Like Water Pouring Through Our Hands

That's what the money has been like lately.
First off, #2 Son needs a better flute.
He's at the point where he has a serious commitment to his music and plans to make a career in the music field.
He needs an upgrade in the instrument department and this is the one his teacher recommended.....ain't it purty and shiny?

There was an identical used one for $200 less but his teacher tested both and the difference was more than $200 in quality, as the used one hadn't been taken care of.  It would have cost more than $200 to get it back up to new quality, so we bit the bullet and bought the new one.
This brand is a gem among flutes, Di Zhao.  The only brand that handcuts the head joints on flutes at this level of instrument.  Hand cut parts are only seen otherwise in custom made flutes and/or the highest end pro models these days, which are out of our ballpark in price.
Professional flutes start at around $7K and go into the $20K & Up range.

The teacher says this upgraded flute should see him through his 1st two years of college, at which point his professors will start pushing him to trade up to a better instrument.  We have told him, the next upgrade is on your dime so start putting away that summer job money for when that day comes.

As with cars, luxury watches and some electronics, you don't pay the "list price" for a quality musical instrument.  There is haggling and/or discounts.  We paid $1000 out of pocket for this flute.
The cash is coming out of his college fund so I don't have to dig into our regular savings for this. 8-)
We are however paying OOP for his flute camp next month.  It's just 3 days so not that large an outlay of cash.

We may have to give our oldest child a loan later this year.  He graduated in May and is now job hunting but his SO needs to finish up 1 more year at a school in Pittsburg, so they need to locate there for at least until next May.
So they need to move and find an apt. before August & the beginning of classes for the Fall.  But it's very hard to find an apt. if you have no job in the area and aren't independently wealthy enough to afford to pay rent.  Besides, landlords run your credit score and they want an employer on your application.  And it's hard to find a job if you don't live in the area, so it's a vicious cycle.

Hubs wanted to hand the kid a check for $ to make trips down to P'burg to find a job.  I told him this won't work because the type of jobs the kid will be interviewing for will most probably be the kind where they want you to start right away, and then they'll need to logistically make the move, still need money for an apt.(1st/lasts/security + moving expenses), so why not just co-sign the lease for 1 year(or 10 months if they can get one of those)?  Then when they get on their feet, they can take over the payments and then pay us back when they are in a position to financially.
Right now they are living with the SO's grandparents but they have no family in P'burg to stay with while they get jobs/find an apt./etc.

So we will be loaning them a heap of money(around $10K all totaled if a job never materializes there).  Knowing this kid, there is no way in hell(short of death)that he will NOT repay it....it just might take awhile.  We have the money to lend and it won't leave us short.  I also told the kid that if he doesn't repay us, his little brother can't go to college(not really). ;-)  The guilt of THAT will eat at him.....lol

I made the mistake of mentioning to the Hubs after this conversation that if we had NOT had 3 kids, he'd probably be retired by now and we'd be swimming in cash.
Kids are damned expensive to raise to adulthood, even if you are frugal and careful with the money, ya know?   They are a pricey hobby......

Just for fun, I went HERE and used their child cost calculator to figure what our youngest will cost to get to adulthood.  He is 17 now.
The answer was $518,000.
Gulp.
Really??  It's that much?!

Figuring his 2 siblings were about that(maybe a little less due to inflation and they are older), it means we'll have shelled out $1,500,000.00 in child related costs.
Woweeeee!
I've seen a figure to raise a child to 18 as low as $235,000(not including college).  Under $7000,000 total for 3 kids sounds a mite better......say $800,000 better. lol

I'd say including college, our 3 might be at a total of approx. $900,000 with college.

Hey, no wonder the couple across the street(who are about our age)who have no children and live in a house identical to ours, seem to take a lot of trips and have a fancy pants sports car for a third vehicle.  lol 

C'est la vie......

Then we got the credit card bill yesterday in the mail.
$2,800+ statement for June.
$658.70 in charges related solely to the kids.
See what I just said?!

Have I mentioned how expensive kids are?? ;-)

Ok....to be fair there were $1000+ in charges for NON-Needs from Hubs and I.
* A new desk, a new computer chair & a DNA test kit for me.
* A new computer and a yr. of internet chess club for Hubs.
Hubs was MORE expensive than me though in June.
That's my story and I'ma stickin' to it!



Sluggy