Would-be first-home buyers scrimping and saving to get a deposit together may think $150,000 is an impossible target.
But what if you are already spending that - and a lot more - on your kids?
Inland Revenue estimates that a family earning between $58,190 a year would spend $9310 a year on one child aged 12 and under, and $13,675 a year on two.
A family earning $116,379 would spend $15,710 a year on one child 12 or under or $24,731 on two.
For teenagers, the cost of one child increases to $13,093 for a family earning $58,190 and $19,493 for the family earning $116,379.
That means even on the lower income, parents would spend more than $250,000 on two kids before they left home. And that's just on the kids' expenses - if a parent gave up work for some of that time, there would be hundreds of thousand dollars more gone.
In the United States, it is estimated that it will cost parents of kids born in 2013 US$245,340 ($329,970) to raise them to 18.
Much of that cost is housing, followed by food, transport, education and childcare and clothing.
Karl Leathley and his partner, Tamsin Brokenshire, estimate they spend about $200 more each time they go to the supermarket, compared to before they became parents.
"Formula and nappies are the big ones," Leathley said.
He said he expected their two daughters to become more expensive to cater for as they got older. "Schools are becoming more sophisticated, so the costs are going up, too. Kids nowadays have a lot of money spent on them... iPads, school laptops..."
Pushpa Wood, from the Massey University Financial Education and Research Centre, said parents had different approaches to the cost of kids.
"Some people don't really care in the sense they don't worry about it but others plan it quite immaculately."
She worked with Plunket and BNZ when they were developing a baby calculator to show parents what they needed to consider.
Each life stage of a child came with costs, she said, which would gradually increase as kids got older.
"There are two things to consider when you think about what the cost is of that additional bundle of joy in your life. It's not only the upkeep of the child but the lost opportunity cost because you may not be able to work full-time.
"A lot of people think they'll just put their child in childcare but sometimes by the time you have paid for childcare for the hours that are required, there's not very much [pay] left over.
"It's not a consideration of whether I should have a child or not, it's what do I need to put in place before I have a child."
She said people needed to realise there was no such thing as a free baby. "Some people, especially the young ones, seem to think the child will appear in their arms and everything will be hunky dory. They forget there is a financial as well as social cost you pay."
But she said people should not lose sight of the benefits, too. "It is still very rewarding. I would not swap my role as a mother with any other profession in the world. But for that reward, you make some sacrifices."
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