Having children and raising them can be quite expensive even if you’re thrifty. It can be a real shock for new parents. But that’s the reality of the situation. You have to come to terms with the fact that your expenses will skyrocket in areas you might not even have considered.

One anonymous dad got dragged online after sharing how he wanted to cut costs and bought one of his daughters cheap shampoo and conditioner. In response, she ran away from home. Scroll down to read the full story, a very important update, as well as to see what the internet had to say about the dad’s actions.

Taking care of your kids and their needs, and setting a good example is what parenting is all about

Image credits: Shaylyn / unsplash (not the actual photo)

One dad angered the internet after sharing how he ‘punished’ his daughter by buying her cheap hair products

Image credits: Polina Tankilevitch / pexels (not the actual photo)

Image credits: aitaconditioner

It can be very expensive to raise kids in this day and age

The story runs deeper than just expensive versus cheap shampoo and conditioner. The author of the post spilled the tea that he had doubts that his middle daughter was even his because she had a different type of hair, for which she needed special hair products.

The dad admitted that he had trouble bonding with his daughter. He may have subconsciously tried to ‘punish’ her by buying her cheaper products.

Alternatively, he felt that she was using the products ‘too quickly’ but didn’t do enough research to check whether his gut feeling was true or not. While it’s important not to waste resources of money, it’s also vital not to be too cheap with hair products or cosmetics, so that you don’t damage your hair or skin.

The vast majority of the readers were shocked by the dad’s behavior. They criticized him for his approach to parenting. Meanwhile, many internet users called him out for not taking a few minutes out of his day to learn about curly hair.

Unfortunately, the author’s account was suspended, so we were unable to reach out to him for further comments and updates.

The reality is that raising kids will require a lot of money. According to Investopedia, based on the data from the Brookings Institution think tank, the average middle-income family with two kids will spend $310,605 to raise a child from when they were born in 2015 till when they’re 17 years old in 2032.

Image credits: Karolina Kaboompics / pexels (not the actual photo)

Most readers were shocked by the dad’s behavior. Here’s their take on the situation

However, a few people had different opinions from the majority

The dad later shared an update about how his daughter ran away from home to get away from him

Image credits: HoneydewHaunting

Your expenses as a family will depend a lot on your lifestyle and where you live

The costs of raising a child can vary wildly depending on where the family lives, their home type, their lifestyle, their financial goals and thriftiness, dietary preferences, childcare situation, etc.

The biggest expense when raising kids is, unsurprisingly, housing (and definitely not shampoo and conditioner). Housing is estimated to eat up around a third of the family’s income. It includes everything from the mortgage or rent to utilities, taxes, insurance, repairs, maintenance, and household goods.

In the meantime, food is going to cost an average of a quarter of the family’s budget. Naturally, there will be variations in this cost depending on where you live and what your diet is like.

Someone on a thrifty food spending plan can be expected to pay an average of $975.30 per month, based on the data from October 2023. A low-cost food plan will set you back $1,059.90 per month. A moderate plan is around $1,313.60 per month. And a liberal spending plan costs around $1,585.81 per month.

Next, there are childcare costs to consider. These can range from 7% to 23% of the family’s annual income. Some other less obvious expenses include transportation, healthcare, insurance, clothing, family trips, hobbies, and extracurricular activities.

However, Investopedia notes that these calculations don’t include the costs of college education. So, that $310k+ in expenses can balloon even further.

The average annual cost for a year of in-state college at a public institution in 2023-2024 was $24,030, including tuition, fees, and room and board. Meanwhile, the average cost was $56,190 per year in a private college.

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