how much money do you need to start a family?

fluffnutter

Errata wrote: »

Fair enough, in that case you need to do a robust risk assessment.

You old romantic, you .

Georgiegirl256

fluffnutter wrote: »

I applaud people's forethought but it says something about our cost of living crisis when a couple who earn £45K worry about being able to afford a baby.

I thought that as well.

crazycatlady1984

Georgiegirl256 wrote: »

I thought that as well.

Thanks for the responses everyone. As regards the above and the comments about the £45K I guess my concerns are mainly around the fact that a) OH's income can vary dramatically and is not guaranteed or regular and b) due to the fact that my employer does not provide any benefits, any time I had off to have a child would be unpaid (apart from statutory maternity pay).

I am grateful to be earning what I am earning at the moment, but I have earned a lot less in the past and I guess theres always a part me that panics about being back in that situation.

I am a born worrier and for that reason I am quite frugal - ideally I want to get my mortgage down as low as possible as quickly as possible and be able to be in a position where redundancy / losing my job/ OH's business failing etc doesn't matter and that we could get jobs in a bar/supermarket/coffee shop (part time for me if we did have kids) and still be able to support our family.

claire16c

As you are the main earner, perhaps you could go back to work after say 6 months & your DH could take over? Although I guess if he's self employed that could ruin his business..

It's tricky. I'm lucky in that we are the other way around & DH is the main earner.

I used to earn the same as you but don't anymore but we've adjusted.

However you are lucky in that you have a small mortgage. So if you started saving now to cover your maternity leave I'm sure you could do it.

krustylouise

Things are great for DD and I. DD is now 6, I have moved on and in a relationship with a wonderful man, he and DD dote on each other. DD sees her dad every Friday night (I'd like to say he has been plain sailing but he has at times been more than a handful). He too has moved on and his new gf is lovely and from what I can see is great with DD - and that after all is my main concern.

I am much much happier now than 6 years ago and despite having £0 in the bank, I know now the circumstances are much better for her than they were when we initially planned for her

DigForVictory

There isn't a set Right Amount, there's what you find yourself with & how you cut your cloth.
You give everything to the children, pretty much, and it's the best investment unregulated, even if the bank doesn't recognise a cup of tea as currency...

ThinkPink

If you qualify for SMP the pay is 6 weeks at 90% of your pay (they look back at certain weeks and work out the average weekly earnings) and then the remaining 33 weeks is £136.78

crazycatlady1984

ThinkPink wrote: »

If you qualify for SMP the pay is 6 weeks at 90% of your pay (they look back at certain weeks and work out the average weekly earnings) and then the remaining 33 weeks is £136.78

So that would be £592 per month? That's not too bad actually, is it? That's a big chunk of money. Thanks ThinkPink

ThinkPink

crazycatlady1984 wrote: »

So that would be £592 per month? That's not too bad actually, is it? That's a big chunk of money. Thanks ThinkPink

Do you get paid monthly? if so it depends how many weeks you get paid that particular month as it is paid in whole weeks- so some months you will get 4 weeks and some months you will get 5 weeks. (this is how it is done where I work anyway so Im sure it is in with HMRC guidelines)

Maz

It's not so much how much money it takes to start a family, more like how much you're prepared to pull your belt in to support it really. As long as you can keep a roof over your head and food on the table etc.......

And it's true, if you wait until the time is right, you could wait forever until you might find it's too late.

I had my kids young and I remember a family member asking for some 'proper' photos. We only had one decent jumper between us so we shared wearing it for the photo session (we couldn't afford the photo session really!) Hopefully, you won't ever have to resort to such lengths and kids cost financially but you'll never be able to put a price on the joy they bring you and the money side fades into insignificance.

Not much practical help I know but you can't put a price on happiness