RAISE A KID FOR LESS THAN $235,000!: Abby Hayes at Dough Roller discusses the annual USDA report that comes up with an eye-poppingly large number on how much it costs to raise a child. She points out:

Many people, unfortunately, take the report to mean that if you can’t set aside $200,000+ (per child) in the next 17 years, you’re better off not having a kid at all. But that’s not true. This report shows what people do spend on their children, not what they have to spend on their children…

If you check out the actual 2011 report, you’ll see that from birth to age 2, low-income families spend about $8,000 on a child, while middle-income families spend about $12,500. High-income families spend more than $20,000.

She goes on:

Housing is the biggest expense on the USDA’s list, taking about 30 percent of the child-related expenditures. But take it from someone who lives in a one-bedroom apartment with a toddler, you don’t have to provide lots of extra space for your child.

Babies, especially, take up next to no room and would prefer to sleep closer to you, anyway. But even older children don’t need a room of their own; it won’t kill them to share with a sibling.

If housing is a big expense for you, consider downsizing. Families in 1973 lived in an average of 1,525 square feet, according to the Census Bureau.

In 2010, the average home was more than 600 square feet larger at 2,169. Our families haven’t gotten any bigger, so there’s no reason a family can’t live comfortably in a smaller space.

We’ll back her up on that. Our house is technically large at 2,600 square feet, but 1,000 of that is our basement, which is used for storage, a tiny office, guest accommodations, and occasional playtime for our three kids. The vast majority of our living is done in 1,600 square feet. We have two kids sharing a bedroom, and they wouldn’t have it any other way–they keep each other company at night.

Our house is an older one which we completely gutted and renovated before moving in. This gave us the flexibility to re-do the floor plan, which we did with children in mind, and it has worked out great for us. We don’t feel cramped at all.

A small, well-designed house is cheaper, takes less time to clean, less work to maintain, and is less expensive both to build and take care of. We’ve noticed that the ‘tiny house’ articles we’ve run get a decent amount of click traffic, so we’ll refer you to Sarah Susanka’s “The Not So Big House” if you’re into that kind of thing. Even if you prefer bigger houses, it’s got some good ideas on how to optimize use of the space you have.

EVERYTHING YOU WANTED TO KNOW ABOUT GIFT CARDS (BUT WERE AFRAID TO ASK): Frequent Miler has been all over recent developments in the credit card fanboy subculture. If you want a good overview of how to get some easy frequent flyer miles, click here and here for his recent guide to gift cards. He’s focused on the Visa and Amex type, while Chasing The Points has had a lot recently on buying and selling merchant gift cards.

FREE PRETZELS ON NATIONAL PRETZEL DAY: It’s hard to believe it, but National Pretzel Day is already upon us again! Here’s a list of the locations where you can get a free pretzel this Friday, April 26. All you have to do is walk up to the counter and say “National Pretzel Day”. (H/T: Maximizing Money)