Aurore spends 1,038 euros a month on her son: “I buy him 10 pairs of shoes a year”

How much does it really cost to look after one or more children every month? What is the parents’ budget? Do the costs incurred change depending on the age of the children? Every week, in our meeting “When we love, we count”, parents open their accounts and share with us how much one or more children costs them, monthly.

This week it is Aurore who takes part in the exercise.

Aurore’s income, with a child of 6 years

• First name : Sunrise

• Age : 41 years old

• Work : Quality Manager

• Total household net budget: €3,000

• Number of children: A 6 year old boy

• Place of living: Sartrouville (78)

Aurore is in a relationship, but does not live, for the moment, at the same time as her partner. She has sole custody of her 6-year-old son. She owns her apartment.

It is an 82 m² apartment in the large suburbs of the Île-de-France, two stations from La Défense, but also 3 km from the Maisons Lafitte forest. I chose it because it is close to Paris, but with greenery and the banks of the Seine. I made this purchase in this neighborhood because it is a stone’s throw from the best schools in the city.

Aurore earns 3,000 euros per month after taxes. He has no other income and receives no state aid.

Every month he repays the mortgage on his apartment of 1,100 euros and spends 430 euros on current bills, such as condominium fees and electricity.

Childcare expenses for an aged child 6 years

After explaining her total income, Aurore details the amounts she spent on providing childcare equipment for her son when he was born, for approximately €1,500 :

I bought almost everything on Leboncoin, such as the cot, the bathtub, the deckchair and the stroller. The only new things purchased were the car seat, bottles and onesies.

For birth gifts, Aurore was helped:

I was given clothes at birth, but babies spend their time in bodysuits and pajamas. The budget wouldn’t have been huge!

Hygiene sideAurore estimates her budget for her baby €15 per month.

I spend 10 to 15 euros a month on “soap that doesn’t burn the eyes”, cotton pads, creams, wipes, physiological serum, etc.

Level Health Aurore has no particular expenses for her son.

Food expenses for Aurore and her son 6 years

Regarding the purchase of food for his son Aurore he spends approximately €250 per month only for the child:

I want to have fresh products as much as possible.

Aurore lets her son convince her to enter supermarkets, but with a limited budget:

Sometimes I let myself be persuaded, but rarely and especially for small sums of less than €3.

For the type of stores in which she shops, Aurore explains her organization to us:

I mainly go to Lidl and Carrefour. I’m all for promotions! I often buy in large quantities (like 2+1 free), but also because I’m lucky enough to be able to stock up. I, on the other hand, always make sure I have fresh fruit and raw vegetables.

Again on the food side, Aurore also spends Canteen €80 per month, for four days a week, at €5 per meal.

Expenses for clothes and toys for a child 6 years

As for the budget clothing of her son, Aurore rarely buys clothes:

As for clothes, my son gets his clothes from a cousin. I rarely buy clothes, except when there aren’t enough in stock. Example with new trousers with holes after a day… Besides, I buy a lot of shoes! And yes, in new ones, on average for 10 pairs per year.

Smoothed over the year, the clothing budget of his son is estimated at €30 per month.

As for toys, games and books, Aurore applies the same principle as for clothes: second-hand purchases, if possible:

Toys, it depends, I buy them new and used. Depending on price, availability, interest in the game… I buy a lot of new books and subscriptions with a bigger budget. The toys are often offered by aunts and friends so few purchases.

Smoothed over the course of the year, Aurore estimates the expense €15 for toys and €15 for books.

The budget for activities for your child and childcare arrangements

Aurore’s son is at school and remains in daycare, however €170 per month, for which he does not receive any financial contribution from the State:

Attends nursery and leisure center during the week and during school holidays. Five, even four days a week. I try to work from home on Wednesdays so I don’t have to work in the leisure centre, but that’s not always possible.

Aurore occasionally invites one of babysitter, about twice a month. It has an average of €80 per evening, therefore €160 per month.

As for the activity of his son, Aurore spends €40 per month for basketball and music lessons, in extracurricular activities. It also tells us that it adds up approximately €15 per month for outings such as cinema, climbing, cycling or visits to museums.

As regards school, Aurore spends, in installments over the year, School supplies worth €10sand €7 insurance public responsibility.

To these are also added the more general expenses €2 subscription to the Navigo e pass €59 internet subscriptions and Disney+. Furthermore, Aurore tells us that she adds to her annual budget the sum of €20 a month, she gave birthday gifts for her son’s friends.

Pocket money and the transmission of the value of money

Regarding the expenditure items he would like to reduce, Aurore confides:

There really isn’t a post I would like to decrease. The biggest budget is food and drink, and I can’t cut the budget without cutting the quality. And we love to eat and drink too! I haven’t really gone crazy or splurged, the purchases are quite reasonable.

Aurore specifies that her travel budget is intended for vacation is consistent, for €6,000 per year, or, leveled over the year, €500 per month (which we will not add to the final monthly budget):

One of the big budgets of the year (but it is that of the family and not just my son) are holidays: we go systematically, planning at least one very distant trip a year.

Aurore talks about the relationship with money in her family, what was passed down to her and her current relationship with her son.

In my family it was rarely talked about, the topic was quite taboo. We just knew that we had little and that we shouldn’t waste or ask. I remember this today, especially in my relationship with not wasting.

Aurore feels ambivalence about talking openly about money in front of her son:

It’s not a taboo topic, but when we talk about it I try to use terms that are accessible to him.

Try to teach him the value of things, using elements of comparison suitable for his age:

I do price comparisons in terms of number of Pokémon cards! I refuse to buy things we often have at home because this time they aren’t on sale. If in one day he gets holes in his trousers, goes out to school several times with holes, he just has to take care of his things. These are small examples taken from everyday life.

Aurore has opened several savings systems for his son, for 100 euros a month. This saving costs him in total €150since you pay €50 monthly in addition to the insurance so that, in the event of your death, the bank continues to pay €100 per month into this savings until your child turns 25:

I have opened life insurance for the eight tax years to start running, as well as a Livret A and another savings scheme in my name, but which will pass to his when he turns 25. These amounts are used to give him a contribution towards the purchase of his house or to finance his studies. Plus, being a single mother, it’s also so that she has a nest egg to pay inheritance taxes, just in case.

At the end of the month it remains €597 in Aurora. Amount used for your personal expenses and expenses.

When all the money spent only on his son Aurore is added spend €1038 monthly.

Thanks to Aurore for answering our questions!