[justadreamer]

So this might be a random question , but I figured I should ask it here . When planning on having a child, how much money should you save before trying ? When your the planning type ?

Thanks for the info in advance

[Quazel]

Are you talking money to cover bills when someone is out of work? Money for baby supplies? Money for medical bills?

[justadreamer]

Not the medical bills but the other two yes. I wanna save enough to be moderately comfortable.

[SPOILEDTCANGEL]

Honestly. There's no set limit, as each child is different, some need different formula, allergies are a factor and many other things and then you can run into speed bumps along the way, like we were all set to have a 3rd and thought it would just happen, yeah well if we waited to have the same amount saved as before we would either never buy our house or never have another baby as it cost us a little over $30k just to get pregnant, so as planned as we were that didn't help LoL

The most important thing to do is make sure when their here you save for their future that's the main concern, diapers, food, clothes etc. come fairly easy as long as your stable in your home life you should be fine with bringing a child into it.

[justadreamer]

Thanks for the information I'm really big on planning so I like knowing as much as I can . I appreciate you taking the time to answer.

[Jakejake]

I agree that there's not a set amount. Everyone's living expenses are different. If you are living off two incomes right now, I would spend a few months (6? 12?) putting one of those paychecks straight to savings and make sure you can live off just the one salary (whichever of you would still be working). That does a few things - it ensures you can pay for housing and utilities and all on the one salary. It gets you used to that so the change in standards of living doesn't happen at the same time you've got a new baby - so you don't have multiple stresses all landing on you at once, and creates the savings too in case something unexpected comes up. I didn't find that actually having a child increased my expenses much at all until I went back to work and had to pay for day care. But also I breast fed and never bought formula, and just pureed our own baby food. I'm not sure how much that costs if you want to buy prepared food.

[polydoly13]

You can do it in ways that is SUPER expensive and ways that are ALOT less expensive. It all depends on your expectations. For example - we have a baby due in a couple months and I have probably a years worth of clothes that I spent MAYBE $200 on because I shopped on craigslist/facebook rummage sites and goodwill in order to buy a lot of 2nd hand clothing. I get GOOD quality items for no more than $3, many of them were around the $1 to $1.50 mark. I also shopped for some other used items like the crib/swing/bathing chair. I have some disposable diapers that I've bought on the cheap, but plan to do mostly cloth diapering, which is supposed to save money. Also breast feeding is much cheaper than formula feeding. I've even known women who can't breast feed because of physical/work limitations but they pumped 100% of their milk, never bought formula and saved a TON that way. And I shop sales, so for the things I HAD TO HAVE new, like the carseat, I bought on a good sale.

Oh and I'm turning an old desk of mine into a changing table/dresser and an old bookshelf into a storage type cabinet (buying baskets to sit on the shelves) and that way I have more storage for baby clothes and I'm not buying a ton of furniture. If you are creative and don't insist on being a diva and having all new - there are a lot of ways you can save money.

And like spoiledtcangel said - be careful when you put too much planning into this - some ppl get prego right away and have no issues. Others of us, not so lucky. I spent more on trying to get prego/losing our first than I have spent on preparing for our second. I hope our stories are the minority - but when you get jaded by some of this stuff, you kinda want to forewarn others.

[adventure1]

It also depends on how much outside support you have available. If you have a large extended family that already has children, you will probably receive lots of used items you don't have to buy. Our first child, we had to buy out the store on new stuff as nobody else had kids yet. However, 8 years later, when we had our second child, everybody gave us their kids stuff to use - bed, change table, clothes, monitor, bottles etc...we only had to buy food and diapers. Those are expensive. Our daughter has a food allergy and her formula costs us over $300 a month. Her diapers run around $60 a month+. However, if you are able to breast feed, cloth diaper, and stay home with your child, I imagine the cost is significantly less.

[justadreamer]

I'm ready for children but my lovey isn't , so I figured I would take the time to save money for when he is ready (which he says next year or the year after). But maybe I am planning too much. I guess I'll just save money with no set amount or reason. I'm hoping one day soon he'll be like "let's go for it". I know we can financially handle it.

Thanks for the suggestions and advice . I'll definitely keep it in mind.

You guys are awesome.

[adventure1]

Originally Posted by justadreamer

I'm ready for children but my lovey isn't , so I figured I would take the time to save money for when he is ready (which he says next year or the year after). But maybe I am planning too much. I guess I'll just save money with no set amount or reason. I'm hoping one day soon he'll be like "let's go for it". I know we can financially handle it.

Thanks for the suggestions and advice . I'll definitely keep it in mind.

You guys are awesome.

"Lovey"? Your British, aren't you
My best friend in grade school's mom was from England and used to call her that. I loved it.

[Quazel]

The bills are the easy part to calculate. The rest varies. There is a book called Baby Bargains that really helped us decide what we needed, what was worth spending a little extra, what we really didn't need, etc. they also break down costs. They update it every so often so I highly recommend picking up the latest version when you guys are ready.

Be careful of buying too much ahead. DS was born smaller than both DH and me and dropped a lot of weight. He came home in newborn clothes although he could have used preemie. He was in newborn for almost two months. He was in size 6 months for two weeks. He had an eating disorder and actually wore his 12-18 month winter clothes when he was 1 yr. old and 2 years old. Once he started eating he shot through sizes. He went from size 12-18 months to 3T in maybe 6 weeks. He has been in size 5 since he was 4.5, . You simply never know!

[justadreamer]

Haha, nah. I read a lot and picked it up from there. I'm a New Yorker never even been out of the states.

I've actually read a little bit in the book when I gave it to my friend when she was prego. It seemed like it was definitely worth reading. I'm gonna keep it in mind when I have kids

[Thriftstoremommy990]

Many areas have pregnancy crisis centers. Our local center gives diapers, wipes, body wash and clothes every 60 days. Around Mother's day they have a Mom's Day, where local cosmetologists and hair stylists give each mother a make over. It really boosts your self esteem to strut out of the building feeling like a brand new shiny penny.
After 5 little girls every little butt is different, but these are the tried and true diaper brands we prefer: Generic Babies R' US, Parent's Choice (Wal-Mart Generic), and Dollar General Store Brand. I have to say if you can afford brand name diapers-I used Pampers until they grew out of size 3 and Huggies for sizes 4, 5 & 6.
We use Balmex Diaper Rash Cream. It's $13 at CVS for a big tub of it.
I'd buy lots of washcloths if you don't have a supply. I use washcloths for wiping everythingdown-counters, faces & hands and putting fake tattoos on.my dd's.
I hope these few tips help. Enjoy your baby! They are truly a blessing!

[simba123]

There has been alot of excellent advice given here. I want to emphasize what spoiled said about saving for their future. Even tho we didn't have much in the beginning we set up a college account for each of our kiddos(DS25 &DD21) when they were born. If you do this it will make a huge difference in your life and theirs. I see so many articles about people having difficulty with student loans. Who wants to start your adult adventure being tens of thousands of dollars in debt? What if you don't get a job? The other scenario is a couple who have sent their children to school but now they can't retire because they are saddled with this huge debt. Even if your child chooses not to go to college it can be used for other things. (weddings, a reliable car etc)
Jake also had it right with putting one salary in the bank and living off one paycheck. You may find that you want to be a SAHM and you can see what it takes to get by on one check. Then you can afford to give your kids the best gift of all YOURSELF!!!