I'm Afraid We Can't Afford Daycare!

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[paulmoser]

I’m glad I wasn’t the only one infuriated by this one. The caller is being a great parent by thinking ahead and budgeting for another child. Dave doesn’t know how to answer so his response is to just be an irresponsible parent and just have the kid and worry about it later. What a terrible response.

[andreaj]

“It doesn’t cost $1200 to add a newborn to daycare.“ 😂🤣 Dave $1200 a month for a newborn in daycare is considered cheap. Time to check into reality with what Americans are dealing with and this is an engineer with a good situation. Imagine a single mom working at Walmart.

[ga]

Dave copped out on this one. The guy is absolutely right for planning ahead about having another child. Daycare is not only expensive, it's hard to come by. There's a severe shortage of daycare providers. I feel so sorry for families with young kids that are struggling with this. If you can get by on one income, it's best if one parent can stay home, at least until the kids are school-age. I'd advise any newlyweds thinking of starting a family to first spend a few years squirreling away a lot of money- they're going to need it!

[angiewood]

I have never seen Dave be so cold towards someone. He gets frustrated when people aren’t planning ahead and then when someone does he chastises him for it?!
That’s wrong.

[rollingwithdeep]

This is so appalling from Dave here. On one hand he says people should budget tightly and consider future changes to their circumstances. This caller has done exactly this before making a huge decision yet Dave has dismissed him for taking the considerate approach.

[roymoon]

By the same logic, retirement is a hypothetical. So don't worry about it until age 67.

[arga]

Dave finding out how much Daycare cost is hilarious lol
"I don't have an answer so lets pretend this is not an issue"

[maryt]

If the Dave Ramsey team is reading these comments, Dave majority (to put it nicely) goofed this one up.

He owes every working parents an apology for being so dismissive of the incredibly real issue this guy was calling in with that we can relate to. He not only dismissed this guy, in doing so he dismissed all of us.

[heero]

I think more people SHOULD budget for a 2nd kid. I know so many people who didn't even plan for the first... Dude thank you for planning for the future.

[MitchellEdelman]

$1300 for daycare is a decent price too. Dave is just not in this stage of his life anymore.

[DC-rdoq]

OMG, this guy called in so he could ask for advice about having another child and Dave totally shut him down. Just because they aren't pregnant yet doesn't make this a hypothetical that they don't have to be thinking about.

[dylanbeyers]

“Just don’t worry about the hypothetical, that’s in the future” terrible financial advice

[AmberCaprie]

As a mom of twins looking for daycare, it is Definitely a huge expense to think through before having kids. The good thing in his scenario is their current baby will be Pre-K age and close to starting school so when the baby is born so there may be programs in the school system that can lower their cost of care.

[autumnasdfghjkl]

Dave literally isn’t listening to this guy at all and it’s infuriating. He shows over and over that he does not grasp the situation of the average American now a days… he can listen to people talk all day but he’s not listening to understand, he’s listening to respond… his previous lived experience of struggle is so far gone it seems like he’s out of touch.

[IRSoutreach]

Dave has no idea how bad daycare situations has gotten for many! It’s expensive and hard to find! You need to plan ahead because of how expensive and how hard it is to find any daycare and reliable daycare.

[cellis]

What a rude and terrible answer from Dave.

Dave everyday - “Plan for your future you idiots.”

Dave today - “Why are you planning for your future you idiot.”

This made my blood boil.

[Fishouta]

Poor caller got ostracized for actually trying to plan ahead for a child, rather than just having babies without thinking.

[aliciaz]

Ken’s response was appropriate. Dave was out of line this time, not at all helpful.

We did the numbers and Mama working would NOT be making money, so one parent stayed home - and so we only needed one vehicle. You can make it work, but that doesn’t mean it’s not a struggle to figure it out.

[Clestbest]

We just paid $525 to be on a wait-list for a daycare and won't even get in until next summer. Our current daycare can't keep enough staff to allow all the kids to be there all the time. It is ROUGH if you want to keep working right now with a kid...

[lydiasmith]

Dave is definitely out of touch. Waitlists for childcare are 8-12 months.I live in Indiana. You practically have to know you’re having a baby to get a spot. I’m only in my 1st trimester and have contacted 45 daycares within a 30 mile radius, and only 10 have openings. Just one is below $300 a week. Even church daycares are $375. This is absolutely something you plan for when it comes to careers and piling up money ahead of time. Im already stressed and I hate that they blew this caller off.