Baby...how much?

ukjoel

Your biggest single cost is the loss of your second income.

If your first salary is reasonable then there are very few tax credits to cover this and to put a kid into full time nursery will set you back £600 + a month.

We have 3 and its costing us £100 more every month in nursery fees than the mrs earns on the two days a week she is working.
She needs to work to stay up to date with the technology in her field so we dont have much choice.

Free hours kick in at 3 years, which will help big time but if we had known 5 years ago how many sacrifices we would have to make I may well have stuck to my guns after first one arrived.

Of alll the friends we have none have 3 kids, and most have just the one and its down to cost.

I know people moan about people on benefits having lots of kids but I was briefly unemployed last year while mrs was on maternity leave and the benefits were shocking (in a good way). I may get shot down for saying this but large families are only a good idea for the really rich or really poor.

mrs_marty

Babies in their first year can cost as much or as little as you like, I have just had baby number three but is my first with my new hubby so had to buy everything again, and I bought a moses basket brand new but an izziwotnot, Avent IQ steriliser, A swinging crib org from john lewis so knew it would be quality, mama papa's dream swing from ebay and saved a fortune, so it really does depend on your personal attitude. (Oh and sold it on for exactly what I bought it for) Prams are not cheap either so shop around we paid £500 and believe me you can pay much much more. Car Seats tend to £100 + or at least ones that do from birth to approx 3-4 year old are.

I didnt breast feed or would have saved a fortune there, but I am making all my own fruit and veg puree's no extra cost to my shopping as I was buying this food anyway.

As been said before, make a contingency plan for going to approx £550 per month, do that and it will take the stress off, also plan how you are managing childcare as it is a HUGE expense, say £45 a day.

Hope that helps a little

wendz86

Just save as much as you can. I haven't managed to save a lot at all but I know we will cope OK when baby comes along. Depends on your situation really and how much your salary will drop between the two of you and what your outgoings are.

meritaten

put aside a nice savings account - and if you can afford to save - then you can afford a baby! babies can cost as much or as little as you can afford! They dont care if you have designer labels or have £25 a roll wallpaper in the nursery. a baby needs love, food and warmth. provide that and you are perfect parents in the babies eyes.

HRV

Well, we did tonnes of planning and saving and financial forcasting to make sure we could afford a baby (OH has 2 dd by ex so have large costs associated with them) but it all went straight out the window when they announced Im having twins!!!!:eek:

So whilst it is sensible to plan dont get too hung up on it- it's sent me mad the last few months. To concieve natural twins in 1st month of trying- that was a shock. We're now trying to come to terms with 1200+ a month childcare costs (with no tax credits) from the 650 we had planned for! Plus the fact I will have to stay off work longer/ start maternity earlier due to there being 2

Hey Ho that's life- Im sure they'll be worth it

Just dont over plan or you might get a shock like us:rotfl:

DianneB

As a mom of 5 and grandma to 4 and rising all I can say to what it cost is 'everything you've got for the rest of your life' but they are worth it!!!

rachbc

babies don't need much 'stuff' despite mothercare persuading you they do!

What they do need is looking after and that will be yoru biggest expense - one parent either giving up work or £500-600 p/m in childcare. We spent all our savings so I could take a full year maternity leave and surive whilst I had no income - worth every penny!