will i be able to afford to have kids?

busy_mom_2

I work part time and earn less than you, my husband works nights. We have 2 children 1 age 10 and 1 age 4. We have just paid our last nursey bill and never qulaified for WTc as our earinings were too high.
Our outgoings are no more or less than your when you look at mortgage and other essesntialls,
In answer you your question if you did think about it you would never do it. I wouldn't be without mine but yes sacrafices are made and after a while you forget what you did with all the extra income. It just gets spent on other things. We have a great way of managing just you either want kids or you don't

Molly41

I totally agree with what everyone has said. I had four children in six years and the cost of having children is huge....both financially and emtionally. That's what you really need to think about not money. Perhaps that finance side is a smokecreen for how you really feel? Its very scary having kids and as I am always saying they should come with the same warning as dogs as "Kids are for life not just for christmas!"

Good luck in whatever you decide

dmg24

Having looked at your post on the Mortgages board, your mortgage figure is wrong, either on here or there. Perhaps you could clarify for us?

Zara33

smorri4 wrote: »

plus my boyfriend would have to have car for work purposes - we live fairly rural so i woudl also need to keep a car - so again added expenses -

Does your BF have a car at the moment?

smorri4

At present we pay £600 mortgage however that is only becuase rate is low - when we revert to SVR and with the predicted rates rising we are likely to be facing a mortgage of anything between £800 - £1000 if they go up to 6/7%. Hence, why i am thinking ahead and thinking whether i could afford this aswell as paying for childcare or giving up one income.

I do desperately want to have kids, however when i was growing up we struggled big time - we were threatened with reposession twice, my mum gave up work (4 kids) and we were on the poverty line really - we ate crap food, didn't do any extra curricular activities, didn't do school trips, holidays or anything - i don't wanna sound like i am feeling sorry for my upbringing as i always think of my childhood as being great but now as an adult where i can afford these things i just don't want to go back to this sort of siruation, let alone put children through it.

real1314

smorri4 wrote: »

I do desperately want to have kids,

Do you want kids more than sky, more than dining out or takeaways, more than beer and wine, more than holidays and decent cars.

Cut out all of those?

The list you came up with came to £1400 ish, so you'd have money left over and you'd have Child Benefit of £87 a month too.

My first was born when my wife and I had £12k (gross) a year each coming in, and then she went back part time and we used a childminder.
Our 2nd came when I got £14k (gross) and the wife then did even fewer hours as it wasn't worth her working and paying for childcare - she got about £5.5k (gross) and we paid about £1k in childcare.
It was about 10 years ago, so you could maybe up those figures by 40% for inflation.
Once the kids start scholl though, things are on the up - you can both do more hours without paying for childcare as they get older, but then again they still need things and sometimes can cost more and more.

It's a choice only you and your OH can decide on.

Drea2904

Its best you dont spend too long thinking about it, if you really want kids you will manage, yes you may have to cut down on extra spending but the smile a baby can put on your face is priceless and some people with no money issues cant have kids or leave it to long, It could take a while for it to actually happen and if you are planning ahead to have a baby then save the extra money from your mortgage reductions and spend less on food just now to save so you will manage.x

aliasojo

'Will I be able to afford to have kids?'

No.

No-one can.

Just do what the rest of us do, and do it.

SuziQ

Rich44 wrote: »

You manage to feed 4 people and cats on less than £200 a month???

What do you live on porridge?

I take offence at that.

If you go on the grocery challlenge you will find people feeding more people on a lot less than me. I cook everything from scratch,shop very carefully and in bulk,menu plan and we eat extremely well.Unlike a lot of their friends,my kids are rarely ill,they are the right weight for their height and eat really well-fruit,veg-even cabbage and sprouts (can you tell I am a trained health visitor?) My dd is now at Uni and is managing on around £15 a week on food etc because she has learnt about budgeting from me. My kids eat meat but I don't althoug I occasionally eat fish.All it takes is a bit of planning and effort.

aliasojo

SuziQ wrote: »

I take offence at that..

Oh behave. :rotfl: There's much more important things in life to take offence at.


Edit: Please come and live with me....my food budget is shocking.