My rate with kids under 6 yrs was an average of zero to 3%. Kept up the match at work, but spent a lot..
1 one income or two incomes and daycare for two kids at any one time. Had live in nanny for a year.
2. Short time of one income and one preschooler for 3part days per week
3 bought a used minivan using cash and heloc. So when this is added in and paid off in 4years, it removes savings
4 thinking we could still go see family at Christmas, or similar pre kid spendy things, like still buying mothers day presents for our moms, that were personal values.
5 too much plastic crap/toys in the home, like all our friends. Needed to buy a few kid furniture items, stroller, even second hand it added up fast.
6 had kids at 26 yrs, so income still growing, $60k + per year at times, more near the end.
7. No sleep meant poor decisions, always thinking one income was temporary so it was OK not to save more. This was pre MMM, but I found " your money or your life" in those years. After realizing how little we were saving. Idea of retiring early was not considered. One year our food bill was nearly $950 per month. That got me reading and looking for solutions!
8 moved from townhouse to single family home with second child
9 I paid for my MBA during this time
10 Maintained church donation rate at pre kid levels. It did not even occur to me to adjust some of my spending in areas where pre kid values ruled.
Maybe it was an investment in our lives.. We kept the minivan for 13 years and traded it for a year of transit passes, the MBA paid off in income or something else there worked out, so income is higher now, still married, live in new city , but the home we bought then would have been paid off by now,, etc. Given the similar amount of plastic bought, the donations were a better use of the money anyway.
