[millennial]

[quote=bearishgurl]
Lol, shoveler. I suspect he spends it on private school. If not, then “finishing school.” Umm, CA public HS’s (no, not even BHHS) aren’t exactly capable of turning out the typical graduate who knows how to walk it, talk it and groom it for the business world :=0

I’ve depended upon my kids’ Greek organizations to be their “finishing school” and so far, so good. This experience has also paved the way for being selected for their first jobs thru the networking they were exposed to while college-student members of their respective organizations. And no way were/are their annual dues anywhere near $4000 yr. They’re more like $1K per year, max (which my kids paid/pay with earnings from their PT jobs).[/quote]

Not sure what the hoopla is here. You asked some questions, and I gave you some personal answers to what it is like to be a millennial. I gave you my going rates to have someone watch a baby and a girl all day. You continue to argue that it’s too much, but that’s what I have to pay until I can get them to public school. It’s just what it is.

[millennial]

[quote=The-Shoveler]Our Software Development manager probably spends that much on his kids as well but he lives in Beverly Hills.

I guess if you have a home worth maybe 5-10 Mil it’s kind of expected.[/quote]

I really think how much I spend per kid is average, or close to average. Noone said raising children is cheap. I forgot what I was watching yesterday, but they stated that it costs around $1 Million to raise 1 child in CA. Not sure if that is the total amount or the PV, but it sounds about right.

[millennial]

[quote=The-Shoveler][quote=FlyerInHi]From what I understand, $4,000 for 3 kids is about right.
[/quote]

That’s like a House payment in the better parts of CV LOL.

Anyway if your rich enough, spend your money how you see fit.[/quote]

Not rich, but yes I do spend my money on my kids. To me they are more important then living in the best parts of CV.

[millennial]

[quote=BG]
The Regents/UC admission board doesn’t care about extracurricular activities in HS, either. Not a whit. An applicant’s highest SAT score plus HS GPA is the name of the game. And it doesn’t help that many thousands of deep-pocketed foreign applicants who are willing to pay the “full ride” will be his kids’ “competition.”

It’s a crapshoot out there. [/quote]

This is false for UC Berkeley at least. My longtime friend is on the admissions over there. That was probably more the name of the game before, but now kids have to differentiate themselves even more from competition. They want the smartest, leader with a good heart, cares about the environment, plays 3 sports, concert pianist, and good speaker.

[millennial]

[quote=scaredyclassic]Hell I just realized I’m spending a grand a year on piano lessons.

I went to a recital in encinitas this weekend. The whole thing got me weepy. I was deeply moved. I like taking him to the lesson Friday nites. Little ritual. I go for a walk and call my mom. It’s close by. Sometimes we stop after for snacks.[/quote]

It’s expensive but it’s worth it. I spent my childhood doing the same thing with my father. He would take my sister and I to piano lessons every Wednesday night before dinner and afterwards we got to pick our own frozen food item at the grocery store. My favorite was the Swanson Salisbury Steak with the reconstituted mashed potatoes. I don’t think I’ve had one since, but I still remember our little rituals to this day.

[millennial]

[quote]yamashi, this is a breathtaking amount every month to be spending on preschool and elementary school-age children who are attending public school. You claim you recently bought a house and one of you (parents) can quit work any time and you’ll still “be fine” financially. I understand pre-school/pre-K costs more now than when I sent my kids to those programs but sheesh, $3000 month is very, very expensive for two kids who are already potty trained and not confined to a crib where state rules require one caregiver to every four cribs. [/quote]

Not sure where when your kids were around but it is pretty much the going rate for an infant and a private preschool. Trust me, this is my 3rd and the other ones ranged from $1,250-$1,395/month. Of course this amount is probably where you live. Next year I’m going to be pulling out my daughter from the private school and she will be in public so that will be a nice addition to my savings every month.

[quote]I also paid for dance, voice lessons, baseball and scout camp for many years for my school-age children, as well as (very expensive) show choir in middle/HS but none of it was anywhere near as expensive as what you are quoting here! [/quote]

Tutoring for two children range are about $200/month or $50 per week for each. Language arts about the same. Piano is about $55 per week to teach two kids for 45 minutes. I also do father and daughter camping trips with them which add an additional 150-300 per month and other stuff that she does through school. During the summer we also do swimming lessons which add more.

[quote]IMO, this is a absolutely a “mind-boggling” list of activities for young children. It sounds as if they are busy 24/7! I hope they don’t burn out early in life :-0[/quote]

Many think so too, but they seem to love it. Both of my oldest ones love to teach their classmates things that they know. They also enjoy learning about languages and piano. My job as a parent I feel is to keep letting them do what they enjoy. I have also tried golf and soccer, but that didn’t seem to stick.

[quote}A little “food for thought” here. For $45-$48K per year (a little less than what you are paying now for young kids’ care and activities), you can currently send TWO kids to CSU (different campuses) in URBAN cities in CA (LA and SF bay area) WITHOUT any financial aid!…[/quote]

I put enough money into their 529 plans each month to cover about that much per year in today’s dollars for them when they get older (assuming 3-5% compounded appreciation). Both grandparents have also set aside some money. Hopefully they don’t need it. I told them if they can get a free ride or other assistance, then that money is for them to keep.

[quote]Down the road, you could invest $600-$800 per course on 6-8 week SAT prep courses. THAT’s where the “rubber meets the road” in a child’s life. College admission boards DON’T CARE what your kid did in any grade before grade 9. [/quote]

I will do that if they want to, but right now I just want my kids to be well rounded and be able to do things they enjoy. I want my girls to grow up with self confidence and strong self esteem. I feel that if they start young with this, then it will go with them throughout the rest of their lives. I try to also instill values like grit and tenacity so that they don’t give up easily and find ways to get around barriers. I’m not teaching them SAT stuff at this age. I’m teaching them values.

[quote]Public universities in CA don’t even care what extracurricular activities your kid did in HS! My kids were BUSY in HS with a rigorous schedule of performing in HS’s all over the state for YEARS and the CSU mentor (application portal for the CSU Admissions Board) gave them no credit whatsoever for it [/quote]

From my experience I have found this to be false. Not sure what CSU schools require for admission, but when I was applying to numerous undergraduate schools this was a large part of the admission criteria. In addition, many essays required me to use material from my extracurricular activities to display my leadership abilities etc; and when interviewed I was always asked these questions.

[quote]Yes, at least 9 months of pre-K is very, very important when your kid is 4 and expected to enter K the following year.[/quote] You are correct, I find that giving them a headstart before Kindergarten gave my oldest a very important advantage compared to peers. I think that once kids are identified by peers/teachers/themselves as smart they tend to have higher self esteem and have higher expectations for themselves and from peers at an early age. This same thing compounds each year and to each kid in the same household. I think teachers talk to each other and say “oh you have x, you’re going to love her, she is so smart”, or “that was your sister! I had her and she was such a nice intelligent kid”

[quote]yamashi, if you have a big enough tree, did you ever think of tying an old tire onto a branch to make a swing? [/quote]

My child likes it when we play duets together on the piano each day and I take her camping. To each their own.

[millennial]

I live in Scripps Ranch and used to commute to my office in UTC area. Morning rush hour coming down Spring Canyon Rd and taking Mira Mesa and exiting Pomerado took me about 25 minutes. Coming home on the other hand can take up to an hour depending on when you leave. People that I used to work with in CVR and 4s/DS could take 15-25 minutes more on average.

Regarding the higher income and better coaching/academics, I’m pretty happy with what my daughter gets at Dingeman since they offer Gate Seminar program and the children there seem to come from very good backgrounds. Also parent participation at the school is very good. Regarding Montessori, check out Scripps Ranch Montessori. Similar program to the one in Mission Bay which is very good.

Like someone said earlier, regarding education and neighborhood you can’t go wrong with either; it’s probably more of a personal choice. Personally I went with SR because I really enjoyed the house we bought; we can walk my daughter to the elementary school; minimal HOA and no MR; closer to my office and many places we go to on Mira Mesa. Also not sure if it is more East than 4s/Del Sur, but the climate seemed a lot cooler when we were house hunting a couple years ago. Maybe cause we live on a plateau.

Does anyone know which area was more recession resistant during the last one? To me it seemed like we were able to find more inventory in 4s and Del Sur and pricing was more reasonable when we were shopping. It seemed like for the $850-$1MM price range we could get around 500-1000 sq ft. more.

[millennial]

[quote=scaredyclassic]

Results? Merit? I don’t know that politics and the ability of manipulative sociopaths to seize control will ever be supplanted by mere merit.

This article by venkatesh rao on the series THE OFFICE explains it all and is a must read if you think the office is Shakespeare for our time,

http://www.ribbonfarm.com/2009/10/07/the-gervais-principle-or-the-office-according-to-the-office/%5B/quote%5D

Found the article to be quite humorous. Thanks for providing.

[millennial]

.

[millennial]

[quote=spdrun]What’s wrong with one spouse working part-time? Or even both being on flex time?

Drive used cars, buy a duplex or 50-year old home, don’t renovate the kitchen/baths if they’re functional, plenty of electronics to be had cheap on Craigslist, etc.

Live like 30 years ago, not like in 2016. If you have any extra money, use it for travel (student style not fancypants) rather than acquiring more useless toys.

SS is no real issue:
40 quarters means 10 years of work with at least $1260 pay per quarter. i.e. 10 1/2 hours of work per week at $10/hr assuming one week off per quarter.

Any part-time job should cover that.[/quote]

Yes I agree with all of this. If it was up to me I would quit my job and stay at home, but my wife keeps making me work. All kidding aside, my wife and I really do enjoy our work, which allows enough flex time to be able to enjoy our children too. This being said, we have the financial freedom to leave at any time and continue to keep paying the existing mortgage based on one income and have fun with our outside cash flow. I can give you the how and what I did, but it seems like you pretty much explained it above. Limited liabilities, curtailed spending and reinvesting excess cash flow.

[millennial]

[quote=bearishgurl][quote=yamashi1] . . . I spend a lot of money a month >$4k on schooling and day care, but again I don’t want to be 65 and paying for college.[/quote]I missed this.

yamashi, IIRC, you posted here earlier that you moved out to a mini-mansion in suburbia in the attendance area of public schools rated a “10.” If you don’t mind my asking, why are you currently paying >$4K month for schools? Surely, it doesn’t cost you $4K month for daycare :-0[/quote]

Probably none of your business, but to enlighten you my youngest and middle total $3,000 for daycare and private preschool, Oldest and middle total $1,000 for after school education, Saturday schooling costs around $400 total for tutoring and language school. This doesn’t include an additional $150-200 a month for piano for both middle and oldest and probably average another $300/month for extracurricular activities such as soccer/swim classes/golf/field trips/ballet and donations. Kids are expensive.

BTW, not living in a “mini-mansion” in suburbia. I live in an average home in suburbia. Mini-mansions is what I could have bought in a place far out like 4S or Escondido.

[millennial]

[quote=bearishgurl]If the Piggs will recall, none of my kids currently reside here in their hometown and don’t plan to move back.

There are very good reasons for that, which become more and more apparent to my kids every time they come back during holidays and visit their “brethren” they grew up with who stayed here and never left :=0[/quote]
Ha ha. Maybe it has something more to do with your neighborhood, or their choice of brethren. I feel the same way about Michigan, but probably for different reasons (it’s too damn cold). I’ve lived in West LA (great while young, not good for families), Maui (too remote, good for retiring not good for careers), Scottsdale (too hot in summer, no diversity), Santa Barbara (limited economy, not as much diversity), and chose to buy a home and settle here. The only negative thing I can say about SD is that housing is too expensive, but again most desirable places are.

[millennial]

[quote=serendipity4] I really still dont know why 4s/del sur schools are considered better than SR schools?[/quote]

I would like to know where you found this info, because my research when I was shopping told me otherwise. Regardless, Marshall Middle and SR High School tests are among the highest with an API of 934 and 913 respectively. In contrast Carmel Valley Middle and Torrey Pines High was 976 and 895.

http://api.cde.ca.gov/Acnt2014/apiavgCty.aspx?allcds=37&c=R

For me above 900 was a qualifier and Scripps Ranch fits both. Also my wife and I both work downtown and it’s only a 25 minute commute for us.

[millennial]

[quote=FlyerInHi]Yea, bring it back in 10 years. We will see how much cooler it is to live closer to the urban core. And yes, there is still land to build closer to the city.
Civita in mission valley, or temecula. The choice is easy. Remember those urban housing products didn’t exist before.[/quote]

FlyerInHi, you seem like a pretty smart and progressive person. Are you really a boomer (born before early 60’s), or a Gen Xer? I really enjoy what a lot of Millenials are doing by gentrifying areas to make them alive again. My younger sister is really into the movement too, but in Detroit. The revitalization of all of the history is such a cool thing and us as Millenials are working hard to bring it back.

[millennial]

[quote=bearishgurl]yamashi, my kids are millenials but I don’t have any grandkids. My frame of reference are several families who are neighbors. All but one of them are renters and all have children. They range in age from 22-38 and have 2-7 kids and 3 of these families currently have more kids on the way. In all cases, one of the parents has never worked, which doesn’t bode well for being able to send any of these kids to college, but whatever …. There is no way in h@ll that I would ever have 2-3 kids in diapers at once and all too young to even attend 1st grade for the bulk of the day. In my mind, that’s “purposeful entrapment” but to each his/her own :-0.

The one family that owns their home bought it with in-laws on title because they could not qualify for it by themselves.[/quote]

BG not sure where you live, but I’m sorry that this is the sample of Millenial that you are exposed to. If I were in your position, I would feel the same way about our generation as you. Trust me, this is NOT a good representation.

Most people that I associate with either own their home, or rent and CHOOSE not to. They either have 1/2 kids, but don’t know many that have 3 and NONE that have more.

[Author]

Posts