How financially prepared were you for a baby?

cheeky-peach

So I have a 4 month old and I'm going to be off work for 6 months as my company provides 6 months full paid leave then my husband is taking 3 months off until the 9 month mark using shared parental leave. We have worked out then that baby going to nursery 3 days a week (I work a condensed week having 1 day off, and my parents are helping 1 day) is still a lot cheaper than me being off work as I too am the main earner. I think it's a case of seeing how much you can afford and how much time you can realistically take off.

JGB1955

We had out first child over 30 years ago.  There was no flex i-time or part time working then, so knew that I would not be returning to work from Maternity leave.  We had no nearby family to help with childcare, neither were there nurseries.  We prepared by living off one salary for a year.  I don't remember it being hard to do and I've always relished a challenge!  We had never had expensive holidays abroad and were quite happy to be 'invited' to share family holidays with my parents.  That didn't change for over 15 years.  I think our expectations were a lot lower then. 

A job move from London to the 'Shires' meant that any chance of me re-entering my London-based career were well and truly stuffed.  Once my daughter was in Reception class I got very bored at home, so began a new chapter of my life, in School Administration.

So - our preparation was basically cutting our coat to fit our cloth.

John_

JGB1955 said:

We had out first child over 30 years ago.  There was no flex i-time or part time working then, so knew that I would not be returning to work from Maternity leave.  We had no nearby family to help with childcare, neither were there nurseries.  We prepared by living off one salary for a year.  I don't remember it being hard to do and I've always relished a challenge!  We had never had expensive holidays abroad and were quite happy to be 'invited' to share family holidays with my parents.  That didn't change for over 15 years.  I think our expectations were a lot lower then. 

A job move from London to the 'Shires' meant that any chance of me re-entering my London-based career were well and truly stuffed.  Once my daughter was in Reception class I got very bored at home, so began a new chapter of my life, in School Administration.

So - our preparation was basically cutting our coat to fit our cloth.

I think that this is a way of doing things which has sadly become less common. We did the same when each starting out in the world of work, we simply did not spend what we did not have. For the first year of married life we had no bed, we had a mattress on the floor, for example. Clothes were bought rarely, and carefully, and a special treat was a few cans of beer from the supermarket and a meal with meat in it.

This wasn’t in the 1920s, it was the 1990s, but it wasn’t an unusual way to live at all. Back then a wedding list might include a chair or a small breakfast table, a kettle or some pans, as young couples rarely had these things.

Life is very different for us now, but you never forget the difference between essentials and luxuries if you’ve made those choices earlier in life.

Fireflyaway

We didn't prepare at all. I wasn't even entitled to company maternity pay as I hadn't been in my job long enough. It all worked out fine. We were very lucky that we had no childcare costs when I went back to work as my husband went part time ( he hated his job so that worked well) and my mum helped the other days. In terms of earnings, 2 things happened. Having a baby motivated my husband to 'do better'. He retrained and is now quite a high earner. Once our child started school I went part time as being around to do the school run was important to me. It also meant no childcare costs. 
My advice would be to make some changes to save on outgoings if you can. Ensure you have an emergency fund but other than that don't wait too long. There is no perfect time. Imagine waiting and then finding you have trouble conceiving. It's sensible to be prepared but don't be overly cautious.