Recession?

[ButterflyBaby]

hello all,

this is my first post (although i have been lurking for a while), so i apologise for starting with such a negative subject...

i'm just wondering how many people (if any) are putting off their ttc plans because of the recession and all those nasty stories about how bad things are going to get that seem to be popping up everywhere at the moment...

i'm 24 and haven't really experienced a recession before. i was at school during the 90s and if the recession affected my family, i certainly wasn't aware of it.

i'd love to have a baby and previously thought i was waiting until my other half was ready (i could be waiting a long time)... but more recently, i've been worrying about money a lot more. i have a fairly small amount of debt (less than £10k) which i have been working very hard to clear for the last year, and i should be debt free by april/may of this year. this has been made easier because i live at home with my mum (my other half is currently at uni, and he can't afford to get our own place at the moment), so whilst i do pay rent (and most of my debt is a loan which i took out to help my mum out), i don't have the same kind of outgoings as people with their own homes have, and i've been able to save a lot of money each month. i also don't drive, so i don't have any of the costs associated with running a car.

realistically, i'm going to be waiting years before ttc because my other half isn't ready. we would obviously want him to have graduated (mid 2010) and then we'd like our own home and to spend a bit of time just being a couple away from our families (he spends 6/7 nights a week at my house but hasn't officially moved in). lately, i've been thinking a lot about the money side of things and wondering how i'd cope if i got pregnant and then lost my job because of the recession... i've been thinking about how much money i want to have saved and how much everything would cost... which is daft, because by the time we're ready to ttc, the recession would hopefully either be over or at least on it's way out!

sorry for the long post... this is a very longwinded way of asking "is anyone else worried about the recession enough for it to affect their ttc plans?"

 

[Bubby]

Well we're WTT until much later in the year so we'll see how things are then, but at the moment it isn't affecting our plans as we're both compulsive savers and the only debt we have is our mortgage. If one of us loses our job before we start TTC we'll probably try and postpone a little.

I've lost count of the number of people who have said "if you wait until you think you're in a financially perfect situation for a baby, you'll never have one" but on the flipside I think its irresponsible for people to completely disregard their financial position.

 

[ButterflyBaby]

thanks for the reply, bubby. i agree - there's never a completely right time to try for a baby because there's always something that pops up when you don't expect it to... but one of my friends had a baby last year - a happy accident - and she doesn't work and she had no savings and plenty of outgoings and she's coping... but only just. i certainly wouldn't want to struggle as much as she has and it's made me determined to save as much money as possible before having a baby of my own.

i've got a few thousand pounds in a savings account at the moment, but that will all be gone by april/may because i'm saving specifically to become debt free. after that, i intend to save as much as possible and put it in a separate "baby fund" for when the time comes.

 

[Mrs Doddy]

if you are not looking to ttc until 2010 I would clear your debts and save as much as possible - things may be better by then who knows

 

[ButterflyBaby]

thanks for the reply, mrs doddy. that's my plan - i'm currently saving £500 a month every month in order to repay my loan (which has 4 years of payments left on it) buy May of this year. after that, the money i've been saving for the loan will be going into savings for a house and then baby... i imagine it will be long after 2010 before i'm able to ttc, unfortunately, as my boyfriend doesn't want a baby until he's 30 (he's 25) unless he changes his mind, i've got plenty of time to save, so my worries are irrational.

i was mostly wondering if the recession was affecting anyone else's baby plans.

 

[Lilaala]

It wasn't going to affect our plans until hubby got laid off. We know he will be re-hired once there is work again but that could be some time. He has managed to find some other work but it's REALLY slowed down our savings not to mention he needs to be working in his trade to get the required hours to be a Journeyman.

We wanted to wait until he was a Journeyman, so literally it's forced us to have to wait longer.

Very displeased.

 

[Timid]

It wasn't going to affect our plans until hubby got laid off. We know he will be re-hired once there is work again but that could be some time. He has managed to find some other work but it's REALLY slowed down our savings not to mention he needs to be working in his trade to get the required hours to be a Journeyman.

We wanted to wait until he was a Journeyman, so literally it's forced us to have to wait longer.

Very displeased.

Just out of interest, what is a Journeyman?

Good luck, in these tough times I know everyone in your position will need it!

x timi

 

[Mrs Doddy]

It wasn't going to affect our plans until hubby got laid off. We know he will be re-hired once there is work again but that could be some time. He has managed to find some other work but it's REALLY slowed down our savings not to mention he needs to be working in his trade to get the required hours to be a Journeyman.

We wanted to wait until he was a Journeyman, so literally it's forced us to have to wait longer.

Very displeased.

thats crap hon - so out of your control too

 

[Lilaala]

Just out of interest, what is a Journeyman?

Good luck, in these tough times I know everyone in your position will need it!

x timi

In Canada when you work in a Trade (plumber, butcher, electrician, etc.) you start out as an Apprentice who trains under a fully certified and experienced individual in the trade. You take four levels of classes (six week long classes each, so can be done in 6mos) and work a certain number of hours, with graduation and hours worked reaching the required total you become certified in the trade. You take on the title of Journeyman and have new Apprentices working under you. ^.^ Your salary also triples from the Apprentice wages.

Thanks much, and you too Mrs Doddy, luckily my work is unionized so I have employment at good wage and don't ever get laid off, so we won't be homeless or starving, but we agreed I was to be the one staying home with baby, as it's what we both want, so we're stuck!

 

[anna'ellisia]

i totally agree with ppl here! DH and i have made a financial plan that we started when we got married! we are putting 5% of our monthly income EACH may iadd to help cover it i also gort my inheritance from a family member when i turned 21 which i have saved to use! its had and oi see ppl struggling all them time with children specially now!
it worries me but if u have a plan then it will work we recently decided that we will now put in 10% each to cover any thing! as we dont have a wedding or honeymoon to pay for now!
good luck ladies!
xxx

 

[MoonMuffin]

I just had a baby this past september, and Me and my DH don't have much money, we live with his mom cause we can't afford our own place. The recession is good for us because my DH has a full time job and prices are going down, so we can actually afford to everything we NEED. We seemed to do ok with xmas too though with all the sales. I Just hope my DH can keep his job. Of course we aren't going to try for baby # 2 any time soon because we just can't afford it.