I was reading blogs this evening when I ran across a blog posting a letter regarding child support. The writer of the letter stated that child support should not be used to pay rent or utilities that the custodial parent would have to pay that with or without a child. The writer went on to say that only such things as clothes and baseball gloves should be bought with child support and receipts should have to be provided to prove that the custodial parent wasn't spending the support on frivolous things such as the gas bill. The writer suggested, actually out right said, that custodial parents are getting a free ride when they get child support.

So I was inspired to create a break down of the money I spend to support my child. Don't get me wrong, I am happy to spend every penny I do and hadn't given the amount much thought until now. I do, however, think it is important to provide bare facts to combat outright stupid notions of "free rides."

Rent: Now the above writer does not see rent as a necessity to support a child, but I present this number - $150, the difference in monthly rent between a one bedroom and my small two bedroom apartment in my apartment complex.

Utilities: Despite the fact that a two person household will use more electricity and more water and the fact that I myself would not have nearly as many cable channels, I will not claim that my son costs me any more in utilities. The numbers would be too difficult to crunch.

Food: According to sources across the Internet, it looks as if a single person spends about $200 - $250 a month on food, while a family of two (even if the second is a child) spends about $300-$350 on food. I think these numbers are before the price of food skyrocketed, but it still should provide us with an accurate difference of $100.

Clothing: I'm actually pretty lucky. My sister and mother both seem to enjoy buying my son clothes and I have friends who provide some hand-me downs, so I probably don't spend as much to cloth my son as most. I estimate I spend between $400 and $500 a year of clothing (including jackets and such). For the sake of argument, lets just stick with $420 per year or $35 a month.

Extra Curricular activities: I don't see these as "extras". It has been proven in multiple studies that busy children are less likely to turn to drugs or other delinquent activities. The busy needs to start now. I easily spend $320 a year on extra activities. Or $30 per month.

Medicine and Dr. Care: Luckily I have great insurance and the additional cost of my son is only $44. Of course he need doctor appointments, dental appointments, and medications. Those total to be about $56 per month making the total $100.

School: Sending a child to school is actually kind of costly. They need supplies for the classroom, supplies for projects, money for field trips, and that costly school lunch (that I don't even allow my son to buy every day). The monthly break down for school totals $40. And, yes, that is spreading it across 12 months.

Occasional Childcare: I spend approximately $45 per month on childcare. Minimal compared to many single parents.

These numbers don't include vacations, gifts, fun times and probably a host of other costs. They also don't include the fact that I live in a high priced rent district to give my son the best school possible. I think, however, everyone can agree that the above numbers accurately represent the basic costs of raising my child. Since I believe we are fairly average, I will take the jump to say it comes close to representing the cost of raising any child in my tax bracket. To recap:

Rent: $150
Food: $100
Clothing: $35
Extra curricular: $30
Medicine/care: $10
School: $40
Childcare: $45
For a total of: $410

$410 is probably a very low estimate on what I really spend per month on specifically my son. My ex-husband is order to pay $65 per week or $260 per month. That is 65% of what it takes. Our court order actually orders him to provide 75% and if he asked for the child support to be reevaluated, it would reduce it quite a bit. Since it has been his choice not to ask for a reevaluation of support, these numbers look pretty fair to me, if he actually paid it! If he starts paying the child support, I'll gladly send him the receipts!