Does anyone ever worry about how they will afford it?

[Annie050408]

Hi there,

We are going to be moving house within the next month and will have an increased mortgage very soon. We both earn a decent salary but not big money and neither of us get bonuses in our jobs.

We have not been particularly careful with money over the last couple of years and tend to live from one month to the next. I know that when we have had to live on a tight budget that we have managed it but I do worry about how we will afford for me to take the whole 9 months maternity leave....and for nappies etc...and everything else a baby needs.

Does anyone else have these concerns or has anyone else had to deal with this in the past?

We don't really have the option to wait too much longer before starting a family as we are both in our 30s now and tbh we don't want to wait.

I know that we will make it work, I just can't help but wonder how the hell we'll do it!

 

[Pudds86]

ALL THE TIME! I think everyone does, and it is true what people say...it's never the right time. You will always feel something could be better before bringing a baby into the world. Just go for it! We are renting and in a one bedroom atm, planning on moving later in the year, but I jst keep thinking when the time comes we will just have to deal with it! I am sure there are a lot of people out there who are a lot worse off raising children. You will be gr8 xx

 

[Annie050408]

Yep, definitely. I know that we are in a much better situation than a lot of people but like you say, financially the time will probably never be right! We'll manage

 

[Tonks]

I found having a baby cheaper than not!

When it was just OH and I we were going out a couple of times a week for lunch/dinner/cinema/take away/etc. When Niamh came, we didn't and ended up saving money!

There are a lot of ways to make things cheaper too. I used cloth nappies, which are amazing and come in such a range of fabrics and colours now. You buy them once and that's it! You can also BF rather than use formula and after that the only regular things you'd have to buy is clothes. We don't tend to buy a lot either.

It is a lot more affordable than some of these websites make out, where they say a baby cost £15k in the first year! We probably spent about £300 in total on a nursery, and all the furniture is great quality. I did it in a french chic theme and found a lot of bargains to decorate it with.

 

[Annie050408]

I like the idea of cloth nappies but aren't they v messy to wash or do you put some kind of liner inside of them?

 

[Tonks]

Yep. The liner can be mad up of different materials, but most of flushable. So you lay this on top and it catches the poo. The you just flush it down the toilet Not everyone uses a liner though, just personal preference.

 

[Toonlass]

Unless your extremely well off, i don't think anyone (on paper) can afford a child. But somehow you just find the money. Like tonks said, you go out less and i for one became alot more sensible with money. I only went back to work after 9 months maternity leave and the extra money is awesome, but i go back on leave at the of february so we'll have to manage again.

Don't worry hun, you will manage xx