Child Care is Expensive, or Why I Bought My Mother-In-Law a Car

brandonhi

New member
It’s a sad state of affairs when it’s cheaper to buy my MIL a new car while she watches my son 3 days a week and he goes to child care twice a week, rather than sending him to child care for 5. My wife and I have been going back and forth on this since she was pregnant, my MIL is going to watch him for free, but her car, a 2004 Elantra, is a wreck. It’s rusted to shit and barely runs. If she gets t-bone with him in the car, it’s extremely likely he’d sustain a serious injury.

Obviously I live in the US, hence the absolute absurdity of this post. Our household income is pretty good, but we live in a HCOL area which means 5 days a week of child care would cost us $25k per year. Instead, we’re paying $190 a week, or $9,880 a year, for 2 days a week of child care, and $740 a month for a Mazda CX-30 for 0% at 36 months.

We looked at CPO cars that belong on a used car lot. We saw interest rates of 7-9% for 60 months on used cars. The only economical option was buying new.

I acknowledge this sounds privileged, but it’s just insane that this is the way things are going.
 
@wina22 And a grandmother that gets to bond with her grandchild, and vice-versa. I didn't really know my grandparents, and am thrilled my kid will know at least one set of his. Unfortunately mine are gone, so at least two will be heavily in his life.
 
@brandonhi You're lucky your MIL is willing to take care of your kid, too. Some of us don't have that option.

In our case, we agreed that my wife should just stop working to be a stay at home parent since the cost of child care for two kids is so expensive. We're privileged that we can afford to live on just a single income despite it being a significant loss of income. We're willing to give up some money to have more family time.
 
@sdw3 Dude, we’re extremely lucky that we have her. My wife stopping working isn’t an option, she just started her new career so the opportunity cost of her not working is way too high, let alone the actual cost.

It’s not that we’d struggle, we just wouldn’t be able to live the way we do.
 
@sdw3
You're lucky your MIL is willing to take care of your kid, too. Some of us don't have that option.

I have the option but I choose not to take it. My mother was effectively the main caregiver for my niece - minded her until 4 yo, then collected from school, did all the meals, etc. My brother and his wife completely took advantage of it.

I bring my son to my parents regularly, and they have a great relationship. However, I don't want to impose regular childcare on them. They deserve to enjoy their retirement.It'll be a relationship of choice not obligation.
 
@brandonhi Yeah, it really only makes sense if you need full time care for multiple kids.

Nanny shares can potentially work if you can pool resources with a few families nearby with similar schedules.
 
@brandonhi I get it. Your daycare actually seems not that bad for HCOL- a little over two grand a month - can I ask what general area you are?

I’m in northern chicago burbs, the minimum for a shit daycare is $3.5k/month.

My partner just doesn’t work, it’s not worth it.
 
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