Can we afford another Child??

sarmia

We have a 8 month little boy who is the apple of our eye, originally we decided on only have one and being able to afford life relatively easily.

I am due back to work next month working 4 days a week instead of 5 and with childcare taken out (£450ish per month) we will have £800 (£400-500) of that will be from my wage) spare after paying mortgage etc.

However the last couple of weeks I have been thinking about having another child. I am an only child my partner has 2 brothers. I found life quite lonely and have envied the relationship he shares with his brothers who are like really close friends.

We cant afford 2 lots of childcare so I would have to work evening & weekends as unfortunately our parents are still young (forties) and are still working. I would only have to earn £500 a month to be the same off as no childcare.

Are any of you in the same situation or have been? Did you find working evenings, weekends too hard? What age would be best.

I'm so confused.

Thanks
S

p.s We have no other debt apart from mortgage so dont have to worry about that!

foreversomeday

I'd say 2-3 years is the best age gap between children, also your son will probably be in nursery for at least half days by the time you go back to work after second child, thereby reducing childcare costs.

sarmia

Thanks, I never thought about that!

I think you get help after a certain age with free Nursery placements? Do you know where I could look up more about it?? Is it DWP???

Sx

emmaroids

an only child is a lonely child.

as said, wait 2 years or so and do it again.

emmaroids

sarmia wrote: »

I think you get help after a certain age with free Nursery placements?

yes, you get funding when your child is 2 and a half.

sarmia

thanks, 2 years is along time and you never know what is around the corner! That will give us time to save get mortgage down etc! (A lottery win would be nice too!)

As long as I have a roof over my family and lots of love to give I think that money worries will come second compared to having another child! I dont mean that in a carefree way, but the way my son has given me so much love, I think I will burst with another one (in a good way!)

Thanks!

kate1976

emmaroids wrote: »

an only child is a lonely child.

Not always the case, my son is an only child and will be staying that way, he's not lonely though, I guess it depends on social skills!

belfastgirl23

I say this as a happily childless person

But if you're able to save say £500 a month for the next couple of years then that would mean that you would have that money to give you 2 years to be able to not earn at all if that's what you're thinking. By then your oldest would be at school and childcare costs would reduce for him so you could afford childcare for your youngest.

As I say, happily childless but I think it would be terrible to be having to make that decision just based on whether you can afford kids or not. I do also think it's good for a child to have a sibling

Spendless

emmaroids wrote: »

yes, you get funding when your child is 2 and a half.

Has this changed recently? It used to be the term after child's 3rd birthday.
I was also going to suggest you had another one when the funding from nursery comes in to cut your childcare costs. Or if you prefer a bigger gap wait till your eldest is at f-time school. I also like belfast girls suggestion of saving your salary now so you can have a couple of years off work.

emmaroids

my DD got funding when she was 2 and a half (this year), but i suppose it could be different in other areas?

Elliesmum

I was in the same position, left it for a while and then went - sod it and I'm pregnant with no. 2. Basically DD is now at full time school and hubby and I have worked our jobs so one takes her to school and one collects. When DS is born and if I decide to go back to work I will only have one lot of childcare to pay for making life easier on us.

At the end of the day, paying for childcare for 2 under school age is really expensive, so if you feel you can, maybe waiting a year or 2 would be financially a better option?

EM xx