Can you ever afford a baby?

[ljs]

I'm 25, other half is 23. We are living together, have been for 2 years. We are engaged, having been together for 3 years total. We both work full time, me in a secondary school and my other half in a supermarket.
We don't go without luxuries however always found ourselves spent up at the end of the month...

my parents say once you get pregnant you cut your cloth accordingly.. we are currently saving to start our own family. My question is, what are peoples opinions on affording a baby? obviously, we want our children to have everything they desire... but i've heard that a baby simply costs as much as you want it to - for example, two different friends have recently had baby girls. one, has every gadget known to man as both parents have good jobs and have saved for years. the other is on benefits and didn't plan to start a family, therefore utilises second hand clothes and cot/pram.

advice please...

 

[Kitteh_Kat]

We have no problem affording Evelyn's expenses on hubby's salary. It was actually a lot cheaper than we imagined it would be, so I'm a SAHM now for her first year. But we don't buy all of the gadgets and baby gear. I do shop second-hand if I find a good deal, especially on clothes (wish I had learned that lesson before I dropped $200-300 on new clothes for her from newborn-3 months; at least I know for the next one!). She does well on store brand diapers and formula, so that's a big savings right there from not having to buy more Pampers and Gerber. It truly is as expensive as you make it to be! We probably spend about $200 a month on Evelyn if I decide to pick up some new toys for her, etc, otherwise it's under $150 for diapers/formula/clothes.

 

[J04NN4]

Nope. We spent years WTT, financially comfortable, saving plenty and then, due to circumstances totally out of our control, almost went bankrupt when I was 6 months pregnant. We are getting back on track now but the way we have made do makes me regret all the time we spent waiting. You just manage. I mean, if you have short term financial goals within reach that you would like to achieve before TTC then by all means wait. But just generally wanting to 'be better off', I don't know, you never know what's around the corner so you can't plan anyway

 

[spicyorange]

I'd you wait till you can afford it you'll never have it, your mom's right you'll make it work, you just have to

 

[angiepie]

Yes and no. You can save or wait til you're in a BETTER position. But you can never be in the BEST position (unless you're rich!!). People live within their means. Poorer people just buy cheap things, and rich people buy expensive things (or go on nice holidays etc). So it's all the same basically. Ever wonder how celebrities go bankrupt? They get rich but waste all their money on expensive crap because they're living the high life. Meanwhile, us normal people do things like bargain hunt or op-shop and save our pennies, and then we too can afford children, holidays etc. You'll find a way, it's what people are made to do.

 

[sammiexsue]

My family lives paycheck to paycheck, hand to mouth how ever you want to put it.. and we still make it work our daughter has every thing she needs and than some.. I also utilize second hand stuff babies dont need brand new clothes they stain them up themselves too lol only thing I stress brand new is bottles or binkis. I would never trade my daughter in a million years to make our financial situation better. To me she makes it all 100 times better no matter what.

 

[MadameJ]

We've never been in the best financial state when pregnant but some how we have always managed,our kids have a roof over their heads,food in their tummy's and more toys than they probably need. We also enjoy lots of day trips out and about. I would say we live pay slip to pay slip and still manage to save a good bit too. There will never be a 'perfect' time to have a baby,you will always find a way to make it work

 

[katherinegrey]

We're not rich by any means, if we waiting to get rich we'd have never had children. We pay our bills, and LO has everything he could possibly desire and then some. I think it's definitely true that if you wait until you can afford kids, you'll never have them.

 

[lucy_smith]

I have been thinking about this a LOT recently, and the thought of paying a mortgage and only living off bfs wage is scary! Childcare is sooo expensive here qnd the wage for women is small that it isn't even worth going to work unless you are a single parent on benefits! I was noseying online and don't think we would be entitled to anything! Please tell me that im over exaggerating? Lol and its doable to live off 1300 a Month with a 700 a month mortgage plus bills/ council tax?

 

[disneydarling]

My husband and I had always said we would wait to have kids until we 'could afford one'.

We had spent a lot of money the year leading up to my pregnancy, we'd been travelling around the world and also moved into a new flat. We were in no financial situation to get pregnant.

BUT we wanted a baby and we were ready in every other way apart from financially, so we did it. And we manage just fine. Yes we have to watch what we spend, and go without luxuries, but we live a great life with our daughter and she has everything she needs and more.

There's no way that financially we will be ready for a second any time soon, but that's not going to stop us. If you wait until you can 'afford a baby' you will be waiting far too long!!

 

[MissN8]

I do think some people have to have some sort of savings put aside especially ones that are struggling now otherwise its going to be hard and we all know financial problems don't help any situation. I want to have a good bit of savings before pregnancy it will make me more relaxed the last thing I want is to stress whether we can afford things. i have to go back to work full time couldn't afford not to and prob cant take full maternity leave. everyone is different so do what suits you and what you are happy with

 

[sausages]

From what i've learned and from what other parents with older children have told me it's not the baby part that costs the money, it's when they grow up. Babies only need love, milk, nappies, a few babygrows and somewhere to sleep. The rest is just the fun stuff. However my 3 and 4 year olds are basically the equivalent of another one adult person in terms of food shopping and more than that in terms of clothing. Birthdays including parties and Christmas all cost quite a bit and when you want to go on holiday obviously that costs more too. BUT, on saying all that you still only spend as much as you can afford to spend or want to spend.

If your finances are currently where you can afford all your bills, food and some luxuries and savings then you will be FINE with children because you obviously live within your means. However, if you are spending more than you earn and have debts beyond the usual mortgage and occasional car loan etc. then i'd say you need to sort that out first, because a baby is only going to make those current bad spending habits worse.

 

[Chrissyxoxo]

You never know what life will bring you next We had our first DS very young ( I was 18) and it was a big surprise. I think because we didn't plan very well the first time hubby wants everything to be 150% perfect this time...6 years later and we are still waiting. It's never going to be absolutely perfect, if it's nothing extreme and you both are healthy and young, it's something to consider. Because waiting and becoming older only brings more risks which could cost more in the end!

Have a plan and don't be unrealistic, but if you are practically ready don't wait until it's perfect, it never will be Good luck!