Going From 2 to 3 Babies Financially

So, here is the thing. I am not somebody who thinks children cost a ridiculous amount of money. (And I am somebody who likes to splurge on educational tech, science experiments, books, and all sorts of gameschooling apps.) So going from 2 to 3 babies financially was not a huge concern for me.

What was a concern for me was falling pregnant in the midst of a pandemic and trying to figure out how we would safely navigate the zombie apocalypse with 3 children under 5!

Jokes aside, I breastfeed for as long as I can bear it, so that cuts out formula costs. And that whole thing about having an additional mouth to feed only really kicks in when they turn around 10 years old and start eating a significant amount of food.

To be fair, all of the real costs start to kick in when they get older. When they start growing out of their clothes faster, eating more, breaking things, needing to go places, and do more extracurricular activities.

But while they are young, they don’t seem to want for much. And again, when I think about it – it is me that is on Amazon, scrolling through gadgets and coding robots and adding them to my basket, not the children.

With that being said, a few months ago, for the first time ever, I experienced what not having enough money for 3 children looks and feels like.

I was looking for a science camp to sign the older two (5 and 3 years) up to. I found one that looked amazing. Really, it looked so good that I wanted to sign myself up and go along with them.

The curriculum was jam-packed with activities and experiments, the location was great and I knew the environment would be great for the kids.

I went to book and was taken aback by the price. I thought to myself “woah, wasn’t expecting that, maybe I can just send them for one week…”

So I proceeded. Only to find out that the price I already thought was expensive for the month, was actually the price for a single week, and, with no form of sibling discount.

I could have still went ahead and booked the camp and paid the full price for one child, but I felt like it was too much and then I also started thinking, well what about the others?

So I canceled and had a look for some other camps that were either free or significantly cheaper.

In the end, I just bought a variety of science experiments on Amazon and the little people were ecstatic.

But that wasn’t the point. The feeling of being priced out of something like an educational experience for my children was a horrible one.

As parents, we want to give them the best and ensure they are happy, healthy, and have all the opportunities in the world. When you feel like you can’t provide that for them, it is a horrible feeling.

And I know not everybody will be able to relate to this, not having the money to pay what was originally a pretty high price for a few days of science camp isn’t life-altering or even that much in the grand scheme of things for some people.

But for me, these things are what drive and motivate me. The babies are already here and I wouldn’t have it any other way! They have what seems like the perfect age gaps between them all and they get along beautifully.

The only thing now, is to ensure I can send them all to whichever camps they want to go to when the time comes!

One last thing…

Pros And Cons Of Going From 2 to 3 Babies Financially

I am aware that somebody might stumble upon this post when deciding whether or not to have a third child, and that everybody’s situation is different so I have prepared this table of pros and cons for you 🙂

This only touches on the topic of finance, of course, I would be here all day listing all the non-financial pros and cons (mainly pros!)

Happy Deciding!

Pros	Cons
They might inspire you to create that extra stream of income or get a promotion.	You have to split your resources again. That is true for time and money.
They can help out on the family farm (if you have a family farm).	What you do for one you must do for the other. Savings accounts, education, birthdays etc.
They could become a TikiTok (or whatever social media equivalent will be running the game in 13 years’ time) sensation at 13 and bring millions into the house.	Holidays, theme parks etc. Anything priced per person becomes even more expensive