Planning for Children

bylromarha

The planning really depends what sort of person you are...my friend isn't a financial planner, so it made no difference to her finances when she was pg. The family is doing fine.

I am a financial planner (guess everyone who uses this site thinks about money!) and we didn't really save up for our baby. We're all doing fine.
As it was, we tried for 2years before I fell pregnant so saving for the baby would have meant doing without lots of nice, needed treats like holidays for an awfully long time.

We have had lots of donations of highchairs, cots, changing tables from friends and family which has made a huge difference to our budget as has all the pressies from family...we've never needed to buy outfits, only vests and sleepsuits. Baby is only 8 months old, but he is already fully kitted out for clothes until the age of 18 months...not through my choosing as storage is a nightmare! Food for baby doesn't cost a whole lot at the moment either, so his expenditure is minimal.

There are lots of savings to be made if you're prepared to take them. Some people can't bear the thought of a 2nd hand pram, though it's really no problem for me and sprog.

I think babies are like weddings...can be as cheap or as expensive as you choose for it to be, loads of tips from everyone, but you have to do what's right for you, more hassle leading up to the day than the actual day itself and you just can't get rid of the family!

HTH

Lillibet_2

bylromarha wrote:

I think babies are like weddings...can be as cheap or as expensive as you choose for it to be, loads of tips from everyone, but you have to do what's right for you, more hassle leading up to the day than the actual day itself and you just can't get rid of the family! HTH

I couldn't agree more:rolleyes:

culpepper

We put my wages away and lived off hubs.It was hard as I earned more than him but meant we knew we would manage when the first bub arrived.
I looked at how much it would cost to take bub up to london and leave him with childminders all day while I worked then travel home by train and it was cheaper not to work, not to mention how terrible I would have felt leaving him with someone whilst I went off to work (I loved my job but love my kids more).Neither of our mums was well enough to be looking after a small baby.
We were lucky that MIL had kept her crib and cot and knitted baby clothes all of which have gone to other family in their turn.
We just adjusted our lives to fit in with one income.
I had planned to work once they were at school but found I didnt have time.
I cook from scratch,sew,mend,make things etc and clean all of which I would have to pay for in one way or another if I worked.

gremlin

bylromarha wrote:

I think babies are like weddings...can be as cheap or as expensive as you choose for it to be, loads of tips from everyone, but you have to do what's right for you, more hassle leading up to the day than the actual day itself and you just can't get rid of the family!

HTH

Very true. You can spend as much or as little as you want.

My eldest was a surprise and we had very little money to go around, but we managed and - surprise surprise - regardless of what the magazines tell you, he is not mentally scarred just because he was not pushed around in the latest designer pram.:D

Dont believe the hype, would be my advice. You'll know when you're ready for a baby and you will be able to afford him/her. Regardless of your drop in income.

I wish you all the luck in the world.

foreverskint

I had my latest baby 12 years after the first, and i had just got used to earning a decent living again. I had no baby stuff left so had to start again. I bought everything fron e-bay this time, spendinhg just 175.00 for all equitment and some clothes. The actual cost of this new would have been over 600.00, so don't be proud, there are some great clean items out there.

Also the baby books will give you an enormous list of items you MUST have. half of them you never end up using, as I discovered with my first.

Babies as somebody said cost as much or as little as you want, planning for the expense is hard, but just be prepared to make some sacrafices, I think the hardest of these is the cost of your time. staying at home to bring your baby up costs, but can be enormously rewarding as I am finding out this time around. I missed so much with my forst as I decided for my sanity to go back to work. I know that some people have to go back to work and I appreciate thhat that must me hard. I'm just glad I decided to stay at home this time. We're just coming thriugh the other side of this now, and with the help of the suggestions on this site we are starting to live a little now.

skdotcom

Lots of good comments so far. To add my pennies worth, I'd say if you want children and you are (mentally) ready for it, then don't wait. Not everyone is blessed with falling pregnant at the first try, and until you try you just don't know how long it will take to get pregnant.
My wife is 36 weeks preganant, and I'm about to be made redundant. Money for us is a real issue at the moment, but it shouldn't be the primary concern when considering whether to have a child.

Pooky

I didn't save for either of my children. I thought long and hard about how I wanted my children to be brought up and decided the best way was for me to stay at home. With that we've had to make do on many things, we don't own our own house, we don't have a new car, we don't have holidays abroad. To us it's not a sacrifice it's a way of life we enjoy, I know my kids benefit from me being at home and I've been there for all the important bits of their lives.

I do appreciate that people have financial committments now in high mortgages, loans, HP on cars etc. and find it hard to give up a wage but surely that all needs factoring in before signing up to long term debt.

I have a friend that says she could never afford to have a baby, but what she means is, she's not prepaired to make cutbacks in order to provide what she feel's is necessary.... as mentioned before in this post, you don't need half the stuff you're told you're going to need for a baby - but it's trial and error and you learn by your mistakes.

I'm glad i'm able to stay at home with my kids and I know hubby wouldn't have it any other way.

nearlyrich

chugalug wrote:

You can never 'afford' children, you will always be poor financially but rich in love!

How true, I sometimes think if I didn't have any children I would be rich, but that's just money, guess where the user name comes from .

If you are the kind of person who has to have the latest and greatest of everything to feel successful then you probably can't afford children and to be honest you never will.

Life is about adapting to change and babies don't know their vest were 6 for a fiver (or less if you are good at bargain hunting) and not £27 each from a designer shop. They all get dribbled on anyway:p

nedden

I agree with the "general opinion" on this subject, there is NEVER a "right time" to have a baby, don't make money your stumbling block because you will look back and regret it.

Good luck!

kal25

chugalug wrote:

You can never 'afford' children, you will always be poor financially but rich in love!

This is so true. Although we had always said we would have 2 children neither came as planned. We were about to sign for our first home when I found out I was pg 1st time and as I was in the middle of changing jobs as well, we decided against going ahead with the house. We then brought our first home when baby was 6mnths old. When he was 1yr we decided to try for another, after 9mnths nothing happend
We decided to plan a holiday.I was in a car accident, 6mnths after I was pg again found out 2 weeks after husband beeing told he was going to be made redundant.Coincidentally holiday cancelled and hubby managed to get a job at same place different department.I was in hospital with 2nd pg for 2weeks and baby had to stay for 4weeks after him being small and not growing(no reason as to why). Due to the end of 2nd pg we decided that was it as we had said we would have 2 and we'd got 2 gorgeous boys ( perhaps I am a little biased). However, life is always throwing in little suprises and nothing could show us this as more than at the weekend I have now found out that I am expecting our 3rd. To say we our in shock is putting it mildly but after plenty discussion we are quite happy to have another addition to our beautiful family. I think if you can finacially plan ahead it is great but it doesn't always work that way for many.So this statement is true for many of us.

chugalug wrote:

You can never 'afford' children, you will always be poor financially but rich in love!