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It’s not that expensive. To be honest having kids make you make a lot of fiscally responsible decisions. It separates the wheat from the chaff. That said as so

by _3u10 5y ago

It’s not that expensive. To be honest having kids make you make a lot of fiscally responsible decisions. It separates the wheat from the chaff. That said as soon as my kids are 18 I’m getting a really expensive sports car, but maybe a used one because years of parenting have ruined my ability to wastefully spend money.

orangecat 5y ago
It doesn't have to be that expensive in terms of dollars (although there's often strong social pressure to spend all your disposable income on private preschools/travel soccer/expensive colleges), but it's very expensive in terms of time. And for higher income people, that time commitment has a much higher opportunity cost.
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
hedgehog 5y ago
If you can afford a "really expensive" sports car then I'm not sure your reference on fiscal responsibility is comparable to what most people experience. Assuming you're talking about a non-special used Ferrari or something, that's $200k + $20k a year. Most people have trouble coming up with $200k for a down payment and are nowhere near dropping that on a car. Preschool is $25k a year though, so in a sense the upkeep there is higher.
- cyberpunk 5y ago
  Why would you live anywhere that preschool is $25k a year? I'm happy to pay a little more tax so that all children in my country (Germany) get exactly the same chance.
  - hedgehog 5y ago
    It's where I grew up so density of family is a big reason not to move. Social policy in places like Germany does sound like a better overall deal than what we have in the US, hopefully we can shore things up here because most people don't even really have the option to move even if they wanted to.
    - cyberpunk 5y ago
      Yeah sorry, I was assuming 'tech worker' and 'enough money to choose where to live' in that statement which I guess doesn't apply to everyone, but I suspect applies to the majority of HN users..
- _3u10 5y ago
  No, for me it’s a corvette. I guess it’s the same price as a Model S but if I don’t get the C8 it’s gonna be a C6 for about $25-40k Once I had kids (found out we were expecting) I stopped fucking around, bought a condo within a month, and I was from that day on a mission to make money. Didn’t give a shit about hours, didn’t give a shit about free sodas, it was all how much does it pay? If anyone offered me $5k/yr more I’d quit on the spot. Whenever a recruiter called, I was interested. In a way kids are expensive but to me the kick in the pants it gave me led to making far more money and honing my mind and realizing what’s important and what isn’t.
  - johnnylambada 5y ago
    I’m a few years beyond you and my expensive sports car was really cheap (a saturn sky). But I 100% agree with your sentiment. When I found we were pregnant in the mid 80s I stopped all screwing around and got to work. It’s was a necessary transition.

by _3u10 5y ago

orangecat 5y ago

It doesn't have to be that expensive in terms of dollars (although there's often strong social pressure to spend all your disposable income on private preschools/travel soccer/expensive colleges), but it's very expensive in terms of time. And for higher income people, that time commitment has a much higher opportunity cost.

deleted 5y ago
[deleted]

hedgehog 5y ago

If you can afford a "really expensive" sports car then I'm not sure your reference on fiscal responsibility is comparable to what most people experience. Assuming you're talking about a non-special used Ferrari or something, that's $200k + $20k a year. Most people have trouble coming up with $200k for a down payment and are nowhere near dropping that on a car. Preschool is $25k a year though, so in a sense the upkeep there is higher.

cyberpunk 5y ago
Why would you live anywhere that preschool is $25k a year? I'm happy to pay a little more tax so that all children in my country (Germany) get exactly the same chance.
- hedgehog 5y ago
  It's where I grew up so density of family is a big reason not to move. Social policy in places like Germany does sound like a better overall deal than what we have in the US, hopefully we can shore things up here because most people don't even really have the option to move even if they wanted to.
  - cyberpunk 5y ago
    Yeah sorry, I was assuming 'tech worker' and 'enough money to choose where to live' in that statement which I guess doesn't apply to everyone, but I suspect applies to the majority of HN users..
_3u10 5y ago
No, for me it’s a corvette. I guess it’s the same price as a Model S but if I don’t get the C8 it’s gonna be a C6 for about $25-40k Once I had kids (found out we were expecting) I stopped fucking around, bought a condo within a month, and I was from that day on a mission to make money. Didn’t give a shit about hours, didn’t give a shit about free sodas, it was all how much does it pay? If anyone offered me $5k/yr more I’d quit on the spot. Whenever a recruiter called, I was interested. In a way kids are expensive but to me the kick in the pants it gave me led to making far more money and honing my mind and realizing what’s important and what isn’t.
- johnnylambada 5y ago
  I’m a few years beyond you and my expensive sports car was really cheap (a saturn sky). But I 100% agree with your sentiment. When I found we were pregnant in the mid 80s I stopped all screwing around and got to work. It’s was a necessary transition.