With a few accessories, our BOB Stroller ran us $400. It will see our son through at least 2 years, possibly 3, at which point we very well will be manufacturing baby #2. Oh, and did I mention the resell value on BOBs is amazing. I wish my car was still worth 75% of its retail value years later. Getting back $200 for it would be “let’s just sell it to our friends for a deal”. So net we’re looking at 200 bucks spread over 5-6 years… I spend significantly more per year on Netflix.
Oh, and do you know who that stroller is actually for? Mom and Dad and their backs. It’s a great piece of engineering. It JUST WORKS. Not having to struggle with a cheap stroller saves us minutes of our lives here and there, and that can really add up fast in terms of value.
That said, there definitely are a few things my wife has chosen to purchase for our baby I view as unnecessary. It’s hard for me to keep track of what we bought vs. bought with gift cards vs. received as hand-me-downs (90% of his wardrobe) vs. received as gifts. A lot of the more useless stuff falls into the hand-me-down category. We have a lot of stuff that we are the 3rd to 4th owner for. It’s nice to have yuppie friends who are done having kids and eager to clear out their garages!
Honestly, the people who waste money on their kids aren’t people we need to worry about. They’re the top 10% and 1% of income earners, people who will be able to afford to send their kid to whatever college and will have reasonably comfortable retirements. It’s not the poor families having modest birthday parties at Mission Bay on the weekends that are buying fancy clothes and diaper bags for their babies.
Kids eat, especially after they wean. They need health insurance. Babies need diapers (cloth is an option with its own headaches). Children grow and need clothing, although hand-me-downs are an option. Finally, most parent don’t want their child sharing their bedroom beyond a certain age, so that means a young family renting a studio or 1-bedroom needs a 2-bedroom apartment, with the increased rent costs. Oh, and part of having kids means a lot more laundry, driving up water and electric bills. Most of these aren’t areas you can cut costs much.
