Octo-Mom, Nadya Suleman, is in the news again and she has landed a new house, allegedly purchased by her father, so the eight newborns along with the other six children from age 2 to 7 have a place to call home. To date, however, little attention has been paid to the anticipated annual costs of raising these 14 children.
What happens when the good-hearted givers go away? Since this cost is easily calculated by the individual age of each child, let’s put a pencil to the equation and provide Octo-Mom with an idea of just how much money will be needed.
It’s pretty much common knowledge that everyone, including Octo-Mom Nadya, should have a budget especially when raising a family. Budgeting makes it easier to spend prudently, save wisely, invest strategically, shop shrewdly for life insurance and prepare deliberately for college education, retirement and emergencies. Sounds good, but also sounds like a lot of work. True, but there are budgeting resources available to help calculate these costs.
So what goes into calculating the cost of raising a child? According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), housing, food, transportation, clothing, health care, child care and education, and miscellaneous items are all common expenses for families raising children from birth to age 18. The agency factors in many variables, like regional housing and transportation costs, number of parents and children in the household along with anticipated spending by income level. Unsurprisingly, higher-income families have a tendency to spend more than their lower-income counterparts. Likewise, two parents living in the same home typically spend more on each child than single parents. Urban and rural families face similar costs but rural families pay more, on average, for transportation and health care.
So let’s return to Miss Nadya and, given the public information available, see if we can calculate the annual cost to raise 14 children. There are two popular websites with tools for calculating the cost of raising children: the USDA and BabyCenter.com We’ll get started by entering the following details: 10 is the number of children between 0 and 2 years of age; 2 between the ages of 3 and 5; and 2 between the ages of 6 and 8. Next, the household is identified as a one parent unit. Given what has been revealed during various media interviews, she falls in the low income category because she has no job and no visible means of support. Suleman lives in California and it seems she’ll most likely end up in the urban Los Angeles area. Now, let’s click and compute the annual cost of raising of 14 children. Wait a minute! It turns out that a standard calculator cannot be utilized because neither of the above sites accommodates a computation for 14 children. So, let’s tap into the University of Minnesota Extension resources.
This one works. Are you ready for the monthly total? $6,528! This translates into $78,336 annually. That figure doesn’t include saving for the kids’ education, or the extra costs associated with having more than a baker’s dozen of little ones like nannies, a bigger vehicle (try a bus!) or therapy.
What advice can we give Nadya and other new parents? Budget, plan, prepare. Take a look at the above resources yourself and know how much your progeny is going to cost! This will lead you to more informed and sound financial decisions. Budgeting is the key to good money management, and preparation now will be a huge help during financially uncertain times.
9 Comments
I don’t know if I could even raise one kid and support my lifestyle on my salary, much less 8. Sounds like they’re going to have a lot of boring weekends in the park.
$78,336??? Even some hard-working people don’t make that much in a year, much less Octomom who’s been more concerned about getting pedicures lately.
She really should have thought this through, past just wanting to have kids. It’s not fair to bring them into the world without allocating enough funds for each of them to live comfortably.
I think $78k sounds conservative! Even then–if you multiply that times (minimum) eighteen years, you get $1.4 million! And that’s after-tax money. Geez.
Personally, I think she is not capable of earning the money on her own unless she gets public assistance and that angers me. I don’t think she is dealing with a full deck and she did this knowing that she would get some form of assistance at others expense. I believe the doctor is criminally negligent and this never should have been allowed. I have three children and it is hard keeping them feed and takiing care of all their needs. Those needs are not all financial. Individual personalities, strains of being in a big family, personal attentions, lack of a good father figure, huge potential for chaos and personal privacies they might have enjoyed in a smaller family. I honestly believe it is much like living in an orphanage and the phychology that goes with that.
WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH HER! MS.INSANE IS STEALING OUR MONEY!!
This woman has none!!!
The doctor who did this, should lose his license, and be made to pay for the eight new kids. This is mind boggling.
as i get older i am still amazed at the shear stupidity of some people. I would like to know the hospital costs for her and her kids. Also the kids will have a very hard life ahead of them. Just for there moms stupidity
Silly silly silly. Ok, 14 kids. Name ONE CAR, one van that can handle the load of 12 car seats? Cant use a bus without special permits.
Ok, she has children with special needs: the 78k figure escalates
You have not figured in health insurance, car payments, utilities, past medical payments
Plus, this is the kicker–the woman was on public assistance ADC when she got a windfall check of money that she got plastic surgery with, and implanted with. There was probably no report of this to government–100k is enough to knock you OFF benefits. No doubt she is going to have legal expenses for defrauding the system. Thus you have a possibility of jail.
After 7 weeks with 8 newborns and 6 toddlers jail will feel like a spa.
My bet is all these kids end up in social services.