Raising a child is one of the most rewarding experiences for a lot of people, as it often feels great that you were able to raise a child properly and let him or her grow into a loving and respectful person. However, raising a child also is one of the most challenging tasks in life, as there are specific activities within the task that can be quite difficult for some people to accomplish. One of these difficult activities is raising money in order to give the child a proper home where they are safe and wouldn’t have to suffer from anything.
The toddler stage, which occurs when the child is about 12 to 36 months old and is just learning how to walk, is considered by many parents to be one of the most difficult phases of raising a child. Not only will you have to really keep an eye on your child almost every time, but you would also have to do your best at work or in the business to raise money and purchase the necessities for your child.
For many new parents, they don’t really know how difficult the toddler stage is, and if you are one of those new parents, we hope that we can offer great help as we discuss the cost of supporting a toddler for one year and how you will be able to provide enough for them. So, here are the details on the cost of supporting a toddler per year and how you can handle it.
How Much Does Supporting a Toddler Cost?
The cost of supporting a toddler can vary from country to country, but in the United States, it is estimated by the USDA or the US Department of Agriculture that it would take about $12,000 to raise a toddler annually. The study of the USDA is focused on a two-child, married-couple family, so raising just one child may cost you less than $12,000, depending on where you live in the country. The $12,000 is divided into different aspects of raising a child, and these aspects are:
- Housing – 29%
- Food – 18%
- Child Care – 16%
- Transportation – 15%
- Health Care – 9%
- Clothing – 6%
- Miscellaneous – 7%
Toddlers would need $300 less from the $12,000 average, as this $300 is often provided for the child’s education, which is not yet what toddlers need since they are not supposed to be in school yet. On the other hand, teenagers would need about $900 more, and this is most likely due to the fact that high school education is more expensive than preschool and elementary education.
Housing is the largest expense that is connected to raising a child, and housing not only includes payments for rent but also for taxes, repairs, maintenance, utilities, furniture, and insurance. Most of those aspects of housing can be quite expensive, so it isn’t surprising that housing is the largest expense for raising a toddler. Housing is also one of the most important expenses, and without a proper home, you wouldn’t be able to provide a very safe and comfortable place for your toddler, which can affect his or her health.
Another important expense for raising a child is food. Healthy foods can help in preventing your toddler from getting illnesses, and it would also help them have enough nourishment since their age is often where a lot of developments in the body occur. Child care expenses include paying for a nanny or having physical therapists help in the development of the toddler’s skills and movements.
Transportation is an expense that is connected to bringing a toddler to a pediatrician or to a park to enjoy the view or to have a picnic. Then, health care is the expense related to hospital bills, vitamins that toddlers need to take to grow stronger, and checkups with the local pediatrician. Of course, clothing should also be part of the expense, and buying clothes for toddlers can be quite expensive since their body constantly grows, and one shirt that you may have bought a year before may not fit the toddler anymore in the present time.
How to Handle the Cost of Raising a Toddler
Raising money to support your toddler can be incredibly difficult, especially if you are a single parent. However, if you truly love your child, you would be able to do anything and everything to provide the best for him or her. While raising money for a toddler can just involve working hard in your job or business, there is so much more involved in creating the motivation to support your toddler well. Here are some tips we can provide in handling the cost of raising a toddler.
- Learn to distinguish your wants and needs. If you have a hobby, it would often be difficult to let it go in order to provide more for your toddler, but always prioritize the needs of you and your family first before your wants. You can create a list of needs and wants in order to see which ones you should prioritize.
- Improve your self-discipline and never lose your sights on your goals, especially if those goals are related to providing the best for your toddler.
- Follow the 50-30-20 budget plan, which enables you to divide 50% of your income for essentials or needs, 30% on wants, and 20% for paying debts or emergency funds. Following this budget plan would allow you to properly spend your money and have enough for your toddler.
- Always have a positive attitude or mindset in order to prevent yourself from having negative thoughts that can affect your performance at the office or for your business. To have a positive attitude, it would help if you would always think about the happy memories with your toddler, as well as how rewarding it is to do a good job at work and provide for your family.
These are all the basic details that you need to know about the cost of supporting a toddler and how you are going to be able to handle it. As we have stated, it is always best to remain positive in whatever challenge you may face in raising a toddler, as it will help you have the proper motivation to achieve anything and everything for your child.