Making childrearing (a little) cheaper

Last time the U.S. Department of Agriculture put a price tag on the cost of raising a child from birth to age 18, its figures ranged from $143,790 for lower-income households to $289,380 for higher-earning ones. Here’s the full report if you’re curious.

A lively debate has ensued over whether those numbers are too high or too low, but most of us parents would probably agree on one thing: Raising a child isn’t cheap.

Recently our money team looked at ways to control those costs, focusing not on coupon clipping or generic baby food but on the really big-ticket stuff. You’ll find our advice in the Babies & Kids section of this Web site.

If you have any parental money-saving tips of your own to share, we’d love to hear about them. Just hit Comments, below.