How does FI help with parenting costs?

FI provides flexibility, allowing parents to use innovative strategies like co-working daycare and housing optimization.

What are money trees in the context of FI?

'Money trees' are small, achievable financial goals to cover specific expenses, making FI more attainable.

Annual CFP Roundtable 2017 | Kyle Mast and Danny Kenny

Podcast

Ep. 591 — Parent Like a Millionaire Without Being One

What if raising kids didn’t have to cost a fortune—or derail your path to financial independence?

Brad Barrett · Mar 23, 2026 · Guests: Bryce Leung, Kristy Shen

50m 24s

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Introduction and Book Overview
Financial Strategies for Parenting
Key Categories of Costs
Money Trees and FI Goals
Closing Thoughts

Transforming Parenting Through Financial Independence

In a recent episode of the Choose FI podcast, host Brad Barrett welcomed back Kristy Shen and Bryce Leung to discuss their new book, 'Parent Like a Millionaire Without Being One.' For financial independence (FI) enthusiasts and new parents alike, this conversation unveiled new insights into managing parenting costs while pursuing financial independence.

Dispelling Myths About Parenting Costs

A common belief is that raising a child can cost upwards of $315,000 until they reach adulthood. Kristy and Bryce, however, advise approaching such estimates with skepticism. They argue that the expense is an average that skews higher based on lifestyle choices and income.

The couple encourages breaking down expenses and challenging these blanket statements, much like the FI approach to other financial challenges. By examining needs closely and strategically managing costs, it's possible to significantly reduce the financial burden of parenting.

Strategizing Major Costs

Key strategies discussed in their latest book focus on the main cost categories—housing, child care, and food. Each comes with its own unique challenges but also opportunities for optimization. The goal is to integrate these strategies seamlessly into the broader FI lifestyle.

Understanding the Concept of 'Money Trees'

Bryce introduces the innovative concept of 'money trees.' These are smaller, specific financial goals that make the daunting task of achieving FI more digestible. By setting these focused targets, parents can systematically cover child-related expenses without feeling overwhelmed.

Consider earmarking funds specifically to cover anticipated costs, such as diapers or educational supplies, and watch your 'money trees' grow, covering the expense efficiently.

Implementing FI in Parenting

Adopting FI strategies as new or expecting parents doesn't just offset costs; it also aligns lifestyles with long-term financial goals. This alignment grants greater flexibility in housing and child care while reinforcing financial discipline in everyday tasks.

The FI community is uniquely positioned to adopt these strategies, offering a roadmap to parents who wish to raise their children without incurring the expected skyrocketing costs.

Conclusion

For those eager to explore these concepts further, 'Parent Like a Millionaire Without Being One' is not just a book but also a guide to innovatively managing parenting expenses through the lens of financial independence. The strategies shared by Kristy Shen and Bryce Leung are invaluable to both FI veterans and newcomers seeking practical financial pathways in parenting.

This episode of Choose FI provided a comprehensive understanding of how financial independence can unlock not just personal freedom but also stress-free, financially savvy parenting.

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Comments (2)

Rachel_Dawn_Knits 1 day ago

As a parent, this was an interesting episode, but I was surprised how US-centric it was, especially given that they are Canadian. The topic about daycare was especially targeted around the realities of childcare in the US. While this book may have been written/edited prior to the increased funding for subsidized childcare in Canada, I had hoped that this conversation could veer into the territory of how policies can affect how individual families are able to save money.

I was lucky enough to have kids in daycare in Quebec ten years ago, when they were the first province to offer daycare subsidies; we paid $20 a day per child for an amazing daycare. While many might argue that child-free people shouldn't have their taxes go towards subsidizing someone else's childcare, many economic impact studies show by subsidizing daycare results is a net gain to the broader economy because it allows more people (typically mothers) to stay in the workforce and contribute through income tax.

[Lessons from Quebec's universal low-fee childcare programme | IPPR](https://www.ippr.org/articles/lessons-from-quebecs-universal-low-fee-childcare-programme)

[Powering growth: Economic benefits from Canada’s $10-per-day early learning and child care program | childcarecanada.org](https://childcarecanada.org/documents/research-policy-practice/24/11/powering-growth-economic-benefits-canada%E2%80%99s-10-day-early)

While I know that shows like Money with Katie explored the overlap of policy and money, it would be interesting if the intersection between policy, money and what individuals are able to save on their own could be acknowledged in some of these episodes.

Westie 6 days ago

Disclaimer: not a parent, don't want kids.

Two things in this episode that I really liked hearing about were:

1\) the concept of renting/leasing things for young children by utilizing the secondhand market. I'd literally never thought about this before, but it now sounds INSANE to spend thousands of dollars on brand new things that in a best case scenario will be lightly used for a few months. I know it's the norm, but it still sounds crazy. I assume a big part of it is how exhausted new parents are, it's just easier to buy new things.

2\) The geo-arbitrage point really touched on one of the big things Katie from Money with Katie liked to hit on: we just do childcare wrong as a system here in the US. It's so restrictive and so expensive that, like health care, just moving to a country that has figured this stuff out is a massive savings opportunity. I know Katie moved into more systemic issues and ChooseFI likes to focus on the personal aspect, but it's worth touching on. The USA does many things well (30 year fixed-rate mortgages sounds like a dream to people from other countries), but caring for our young, elderly, and sick is not among them. We don't have to dwell on it, since other communities do that quite well, but it's worth considering how our personal strategies for dealing with life are informed by the systems we find ourselves in, if for no other reason than to financially prepare for their impacts.

wandereranthony 1 day ago

My wife and I were always struck by not only by how much brand-new stuff people would buy for kids, convinced it was all needed, but how much people would spend for things that would get hardly any use. Newborn clothes is the best example. High-dollar outfits, that maybe the kid wears a couple of times, made no sense to us.

One of the tricky things with parenting is how much messaging tries to convince parents that unless they're buying tons of brand-new stuff, they're terrible parents who are depriving their kids. Parents struggle hard with keeping the confidence that they're doing the right thing for their kids. And often the right thing is simply a bit of attention, play time, a shared book, a snuggle. Often with a snack.

Money was tight when we had our two kids. Even had we been FI at the time, we still would've skipped the brand-new stuff, and kept things minimal and with lots of second-hand.

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