did you save up before having kids?

redballoon_2

Hi, we are trying for a baby, but we have a credit card bill of about £6k
we have some savings £2500 approx.

total income £2143, outgoings £1642.00, remaining £500

overdraft £1821.00 (hopefully will be cleared in a few months or so from our remaining money)

any ideas/advice?

abbecer

If you wait for an ideal financial situation you will never have children. I don't think your situation is dire, so i would continue trying. When i conceived my first son i had to change jobs as i worked with adults with challenging behaviour. I took an £800 a month drop in money and we had just moved and doubled our mortgage. Money was very tight but we managed. We now also have a one year old son and i haven't returned to work. We have to count the pennies but we're happy.

I would advise you to accept all help you can with baby equipment, ie good quality hand me downs.

I found that when i was pregnant i had an overwhelming urge to sort our money out as i knew what a responsibility a child was. We did car boot sales etc to make space for all the baby things (you will be amazed by how much a tiny person needs). This also gave us money to put towards our debts.

Good luck with the baby plans. It will be the best job you ever have but also the hardest!!

hobo28

I'm a big believer in that if you wait until you can *afford* to have kids, you never will. There's always something else to get, somewhere to go before you "have kids".

I would say that you are on the right track. The only thing to consider is how will you cope financially with only one person working. Can you still afford to meet your deby repayments and other bills?

If you don't need childcare then babies are relatively cheap once you've bought all the stuff they need. Its when they're older they cost more!!!!

redballoon_2

i am hoping that i can return to work (either part time or full time and work a few days from home) and i have my mum and mother in law who would happily help out i am sure of it!
i have loads of friends who have had kids so i am sure they will lend me equipment etc.. and charity shops for clothes etc...

thanks for the reassurance!

Rachie_B

hobo28 wrote:

I'm a big believer in that if you wait until you can *afford* to have kids, you never will. There's always something else to get, somewhere to go before you "have kids".

I would say that you are on the right track. The only thing to consider is how will you cope financially with only one person working. Can you still afford to meet your deby repayments and other bills?

If you don't need childcare then babies are relatively cheap once you've bought all the stuff they need. Its when they're older they cost more!!!!

i agree

i had my first when i was just 17 so obviously hadnt planned / saved for him

when we planned our 2nd son we didnt save up as such but werent exactly in debt either

you live within your means anyway so if you can afford it then you will buy and can afford to buy,the latest prams / nursery furniture etc

and if you have a smaller budget then you purchase things within that price bracket

having a baby can be as cheap / expensive as YOU make it

also dont forget you will get child benefit and maybe some tax credits too

go for it

ms_london

Perhaps pop over to the debt free wannabe board !!

I think you need to think about how much time you want to take off after the baby is born, if you want to be a stay at home mum, or return to work - if the former, can you afford to live on one wage? If the latter, how much will childcare be? Will it make sense to work or will you just about be breaking even?

xx

Broken_hearted

With my second child I didn't have any chance to save he was an unexpected suprise.

Philippa36

hobo28 wrote:

I'm a big believer in that if you wait until you can *afford* to have kids, you never will. There's always something else to get, somewhere to go before you "have kids".

I totally agree ~ children will cost as little or as much as you are willing/able to spend on them.
When I had my son I had very little money, but we managed, same again with my daughter.
Now they are teenagers, they are always wanting money for hundreds of different reasons, but they know they won't always get it.

Lillibet_2

It's not directly how much a child costs so much as your change in lifestyle & drop in income. Can you afford to give up work or pay out for childcare? Probably not, but should this stop you? No, absolutely not, just consider all the options & how best to deal with problems before they arise, thats the nearest you can get to planning for & affording children in my opinion!

Good luck;)
Lillibet (who is going backwards by about £300 every month but wouldn't swap Spud for £3million a month:D)

hobo28

you live within your means anyway so if you can afford it then you will buy and can afford to buy,the latest prams / nursery furniture etc

and if you have a smaller budget then you purchase things within that price bracket

So true. When my daughter was born, I was a trainee and somehow my GF & I managed on £11k between us.

Now I earn a good salary and I'm still skint! The more I get paid, the more outgoings I seem to have!

In fact, the most well off I've been was when I was a student!

A baby needs are simple. Milk, love and a warm home. Only the first costs money although you might want to add nappies to that list!

Spendless

We never saved up but we never got used to two incomes either. We both owned a property and one of them only sold a couple of months before eldest was born. An unexpected financial crisis when he was 6 months old meant I had to look for a part-time job, and my nan who had been widowed and moved to my town helped with childcare.
In your case I'd work out how much you can afford to live on and speak to your mum and MIL about help with childcare.