our daughter to mingle with other kids, we attended all of them.
I know we’re not obliged to buy gifts (which could add to our expenses), but these are what makes children’s birthday parties complete. I realized, it pays to have a stash of toddler birthday gifts at home so we won’t have to panic every time a new invitation is handed to us.
Disclaimer: My husband and I have always bought our daughter brand new and secondhand books. We never regretted it, as we noticed how our she greatly benefits from early exposure to books.
But we never thought the toddlerhood stage would be the start of her requesting for her own books, and since we are big book advocates, we have no second thoughts on buying her more!
Because I know I’m spending more now that she’s in her toddler years, I make sure my budget is intact, and I adjust as needed. If there’s an opportunity to earn more that I know I can manage, I go for it, too! After all, there’s nothing I won’t do for my little one.
So tell us, toddler Moms and Dads, what hidden expenses do you have at this stage, and what are your budget hacks? Share them with us in the comments below!
