<prompt> Human: tldr; Trying to determine if we can afford a second child, in the long run. We could just squeeze by paying two daycare bills for the first 3 years. Did life get cheaper or stay the same once theyre in school and you are only paying for aftercare instead of full time care? We are discussing the possibility of a second child. Our little one just turned 2. We arent totally committed either way yet but honestly if I thought we could afford it and my toddler would actually sleep, I would probably push to start trying now because I dont want an age gap of more than 3.5-4 years. But I think I could be happy with a singleton. We both work, and I dont want to and cannot afford to stay at home. We both have decently paying, FT professional jobs, and live in a city with a somewhat elevated cost of living. I just got a raise, combined we make 115k before taxes, with a 1300m mortgage and 1100m daycare bill. Hoping that my husband will get a decent raise after his annual review but its not a sure thing. We own both of our cars outright but will probably need to replace at least one within a year or two and would probably finance. We havent gone on a big vacation in awhile but usually take a bunch of long weekend trips. We also have a dog and cat who are both seniors and their food and vet bills will be increasing in the coming years. Right now we are living pretty comfortable with one daycare payment, saving 10 of our salary for retirement and another 8 into long term savings though I wish we could save more. We have about 15k in our long term savingsemergency fund. But again, I would be more comfortable with about 30k. If I got pregnant now, we would have a 3 year age gap and would need to pay two daycare bills for about 3 years until my oldest went to public kindergarten. If we were to stop saving for retirement and long term savings, take no weekend trips and do less eating outentertainment and shopping we would just be scraping by paying two daycare bills. But I dont want to live like this long term. Is life less expensive once youre only paying for aftercare and activities?  <response>: Wife and I had similar discussion when our child was 2. 2 years later, no regrets being parent of 1. In fact we feel like were finally starting to regain our financial flexibility,vacation capability, etc. Dont get me wrong, our child was worth it, but still, seeing the light at the end of the tunnel...To provide some numbers for comparison, we have a monthly 1300 mortgage 1k preschool, both of us work FT. Our income and emergency fund is higher than yours, but cost of living is very elevated here. No pets. Looking to buy 2nd car within 2-3 years, cash. Were also counting the day junior will enter public kindergarten. If you think you can be happy being a singleton, that is pretty much the determining factor right there. We have friends that are happy they stopped at 2, or wished they stopped at 1. One thats happy at 3, another big family whos in some precarious financial position at the moment consecutive annual negative savings. You have 2 aging pets and I presume you will continue to have 2 pets afterwards. You plan to finance a new car, and wish to at least double your emergency fund. Your potential 2nd child will force you to reevaluate the possibilities of each of those goals, not to mention continuous developing expenses for your first.Congrats on your raise, but dont count your husbands potential raise until its hatched. Can you afford a second child? Honestly you probably can. The better question is would you be able to achieve the above objectives andor maintain your current quality of life? 