13 kid expenses that are not worth the money, according to real parents

child with an iphone 6

There's no way around it: Raising kids — even just one! — is expensive.

The average American family pays over $11,000 just in the first year of a child's life, and nearly $250,000 by the time they're 18. And while most of the incurred expenses prove worthwhile, not every toy, class, or experience warrants its price tag.

Business Insider asked parents with children of all ages to weigh in on the financial side of having kids. While they concluded that several expenses are well worth the money, myriad others proved unworthy of the cost, from trendy gadgets to designer clothing.

Not every parent went into their reasoning, but every family is different, and it makes sense that every expense would be valued differently, too.

Below, we've anonymously included 13 things they say aren't worth spending on:

DON'T MISS: 13 unexpected costs of having a kid

Too much/too nice clothing

• "For older kids, I would say clothes. Kids can be picky about their clothes and will end up wearing the same 5 shirts over and over anyway. So just get clothes they like and will wear and replace as needed. And I always accept hand-me-downs."

• "Fancy clothes when they were young. They outgrew them too quickly."

Toys

• Trendy toys

• "Any electronic gadgets for kids less than 13."

• Going overboard on Christmas

• Over-the-top birthday parties

Expensive vacations with young kids

• "It's not worth it to do 'big vacations' when they are younger; they just forget. It's been more worth it to do things like visit major cities or travel across Canada now that my son is old enough to appreciate it and learn from it."

See the rest of the story at Business Insider

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