This 6-pillar curriculum teaches the basic literacy we need to be personally and financially successful and to do so in a manner in which together we evolve a culture that supports the emergence of an advanced human civilization.
New parents be warned: It could cost nearly a quarter of a million dollars to raise your child — and that’s not even including the cost of college.
To raise a child born in 2013 to the age of 18, it will cost a middle-income couple just over $245,000, according to newly released estimates from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. That’s up $4,260, or almost 2%, from the year before.
I have 8. I am definitely firmly in the middle class. I can safely say, these stories are largely bunk, but they are a great way to intimidate and make young married people afraid to (1) have kids at all or (2) have any more. Yet children are the greatest of blessings. If you need tips on raising children economically, read The Complete Tightwad Gazette. Actually, it is the first child (barring medical issues) that costs the most; the rest are pretty cheap.
Now, what people should count the cost of, in raising children, is whether you are prepared to become the sort of person you want your children to emulate — qualities like kindness (even when tired or overwhelmed), integrity, self discipline, putting people before things… Oh, wait. I think there’s a list in the Bible (Galations 5:22-23).
Of course, you don’t need to have any children to do that. But they do hold the mirror up faster and more reliably than anything else I’ve ever seen. 🙂
Lori:
That is excellent advice. I do find the economics directly relates to family coherence and discipline. If the parents invest time and exercise discipline, the economics differ dramatically.
I have 8. I am definitely firmly in the middle class. I can safely say, these stories are largely bunk, but they are a great way to intimidate and make young married people afraid to (1) have kids at all or (2) have any more. Yet children are the greatest of blessings. If you need tips on raising children economically, read The Complete Tightwad Gazette. Actually, it is the first child (barring medical issues) that costs the most; the rest are pretty cheap.
Now, what people should count the cost of, in raising children, is whether you are prepared to become the sort of person you want your children to emulate — qualities like kindness (even when tired or overwhelmed), integrity, self discipline, putting people before things… Oh, wait. I think there’s a list in the Bible (Galations 5:22-23).
Of course, you don’t need to have any children to do that. But they do hold the mirror up faster and more reliably than anything else I’ve ever seen. 🙂
Lori:
That is excellent advice. I do find the economics directly relates to family coherence and discipline. If the parents invest time and exercise discipline, the economics differ dramatically.
I have 8. I am definitely firmly in the middle class. I can safely say, these stories are largely bunk, but they are a great way to intimidate and make young married people afraid to (1) have kids at all or (2) have any more. Yet children are the greatest of blessings. If you need tips on raising children economically, read The Complete Tightwad Gazette. Actually, it is the first child (barring medical issues) that costs the most; the rest are pretty cheap.
Now, what people should count the cost of, in raising children, is whether you are prepared to become the sort of person you want your children to emulate — qualities like kindness (even when tired or overwhelmed), integrity, self discipline, putting people before things… Oh, wait. I think there’s a list in the Bible (Galations 5:22-23).
Of course, you don’t need to have any children to do that. But they do hold the mirror up faster and more reliably than anything else I’ve ever seen. 🙂
Lori:
That is excellent advice. I do find the economics directly relates to family coherence and discipline. If the parents invest time and exercise discipline, the economics differ dramatically.
THANKS!
Catherine