And Baby Makes Three....

RoaringTwenties

Good luck with the new arrival! Don't worry if money seems to slip through your fingers a bit at the start, it happens to most new parents. Things will settle down soon enough. For now enjoy your little miracle

PS: I too will be 54 in 16 years time. We'll be too knackered to care by then

rockabelle

Have you factored in child benefit? That's an extra £80 (ish) roughly a month.
Babies can cost as much or as little as you want to spend - other than getting as much second hand (friends, family, charity shops, ebay), I'd recommend buying in bulk and buying in advance. Nappies and wipes tend to be much cheaper on amazon (simply because you buy in big boxes).
When the clothes sales come, I really recommend buying next years clothes in them - I picked up dresses for my daughter from H&M last year for £1, which she's now loving (rather than spending £8 ish on each of them). Oh, and you need a lot less clothes than you think - don't be afraid to take back any gifts you get, and swap them either for vouchers, or for something that you want. (We were given a very pretty frilly dress with matching knickers for our new born, that was so impractical I was never going to put her in it - took it back and bought something she would use!)
And while this is very advanced planning, when you get to the weaning stage, the Ikea high chair (£14) is much the best available, and their bibs (£1?) are also brilliant (you can spend hundreds on chairs, and a great deal more on bibs!)
Good luck!

FunLovinCriminal

Thanks for encouragement SMLSave, Roaring Twenties and Rockabelle
Well in less that 48hrs I will be a dad - *panic*
I cant seem to find any more cutbacks that I can make to our savings.
Everything in place for the little one's arrival
Does everyone agree the best position would be to pay off the car loan first? Seems logical as it has the highest interest rate, £8000 paid off would give us an extra £210 per month.
Haven't looked at amazon, will do that today. Not bought nappies yet as we arent sure which size we will need. OH works for T*sco and gets a 10%, and I think I saw them as BOGOFF at the moment.

gallygirl

Hope it all goes well - come back and report asap :T.

Oh, and yes, car loan 1st

littlegreenpeas

I vote for the car loan as well. Once you are shot of it you can either use the money for car, mortgage or little one. It gives you more freedom of choice as it will be paid quicker than the mortgage.

Good luck to you and Mrs flc

Lgp

FunLovinCriminal

Good morning all
Baby FLC is 7 weeks old, and what a quick 7 weeks that was!!
Not much work done to paying off the mortgage - YET, however, we have enquired about the car loan - £7k to pay off, then I want to put towards a deposit for a family car for me, and start paying off the £109k mortgage.
We have approx £4k in savings at the moment, so every month we will pay our £250 off the loan and try and save a little to it too.
Any more tips, or baby sitting will be gratefully received.
FLC

tootallulah

Many congratulations to you both. Enjoy it all, and make sure that your time with the baby is the best, normal mortgage free to be resumed WHEN you are ready.

FunLovinCriminal

Hi all
Well little FLC is now 11 weeks old - where has THAT time gone.
We have managed to save a little with OH not commuting, or using her car much recently.
We are almost in the position to clear the Car Loan, and set upon the mortgage.
Oddly I cannot get the spreadsheet to add up correctly. When I enter the start balance of the new mortgage, and the years, and the interest rate, my monthly payments do not show what I am currently paying. Should I be worried?
Any way, gonna phone up on monday and increase my payments by £50, a small step, but a step all the same - just wish it showed my payments so I know where I am on the repayments.
Oh well, time for a nappy change and a feed - g'night all
FLC

bubbleupagus

Hi FLC,

We have a 12 week old and about to take out our first mortgage so will follow your diary with interest for any baby moneysaving tips. The things that have really helped us so far are buying nappies/wipes from lidl and aldi (I think these would be cheaper than tesco even with mrs flc's discount) and checking out our local sure start centre - I go to mum and baby group and a baby massage class, there was a first aid course and a dad's group - all completely free!

Best of luck
Bubs

FunLovinCriminal

Well, bad news is the overpayment didnt go through this month. The good news is we needed the money this week, odd thing here, odd thing there.
Little FLC 14 weeks old, and about to go on first wee trip.
Mortgage still at £106k, and car loan still to be wiped.
On my current projections we should be able to clear the car loan in november, which will leave us £1000 in the emergency fund.
Then, save for new car and OP's can start in earnest.
FLC