really?!

i've just read this story in the smh: www.smh.com.au/news/lifeandstyle/lifematters/cost-of-kids-not-so-high
and i've got to say the guy is a dickhead. a kid in nappies for a year can cost $1000 alone. a good quality double stroller will cost near $1000. child care costs us $80 a day. a private school education will be, and i'm being conservative, $10 000 a year, clothes, food, toys, swimming and ballet and karate lessons, trips to the doctor, health insurance, school excursions, incidentals, car seats, high chairs, petrol or bike tyres lugging the lovelies about, glasses, dentists, speech therapy, soccer boots, swimming goggles... the list is nearly endless. i really don't think 18 years of this and you'd get away with spending $55k.

yes, you don't have to send sprog to private school or to ballet lessons or do a myriad of other things, i still don't see that costing less than 55k over 18 years.

to be fair tho i will try to track down the actual research paper and see how badly smh reported it.