scared about having a baby.

lynzpower

Thanks for posting this - it's what a lot of people overlook and certainly when we started talking about having a baby we thought about the increased cost of living but didn't think about the reduced income and the impact of both of those together!! I would encourage everyone thinking about TTC to budget as if the mum-to-be was not bringing in any money at all and see if you could live, then factor in the maternity pay amount, and work out whether you'd be able to go back to work afterwards. There are also lots of things to look at on this site like contesting, paid surveys, mystery shopping etc which all bring in extra funds!

but what if you are doing all those things already ( eg the surveys etc)

We do all that but it certainly doenst total 25k pa which is the net loss we would make if I stopped working

kal25

Hi Squishyclaire What you r feeling is natural . Some don't think about it until it happens others do like urself. The fact that u r thinking about money means that u can prepare urself rather than being pushed at the deep end so to speak.
As for being finacially secure (if anyone is) I do not know many people that this has happend to before they have had children. My personal experience has been that although we planned on having children all 3 came at the wrong time-no3 was a total suprise as she wasn't planned at all.
For example DS1 -found out as we were just about to sign for house and had started a new job. However, we didn't have the house and now have a bigger house(3 big bedrooms instead of 3 small).
DS2 I was finacially good in a job but hubby found out he was going to be made redundant- hubby got a better paid job of which I was able to give up working for a year to spend time with baby.
DD- I had worked at my job for nearly 2 yrs on agency was told they were looking at making perm but then work dwindled and I ended up with no job at all. As hard as this was we ended up with more money as I wasn't using petrol,eating at work etc.
All I am trying to point out is that the fact that u have thought about what will happen means u r better prepared than most-certainly more than I was and I am still here to tell the tell-well just about:rotfl: .
Good luck kal25;)

squishyclaire

I wanted to thank you all for your help and advice and it has given me a lot to think about and made me feel much better. All my friends who have children seem to talk so positvely about it all that I was glad that you have given me some practical and emotional tips to try and sort this out.

We have decided to start having a try for a baby and see what happens.

We talked last and decided to look at our income and see if we could live on oh salary and stat maternity pay. It would be a squeeze and I think we would have to change our lifestyle some what but it doesn't see unmanagagble like I first thought. We have decided when we get paid this month to have a go at living on this amount of money and save the rest of my salary, thus giving us a nice buffer but also seeing the realities. there are other things we discussed that I need to check out (although it is hard to find out these things from personel when you are not pregnant!) like what happens to my pension.

Anyway, these are all practical things that we have starting to consider but the main thing is that I have got my head around the idea. I just was so comforted by the idea that there were other people who had the same feelings as me and it turned out ok for them. Thank you all xx

Mips

squishyclaire wrote: »

I wanted to thank you all for your help and advice and it has given me a lot to think about and made me feel much better. All my friends who have children seem to talk so positvely about it all that I was glad that you have given me some practical and emotional tips to try and sort this out.

We have decided to start having a try for a baby and see what happens.

We talked last and decided to look at our income and see if we could live on oh salary and stat maternity pay. It would be a squeeze and I think we would have to change our lifestyle some what but it doesn't see unmanagagble like I first thought. We have decided when we get paid this month to have a go at living on this amount of money and save the rest of my salary, thus giving us a nice buffer but also seeing the realities. there are other things we discussed that I need to check out (although it is hard to find out these things from personel when you are not pregnant!) like what happens to my pension.

Anyway, these are all practical things that we have starting to consider but the main thing is that I have got my head around the idea. I just was so comforted by the idea that there were other people who had the same feelings as me and it turned out ok for them. Thank you all xx

That all sounds very very sensible and a good idea

Good luck with getting pregnant.. I love that part

rach29

It isn't ideal & some may shoot me down but I worked full time when my oldest two were born, Financially it was the only option. I'd have loved to be a stay at home mum as I am now to No3 but at the time it just wasn't possible.

I wouldn't have missed having them for the world though!!

foreversomeday

lynzpower wrote: »

but what if you are doing all those things already ( eg the surveys etc)

We do all that but it certainly doenst total 25k pa which is the net loss we would make if I stopped working

I know it doesn't, but having a baby is always going to involve some sacrifice of income, unless the mother-to-be doesn't work at all or is on a very low wage in the first place. The key to working out whether you can afford a baby is to budget as though she is not earning, and see how much you would have to change your lifestyle, and then factor in the maternity pay, tax credits, etc, which should then cover the extra costs incurred by baby and some of the luxuries you would have had to cut back on. I included the surveys and things in case you hadn't thought of that but it sounds like you had.

Then you work out if whether it's better value to return to work or stay at home by comparing the cost of childcare and the amount of earnings coming in. They say having a baby is hard work - they don't tell you it's due to all the maths involved! :rotfl:

Anyway sounds like you've made your decision now and wishing you luck with that, but thought I would post this anyway in case anyone else is in the same situation.