Mom-of-three horrified to discover she spends almost $50,000 A YEAR on her children

A mother-of-three has been left horrified to discover she spends almost $50,000 a year on her children.

Dana Cirrone, from Bluffton, South Carolina, took to TikTok to share a breakdown of her costs associated with raising her kids aged nine, six and three.

The 33-year-old, who works as a registered nurse, said that it was ‘sickening’ to find out she was spending so much.

But do you know how much your kids are costing you? 

Dana and her husband John have a combined income between $175,000 and $200,000, depending on how many hours she works as her shifts can vary, according to Newsweek. 

In the clip, which has so far been viewed more than 1.2 million times, Dana speaks to camera as she relays the shocking statistics about the costs of raising her family.

She begins: ‘I just totaled up how much my children cost me per year and the number is going to shock you because it shocked me…

‘I am going to transparently tell you the amount of money we spend on our three kids.

‘The reason I did this is because I realized that finances are a major [factor in] family planning. 

‘It is a big factor in why people do or don’t have kids. It is a big factor in when they have kids and how many kids they have so I feel like the transparency can help someone.

‘Money is very taboo and a lot of people don’t talk about it but, with that being said, I definitely go overboard in some areas… I’m seeing that right now on paper.’

She then reassures her followers by adding: ‘This is not the minimum amount you need to have happy, healthy children but I do think it’s a realistic view of what kids could cost.

‘I cannot believe I’ve never done this before. It’s a little sickening. I’m not complaining by the way, I choose to spend this money on my children and it is fine.’

Then Dana starts her costings breakdown. 

She begins: ‘Extracurriculars. I spend $18,000 in a year. That’s going to be the one that gets people heated. 

‘Both my girls are in competition dance teams. I’m actually probably leveling that a little bit because I didn’t include the convention stays where we have to stay for the weekend but I included quite a bit in it. 

‘And that’s dance, tumbling and soccer for my son.’

The 33-year-old, who works as a registered nurse, said that it was ‘sickening’ to find out she was spending so much

Dana concludes the shocking round-up by revealing the total figure is more than $47,000 for her three kids – equating to an annual cost of $15,900 per child

Dana continues: ‘My two older girls go to public school but my son goes to preschool and that is $600 a month [for about] 10 months so $6,000 part time.

‘Christmas and birthdays. I didn’t do all the other holidays and I do give them little things throughout… so again this number is probably low ball but I approximate that I spent about $1,500 to $1,800 a year on their Christmas gifts.

‘And for their birthdays, $500 per kid.’

And the list does not stop there as Dana exposes the cost of ‘clothes, uniforms and shoes.’

She reveals: ‘I’m guestimating but I’m going to say that at least $3,000 a year. I would assume I spend at least $1,000 on each kid. I’m probably low-balling that one.’

The mother-of-three continues: ‘Food. This one is hard because I’ve been shopping for all of us for so long that I don’t even know – and inflation has really driven prices up.

‘But I am going to guess that the three kids cost me about $1,200 extra per month in food because I think my husband and I would be able to get by on much, much smaller grocery shopping trips so that brings us to $14,400 a year.

‘Then I get a $3,000 a year for extra that I’m forgetting about.

‘Obviously we need a bigger car for the children. We obviously spent extra on vacation so I’m just throwing that $3,000 in as extra.’

Dana concludes the shocking round-up by revealing the total figure is more than $47,000 for her three kids – equating to an annual cost of $15,900 per child.

In 2021, researchers estimated that basic costs for raising a child in America was $20,152 annually – but this figure, calculated to include food, transport, daycare and so on, fluctuates depending on the state

And she later revealed that she had not even factored in ‘extra utilities, the cost of owning a five-bedroom home or medical bills.’ 

What is perhaps more shocking is that her expenditure is still less than the average price of raising a child across the US.

In 2021, researchers estimated that basic costs for raising a child in America was $20,152 annually, according to LendingTree. 

But this figure, calculated to include food, transport, daycare and so on, fluctuates depending on the state.

The study found that the three most expensive places in the US to raise a small child were District of Columbia ($28,785), Hawaii ($25,828) and Maryland ($25,156).

And, on the opposite end of the spectrum, the cheapest places to raise a child were Mississippi ($13,596), Alabama ($14,614) and Kentucky ($15,157).

But, across the board, the cost has increased over time.

The national average figure to supply basics for a child jumped by more than 25 per cent from 2014 to 2019 – and many fear it will continue to worsen.