Baby Fund Challenge
PrincessLou
Posts: 503 Forumite
My husband and i got married just over a year ago and we have decided that from March 2013 we would like to start a family. This both excites me and scares me as even though we have no debts (apart from our mortgage) we have very little in savings, in fact the only savings we have are through a sharesave scheme my husband does thorugh work.
I know, i know money isn't everything and if everybody waited until they thought they had enough money then i guess nobody would ever have kids. However, in the past year we have got married and bought a house. Buying the house in particular was a real stretch with money and wasn't a pleasant experience in the slightest. Ever since then i have said that the next time we do something big (have a baby) i want to be confident and relaxed that we have enough money to do so! Having a new baby and worrying about money is the last situation i would want to be in!
So sparked the idea for this challenge. I am starting a 'Baby Fund' challenge for myself to save up bits here and there before we have an addition to our family.
As for myself, i would ideally like to save £2000 for all the baby items (additonally, I know we will get alot of gifts from family as they are very generous). I would also, if possible, like to save an additional £2000 so i can have six months off work (or at least cut right down to very minimal part time hours), however i will concentrate on the first £2000 first.
If anyone wants to join me then let me know how much you are wanting to save and i will add your name to the list! :j
Baby Fund Challenge Members:
1. PrincessLou - £25.99/£2000 (1.29%)
2. Peonie - £5084/£8500 (60%)
3. Mustnotspend - £0/£15300
4. Castlelough - £60/£3000 (2%)
5. Hollysmum22 - £0/£1500
6. Amyloofoo - £100/£2000 (5%)
I know, i know money isn't everything and if everybody waited until they thought they had enough money then i guess nobody would ever have kids. However, in the past year we have got married and bought a house. Buying the house in particular was a real stretch with money and wasn't a pleasant experience in the slightest. Ever since then i have said that the next time we do something big (have a baby) i want to be confident and relaxed that we have enough money to do so! Having a new baby and worrying about money is the last situation i would want to be in!
So sparked the idea for this challenge. I am starting a 'Baby Fund' challenge for myself to save up bits here and there before we have an addition to our family.
As for myself, i would ideally like to save £2000 for all the baby items (additonally, I know we will get alot of gifts from family as they are very generous). I would also, if possible, like to save an additional £2000 so i can have six months off work (or at least cut right down to very minimal part time hours), however i will concentrate on the first £2000 first.
If anyone wants to join me then let me know how much you are wanting to save and i will add your name to the list! :j
Baby Fund Challenge Members:
1. PrincessLou - £25.99/£2000 (1.29%)
2. Peonie - £5084/£8500 (60%)
3. Mustnotspend - £0/£15300
4. Castlelough - £60/£3000 (2%)
5. Hollysmum22 - £0/£1500
6. Amyloofoo - £100/£2000 (5%)
Mortgage - £105,500
0
Comments
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Hi Lou,
I'll join. I want to save £7,500 and I have saved quite a bit already. I'll post the number when I have a better handle of the figures.
Thanks.Pots: House £6966/£7100, Rainy day Complete, [STRIKE]Sunny day £0/£700[/STRIKE], IVF £2523/£2523, Car up-keep £135/£135, New car £5000/£5000, Holiday £1000/£1000, MFW #16 £2077/£3120
MFiT3 #86: Reduce mortgage from £146,800 to £125,000
Mortgage Sept 2014: £135,500, MF Oct 2035 Peak July 2011: £154,000, MF July 20360 -
Hi Lou,
I'll join. I want to save £7,500 and I have saved quite a bit already. I'll post the number when I have a better handle of the figures.
Thanks.
Hi Peonie,
That's great. It'll be so good to have someone else along for the ride :j
Let me know figures when you're sorted and i'll add you to the list!Mortgage - £105,5000 -
I have saved £3,400 already, achieving 45% of my target. I have another £4,100 to go.Pots: House £6966/£7100, Rainy day Complete, [STRIKE]Sunny day £0/£700[/STRIKE], IVF £2523/£2523, Car up-keep £135/£135, New car £5000/£5000, Holiday £1000/£1000, MFW #16 £2077/£3120
MFiT3 #86: Reduce mortgage from £146,800 to £125,000
Mortgage Sept 2014: £135,500, MF Oct 2035 Peak July 2011: £154,000, MF July 20360 -
I have saved £3,400 already, achieving 45% of my target. I have another £4,100 to go.
Hi Peonie,
Added you to the list! Wow, your figure is alot higher than mine - how did you come up with your £7500 figure? What does that include?
Could you tell me a bit about yourself? Are you pregnant already? or when do you plan to have a baby?Mortgage - £105,5000 -
Hi,
You've made me have another look at the figures and there's one part that I do not know what it's based on!
I have added my outgoings from my account (excluding credits to savings accounts) to what I contribute to the joint account. Then times'd it by the number of months I want to take off. Which is 9. Then added £2,000 to buy baby stuff (decorate, cot, pram/buggy, maternity clothes, etc). Then I rounded the total up to the next £500. Which unfortunately my new calculation comes in £1,000 higher than my target. I have excluded any type of child credits from this figure as I am sure that money will get swallowed up quickly.
And, I have not taken Mr P's income into account.
Blimey, £8500 is depressing. This new calculation takes into account a couple of breaks away and it's birthday season so this time of year is more expensive for me.
I really hope I will not need that much money and it would be used for child care when I go back to work.
My sister had an attic clear out a few months ago and gave me a lot of her baby stuff. But I think I would like to invest in a good new pram (around £1,000). I've heard in the long run you can spend the same amount having to replace the cheaper ones. Plus there's the hassle of buying new ones.
No, not pregnant. Had a m/c a few months go. So I'm saving now in the hope I get pregnant soon.
For my sanity, I think I'll stick with the £7,500 target for now.
How have you calculated your baby fund?Pots: House £6966/£7100, Rainy day Complete, [STRIKE]Sunny day £0/£700[/STRIKE], IVF £2523/£2523, Car up-keep £135/£135, New car £5000/£5000, Holiday £1000/£1000, MFW #16 £2077/£3120
MFiT3 #86: Reduce mortgage from £146,800 to £125,000
Mortgage Sept 2014: £135,500, MF Oct 2035 Peak July 2011: £154,000, MF July 20360 -
Your calculations made me reassess my own amount also. On my calculations i've worked out that i'd like to have saved:
£2000 for baby stuff (Clothing, furniture, Pushchair, etc, etc)
£3000 to cover my contribution to the joint account for bills etc for 6 months. This is just to cover what i would usually pay in monthly to the joint account - on top of this for other expenses i will have maternity pay, and obviously this doesn't take into account my husbands salary as well.
I also worked out that child benefit will cover small things like nappies and little bits for baby, etc.
So that's £5000 in total, but i will start with a £2000 target for the baby things first.
We are starting our baby plans in March so i have at least 5 months headstart to start getting some of these savings together! :jMortgage - £105,5000 -
Wow...it's funny how life can change so quickly. I started this challenge only a few weeks ago with the best intentions. However, on Saturday morning i found out i was 5+ weeks pregnant, a complete surprise for us. So....i guess that blows all of my plans out of the water haha.
I will continue with the challenge, although rather than saving up a large amount, i will probably be buying a few bits each week to spread the cost. Happy days :jMortgage - £105,5000 -
Wow, congratulations. At least you know what you are aiming for and you can start to look out for good deals.
I was surprised when one of my first purchases was new bras.Pots: House £6966/£7100, Rainy day Complete, [STRIKE]Sunny day £0/£700[/STRIKE], IVF £2523/£2523, Car up-keep £135/£135, New car £5000/£5000, Holiday £1000/£1000, MFW #16 £2077/£3120
MFiT3 #86: Reduce mortgage from £146,800 to £125,000
Mortgage Sept 2014: £135,500, MF Oct 2035 Peak July 2011: £154,000, MF July 20360 -
Hi please may I join.
I found out a couple of days ago that I'm pregnant with No 2. About 5 weeks.
I'm currently trying to sort out the debt incurred (in part) while off work for about 18 months with no. 1!!! This pregnancy has arrived rather sooner than expected (tho I'm delighted!)
So I need to sort out debt AND save a pot of money to cover my maternity leave AND do up a nursery (moved house since DD1) Haven't figured how much yet but will post back.
PS. DON'T spend 1000s on a pushchair! Myself and everyone I know who had babies round the same time swapped to cheap and cheerful MacLarens as soon as babies were old enough. Light, compact and gets you around everywhere. Best £200 that I've spent on baby stuffLBM Jun 2012: Total debt - £22,000.
31 Dec 2012: Total debt - £12,710. All on long term 0%.
Baby Savings: 31 Dec 2012: £1,2000 -
Something else to consider - if all the other things are not enough! - is long term savings for the baby. It might seem hard but in our experience putting £30-£50 per month aside has really paid off and is building a nice pot for them to have money either for uni, car/insurance or house deposit at some point. We used investment trust savings schemes which have grown a lot more than just putting it in the bank and are very flexible for starting/stopping payments or changing amounts.Remember the saying: if it looks too good to be true it almost certainly is.0
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