Welcome to the October Carnival of Natural Parenting: Money Matters
This post was written for inclusion in the monthly Carnival of Natural Parenting hosted by Code Name: Mama and Hobo Mama. This month our participants have shared how finances affect their parenting choices. Please read to the end to find a list of links to the other carnival participants.
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Parenting is expensive! Babies are expensive! We know this because everyone starts telling you about it from the moment you start thinking "Maybe boys don't have cooties" There are two things I remember taking away from 6th grade sex ed class 1) Sure... boys may not have cooties, but babies are expensive! and 2) If you have sex even one time, you will get pregnant.... Well, to their credit, one out of two ain't bad.
The thing no one warns you about being expensive is the road a quarter of a million canadians face before hopping on the baby train - infertility!1 I'm lucky, living in Canada, that most of our appointments, and even some of the treatments to this point have been covered by Provincial Health Care. 2 Unfortunately, I know others who aren't so lucky.
The other thing that no one tells you about is all the hoops and steps that the average person has to jump through along the road to diagnoses and treatment of infertility. While there is never one concrete path and each couple's journey is always slightly different, here's the ball park of what the norm seems to be in Canada from our personal experience, and those around us.
Initial Consult & Blood Work ... $200 - $300 (Covered)
Semen Analysis ... $250 (Covered)
Over the counter Ovulation Predictor Kits ... $30/ month
Clomid ... $70/ month for 6 months = $420
(Prescribed despite ovulating on my own. Enter, my desire to live Green. Ladies, never be afraid to get second opinions!!)
Initial Consult With Reproductive Endocrinologist ... $300
(This is covered in the Province of British Columbia, but no where else in Canada to my knowledge.)
HSG, which is a test to check that the fallopian tubes are clear...
... $850 (Covered)
Laparoscopy, which is used to clear a blockage in the Fallopian tubes, or treat various conditions such as endometriosis... ... ~ $2000 - $3000 (Covered)
Intrauterine Insemination without medication ... $400 - $500
Intrauterine Insemination with medication ... ~ $2000
Invitro Insemination and medications associated ... $10,000
Once you start adding all of that up, it becomes clear pretty quickly that it would be nice to have a game-plan going in to things. So, what have we been doing to manage this expense? Well, to be honest... not a whole heck of a lot right now. Being that we are in Canada, and are lucky enough to have most of it covered we've decided that for now, there's no price that isn't worth it.
One of the biggest things we've been doing is focusing on numbers that we like, like these ones!!
The number of cloth diapers in a stash for one baby seems to be 24 - 34 depending on how often you want to do laundry. While, gorgeous cloth diapers come in a variety of styles and price ranges, just for arguement sake we'll work this little diddy out with what what many consider "the cadillac of cloth diapers" the BumGenius line.
Cost of BumGenius Diaper ... $16.95 each @34 diapers = TOTAL COST $576.30
Cost of Disposables
0 - 3 months @ 10 - 12 diapers a day = 900 diapers ... $153.00
3 - 12 months @ 8 - 10 diapers a day = 2160 diapers ... $453.60
12 - 30 months @ 7 - 8 diapers a day = 3780 diapers ... $945.00
TOTAL COST $1551.60
I don't know about you but to us, over $1500.00 is pretty darn expensive for something someone's going to crap in. I'd love to tell you that the math is the reason behind me wanting to cloth diaper. But, to be honest, hubby is a scientist and hard facts are what matters to him so this is the way he saw the logic in cloth. For me, I walked in to our local Natural Parenting boutique, took one look at their adorable cloth diapers and was hooked!
1. In accordance with The Parlimentary Research of Canada in regards to Fertility dated January 2001
2. I am in Canada and writing this as a personal piece. This is loosely written on our personal experience with the Canadian Health Care System. Readers in the U.S. and around the globe may have a very differring experience.
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Visit Code Name: Mama and Hobo Mama to find out how you can participate in the next Carnival of Natural Parenting!
Please take time to read the submissions by the other carnival participants:
(This list will be live and updated by afternoon October 11 with all the carnival links.)
- Money Matter$ — Jenny at I'm a full-time mummy shares her experiences on several ways to save money as a parent.
- A different kind of life... — Mrs Green from Little Green Blog shares her utopian life and how it differs from her current one!
- Show Me The Money! — Arpita of Up, Down & Natural shares her experience of planning for parenting costs while also balancing the financial aspect of infertility treatments.
- Material v Spiritual Wealth - Living a Very Frugal Life with Kids — Amy at Peace 4 Parents shares her family's realizations about the differences between material and spiritual wealth.
- If I Had a Money Tree — Sheila at A Gift Universe lists the things she would buy for her children if money were no object.
- Financial Sacrifices, Budgets, and the Single Income Family — Jennifer at Hybrid Rasta Mama looks at the importance of living within your means, the basics of crafting a budget, and the "real cost" of working outside of the home.
- Overcoming My Fear of All Things Financial — Christine at African Babies Don't Cry shares how she is currently overcoming her fear of money and trying to rectify her ignorance of all things financial.
- Confessions of a Cheapskate — Adrienne at Mommying My Way admits that her cheapskate tendencies that were present pre-motherhood only compounded post-baby.
- Money Matters — Witch Mom hates money; here's why.
- Money? What Money?! — Alicia C. at McCrenshaw's Newest Thoughts describes how decisions she's made have resulted in little income, yet a green lifestyle for her and her family.
- What matters. — Laura at Our Messy Messy Life wishes parenting through play was her only responsibility during the day.
- Making Ends Meet — Abbie at Farmer's Daughter shares about being a working mom and natural parent.
- Poor People, Wealthy Ways — Sylvia at MaMammalia discusses how existing on very little money allows her to set an example of how to live conscientiously and with love.
- The Green Stuff — Amyables at Toddler In Tow shares how natural parenting has bettered her budget - and her perspective on creating and mothering.
- Jemma's Money — Take a sneak peek at That Mama Gretchen's monthly budget and how Jemma fits into it.
- 5 Tips for How to Save Time and Money by Eating Healthier — Family meal prep can be expensive and time-consuming without a plan! Dionna at Code Name: Mama shares five easy tips for how to make your cooking life (and budget) easier.
- Belonging in the Countryside — Lack of money led Phoebe at Little Tinker Tales towards natural parenting, but it also heeds her from realizing her dream.
- Total Disclosure and Total Reform — Claire at The Adventures of Lactating Girl gets down to the nitty gritty of her money problems with hopes that you all can help her get her budget under control.
- Save Money by Using What You Have — Gaby at Tmuffin is only good with money because she's lazy, has trouble throwing things away, and is indecisive. Here are some money-saving tips that helped her manage to quit her job and save enough money to become a WAHM.
- Two Hippos & Ten Euros: A Lesson in Budgeting — MudpieMama shares all about how her boys managed a tight budget at a recent zoo outing.
- ABBA said it — Laura from A Pug in the Kitchen ponders where her family has come from, where they are now and her hopes for her children's financial future.
- Money vs. Time — Momma Jorje writes about cutting back on junk, bills, and then ultimately on income as well ~ to gain something of greater value: Time.
- An Unexpected Cost of Parenting — Moorea at MamaLady shares how medical crises changed how she feels about planning for parenthood.
- 5 Ways This Stay at Home Mom Saves Money — Charise at I Thought I Knew Mama shares 5 self-imposed guidelines that help her spend as little money as possible.
- Frugal Parenting — Lisa at My World Edenwild shares 8 ways she saves money and enriches her family's lives at the same time.
- Conscious Cash Conscious — Zoie at TouchstoneZ shares her 5 money-conscious considerations that balance her family’s joy with their eco-friendly ideals.
- Money, Sex and Having it All — Patti at Jazzy Mama explains how she's willing to give up one thing to get another. (And just for fun, she pretends to give advice on how to build capital in the bedroom.)
- Money could buy me ... a clone? — With no local family to help out, Jessica Claire at Crunchy-Chewy Mama wants childcare so she can take care of her health.
- Spending Intentionally — CatholicMommy loves to budget! Join her to learn what to buy, what not to buy, and, most importantly, where to buy.
- New lessons from an allowance — Lauren at Hobo Mama welcomes a follow-up guest post from Sam about the latest lessons their four-year-old's learned from having an allowance.
- How to Homeschool without Spending a Fortune — Deb Chitwood at Living Montessori Now shares tips and links to many resources for saving money while homeschooling from preschool through high school.
- It's Not a Baby Crisis. It's Not Even a Professional Crisis. — Why paid maternity leave, you may ask? Rachael at The Variegated Life has some answers.
- "Making" Money — Do you like to do-it-yourself? Amy at Anktangle uses her crafty skills to save her family money and live a little greener.
- Money On My Mind — Luschka at Diary of a First Child has been thinking about money and her relationship with it, specifically how it impacts on her parenting, her parenting choices, and ultimately her lifestyle.
- Spending, Saving, and Finding a Balance — Melissa at The New Mommy Files discusses the various choices she and her family have made that affect their finances, and finds it all to be worth it in the end.
- Accounting for Taste — Cassie at There's a Pickle in My Life shares their budget and talks about how they decided food is the most important item to budget for.
- Money Matters... But Not Too Much — Mamapoekie at Authentic Parenting shares how her family approaches money without putting too much of a focus onto it.
- Parenting While Owning a Home Business — In a guest post at Natural Parents Network, Lauren at Hobo Mama lays out the pros and cons of balancing parenting with working from home.
- Crunchy Living is SO Expensive...Or Is It? — Kelly at Becoming Crunchy talks about her biggest objection to natural living - and her surprise at what she learned.
- Mo' Money, Mo' Problems — Sarah at Parenting God's Children shares how a financial accountability partner changed her family's finances.
- The Importance of Food Planning — Amanda at Let's Take the Metro discusses how food budgeting and planning has helped her, even if she doesn't always do it.
- Kids & Money: Starting an Allowance for Preschoolers — Kristin at Intrepid Murmurings discusses her family's approach and experiences with starting an allowance for preschoolers.
