So how much does a baby cost?

Dormouse

Generally I'd say it depends on people's lifestyle and personality, but with members of this site, I'd say of course you can manage on £35K or even a lot less.

3KIDSNOMONEY

We have three kids and I stay at home and my husband doesn't earn anywhere near 35K. We can't afford designer clothes and lots of holidays but we manage.

Don't let 'going without' luxuries put you off having children

robby-01

Doesn't matter they are worth every single penny

manda1205

Well considering my OH earns £17,000 and I don't work I should say £35k will do you fine, yes it depends on your lifestyle and what you're accustomed to. But if we can mange and we manage to save at least £150 a month too, I'm pretty sure you can. Definitly sign up to all baby related web sites so you get lots of vouchers and buy things when on offer, I bought about 3mnths worth of nappies, wipes and bath stuff well before our DD was born (which was with my wages). If you wait you'll never have them and it is definitly worth it.

daisykate124

My advise is to just go for it, you will manage somehow and it will be the best thing you do. Children bring so much joy.

BusyLizzie_3

Babies and toddlers are cheap - older children and teenagers aren't! As a lot of people have already said, you have relatively high income and will manage just fine, even if you intend to 'keep' your partner at home. A lot of ways of cutting the cost of looking after a baby have already been mentioned, but you should also look at your general financial health beforehand - check you have the best mortgage deal, switch utilities providers, check interest rates on any savings etc.

Good luck!

overlykeensaver

You will manage just fine! Babies don't need very much (something to eat, somewhere to sleep, somethng to wear and lots of love) not matter what you read in the papers or the specialist baby magazines.

We bought a lot of sleepsuits and clothes from ebay and people also comment on how well dressed my daughter is. They spend fortunes every month on brand new clothes so it does make me cackle when they coo over my daughter's coat and it was £6 from ebay! Babies don't get a huge amount of wear out of clothes so the things you get second hand are in great condition.

You can breastfeed if your OH and baby get along with it, otherwise, a large tin of formula (SMA) is about £6 and you will get through that in a week.

I had a good salary as well as my husband but even before we had our baby last May we didn't spend "up" to it and saved a lot, so haven't found it too hard to manage on one income. Your expectations and priorities change so much when you have a baby so you don't even notice you might be going without because you have so much else in your life.

sorry to ramble on!

explosif

we're doing quite nicely on a household income of £27k so £35k should be a doddle. We've hardly noticed a difference to be honest - as above your priorities change and you don't notice the changes you've made.

Tell you what though, grandparents are ace. Especially when they're really excited about becoming grandparents. If they offer to buy any of the gear for you - bite their hands off. They WANT to do it. ;-)

robnye

BusyLizzie wrote:

Babies and toddlers are cheap - older children and teenagers aren't!

hear hear ---- food, electricty, phone bills, washing machine costs..........pocket money......personal taxi...... :rolleyes:

lush_bucket

We don't have an income of anywhere near that much but are very prepared for our new arrival. Basically weve bought nappies/bodywash/lotion/wipes in bulk everytime they come on offer in the supermarket. We bought our cot brand new for £30 from a wholesaler on ebay. The same cot is £135 in mothercare. We have also bought clothes in the sales and on ebay and looked out for other items as they come on offer. Bought our steriliser for £13.50 instead of £20 on rollback in asda last week. We got our travel system brand new from a babyshop on ebay, for a quarter of its usual retail value by looking for it spelt incorrectly, sure enough up one turned! We havet found the baby expensive to prepare for, and are really hoping I am able to breastfeed and save that way too. Good Luck to you both.