Your membership has expired

The payment for your account couldn't be processed or you've canceled your account with us.

Re-activate

Save products you love, products you own and much more!

Save products icon

Other Membership Benefits:

Savings icon Exclusive Deals for Members Best time to buy icon Best Time to Buy Products Recall tracker icon Recall & Safety Alerts TV screen optimizer icon TV Screen Optimizer and more

    Making childrearing (a little) cheaper

    Consumer Reports News: February 14, 2008 11:34 AM

    Last time the U.S. Department of Agriculture put a price tag on the cost of raising a child from birth to age 18, its figures ranged from $143,790 for lower-income households to $289,380 for higher-earning ones. Here's the full report if you're curious.

    A lively debate has ensued over whether those numbers are too high or too low, but most of us parents would probably agree on one thing: Raising a child isn't cheap.

    Recently our money team looked at ways to control those costs, focusing not on coupon clipping or generic baby food but on the really big-ticket stuff. You'll find our advice in the Babies & Kids section of this Web site.

    If you have any parental money-saving tips of your own to share, we'd love to hear about them. Just hit Comments, below.


    E-mail Newsletters

    FREE e-mail Newsletters! Choose from cars, safety, health, and more!
    Already signed-up?
    Manage your newsletters here too.

    Money News

    Cars

    Cars Build & Buy Car Buying Service
    Save thousands off MSRP with upfront dealer pricing information and a transparent car buying experience.

    See your savings

    Mobile

    Mobile Get Ratings on the go and compare
    while you shop

    Learn more