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Howdy everyone!
Apologies for being AWOL but some BIG news – we have a new addition to the family!
Please welcome… MINIFRUGALSAMURAI.
Ain’t he cute? Just like his old man haw haw.
Suffice to say, MrsFrugalSamurai and I are run off our FEET (explains my AWOLness).
I love it though.
Honestly speaking, I think that there is nothing more special than to raise another human life.
It’s given me a new sense of purpose and y’know what – puts a lot of things in perspective.
Truly, when they say that family is number one – they were referring to your own kids.
Raising a child has also given me a lot of perspective about money and finance as well.
On the one hand, they are fooking expensive – no doubt about this.
The pregnancy alone would have probably costed us… let’s see:
- Numerous scans and ultrasounds – $1.5k
- Genetic testing – $1.2k (to rule out illnesses e.g. Down’s Syndrome)
- Obstetrician consulting – $3k
- Caesarian procedure – $5k (Obstetrician fee)
- Anesthetics fee – $1k
- Pediatrician fee – $0.8k
- Hospital gap fee – $0.5k
Which all equates to… errr a lot.
Mind you we went the private hospital + caesarian route, which made it more pricier than a public hospital + natural birth of course.
Oh but but but, these costs also don’t factor in the amount of money we spent in preparation for MiniFrugalSamurai’s arrival.
Courtesy of decking out his room:
From the bassinet, to the change table, to the piles of swaddles and muslin cloths.
It probably ended up being around $3k-ish.
BUT let’s not forget that this little guy is an eating, pooping, eating and pooping machine.
Hence we are slowly starting to become Amazon’s number one baby wipes and nappies customer, which means another $100 or so per month goes into their coffers.
Yeah… so that’s on the one hand. And these costs are just the beginning.
Strewth.
On the other hand, remember what I mentioned about perspective?
Well, what’s the point of making all that money – if you don’t spend it on those you love the most?
Yeah. One sentence which nails it perfectly.
Ain’t even a contest.
But you know what?
There’s more to it than that.
Because it’s also… oh do you hear that?
Sounds like a baby crying… duty calls I’m afraid.
Have to be a responsible parent y’see.
I’m a father now.
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4 Comments
Steve
Congrats! Just became a father as well and it has been a joy, enjoy the moments!
The Frugal Samurai
Oh gosh, so you too would know about the 3am cuddle times eh!
steveark
We have raised three from birth through adulthood and I never thought they cost us much. Public school is basically free, my company handled medical bills through insurance and they all managed to earn free college through merit based scholarships. The return on investment is through the roof, raising kids, while hard at times is overall quite a wonderful thing. And the empty nest after they leave, that’s good too. The several years of sleep deprivation when it seems there was always a crying baby, and some of the teen years, those were less fun but when you take the whole thing in as one experience, it was just awesome. And having great adult friends now who just happen to be our kids. That’s cool too.
The Frugal Samurai
Wow, three kids! I can’t imagine that, just having 1 is full on! Great work on earning scholarships with your ones – I can only cross fingers. MrsFrugalSamurai put his name down for a private school which costs $40k pa… $40k! If I can only live a life half as good as yours, be well satisfied.