Planning for a future family life, including babies

milliemonster

Also, don't take this the wrong way but as a parent myself one thing you have seriously failed to even acknowledge, is how YOU will feel when (if) you have a baby. It will change your life completely, many women, even career focussed women don't want to go back to work and choose not when they have a baby, no matter how much you try to plan these things, you just won't know until you have a baby of your own.

Childcare costs are extortionate, yes, but also, you are about to start a new job and are talking about what you will be earning in a couple of years, life can be strange and you may not even like this new job after a few months, your lives may take a different path, who knows?

All I'm saying is don't try to be so prescriptive in planning your lives out, you seem very much 'we will earn this, and he will give up work, child will go to nursery, it will cost x, y z, house will be here etc etc etc', I'm all for planning to have a family, but you also need to just try and not set things in stone about how you plan your lives to be in a few years time.

Perhaps for now, if you know you want to have children in the future, forget about what childcare is going to cost, for now concentrate on aiming for the family home you want and settling into your new job, once you know you are enjoying your job and the associated earnings and move to you new home, you can then start planning your next steps

Rockporkchop

What is your current mortgage rate and what rate are you getting on your savings? If you knock the £55k savings off your mortgage and also overpay by the £1200 to £1500 you suggested each month, you could easily have paid off your mortgage in 5-6 years time, when you are planning on starting a family. It would open up a lot more possibilities for you as you could buy a new house based on just your DH's salary or whatever you decide at the time. Save some money in an ISA for emergencies of course though.