Overheard at work, epic stupidity oh my FUCKING god.
"Oh, raising children is SO EXPENSIVE, I don't know how anyone does it, etc etc etc.", from someone whose family income is AT LEAST 120K/year (CAD).
Further clarification:
- Can't pay the 8$/day school daycare fee for post-school care for 3 kids, instead pays 300$/week for the post-school nanny.
- The kids (8, 6, and 6) can't POSSIBLY do chores or vacuum or fold laundry or change sheets or help out. Cleaning lady, 150$/week (note: I also have a cleaning person: 80$ every 2 weeks, and we do the in-between work, because it's a balance between sanity and money. I also don't whine about it to my colleagues because it's my choice and I live with it).
- THE SKI. OH MY FUCKING GOD. They're part of a rich-snotty-kid ski club and have related equipemnt purchases and family ski passes and it's 12 THOUSAND DOLLARS PER YEAR. POST-TAX. I was just like... you're aware that cross-country is an option, right?
... For the record: I track my kid-related spending in YNAB (not the extra food, but the stuff specifically for them). Clothes, gifts, swim classes, gear, new car seats, etc - we're looking at an average under 250/month. Which, sure, not cheap (and we could cut it down if we needed), but definitely not utterly outrageous.