Pre baby financial panic!!

[Qwerty123]

Hi all,

So we are currently planning for our first but due to wedding etc we have no savings (no debt...but no savings!!). I've read so many articles online about how expensive babies/children are and I hear lots of my friends commenting on how skint they are (since having kids). I just wanted an honest perspective on how much/little people manage on once they've had babies. Are they as expensive as people say or is it just poor financial management? We are aiming to save enough for me to have a year off without a wage drop (ie I could withdraw the equivalent of my wage out of savings each month whilst on mat leave) but hadn't even factored in what we would do if I didn't want to go back to work after that. After that year we have no contingency at all. We have recently taken on a big mortgage to get our "forever" home and am now worried we have made this move too soon due to finances. If I brought home no money, my husbands wage would only just about cover essentials (mortgage, bills, car, food shop) with nothing left over for clothes/social/emergencies/saving.

Any thoughts or comments would be great. Any ladies who have not returned to work and found they can survive on much less than they thought?

Xxxxxxxx

 

[Papermoon]

People do manage with just a little and no savings because you see people all the time who are dirt poor having kids. If it were that expensive poor people would have no children. LOL! I think some of it is due to poor financial management and some due to people choosing to buy name brands things rather than generic things that can work just as well. I don't have to have name brand things and I love bargains. If I can find bottles and pacifiers and baby clothes at the dollar store then I have no problem shopping there. It doesn't have to be top name brand. So I think it's a mixture of poor financial planning and needing/wanting name brand things. People can spend more money than necessary on lots of things, not just babies and kids. Throughout history people with very little money has managed with raising kids so it can be done.

 

[El1en]

Kids are expensive but in my experience if you live within your means you'll be fine and you just need to prioritise. Before having my little girl we ate out more, had lots of drunken night's and bought loads of new clothes every month. Becoming a mum was a lifestyle change to. These days my oh and I have one or two date night's a month and a couple of night's out each with our pals and I don't buy half the clothes I did. If mylittle girl needs anything I go without but tbh I don't even notice I'm going without if that makes sense.

I haven't gone back to work as it's not worth it for us and I can help at home on our farm so we are skint but getting by and that's okay as we have what we need and we're very happy

 

[BlondeP]

We had no savings when we fell and OH has a £3.5k credit card he is paying off. It's just about being smart and delegating your money well to things throughout the pregnancy I think. Luckily without knowing we would fall this year, I have been paying into a fund that gives me vouchers to spend in shops from November. Il end up getting about £350 worth so that has been very helpful. As its about £30 a month that gets sent elsewhere in not tempted to dabble into it like I do with my actually savings account.

My mum told me, you will never be financial or mentally ready for a baby, but when they here you just make it work and it all comes naturally xxxx

 

[Blank_Page]

I'm very frugal and have always been a saver. I'm low income (just my industry) and he's decent enough income. He literally just got a permanent job offer after 6 months into a 2 year post. I was very worried about how far my money would go but honestly after a bit of research on what you really need there is very little you do actually need to spend money on. We just got a play mat and changing mat off free cycle. My sister gave me a huge bag of clothes. We have been offered a free cot from someone done with having kids. I have money put away towards the baby for travel system, and both sets of parents have offered to buy us it. I literally think I could have got by without spending a penny pre birth but I have bought a few cute clothes. I've not had my baby yet but I already have my sister & friends offering me toys they're trying to downsize with. I think the key is not to go mad. Stick to a budget. Leave new toys to special occasions not every trip to the supermarket etc. I've set up my budget for next year to live off mat leave (baby due Jan). The biggest expense will be groups like local baby group & mum & baby yoga etc, which are optional but are the few things I do actually want to take them to.

 

[Dianeea]

I have also in the same situation before. I became pregnant at times that we have no savings at all due to some personal circumstance. We manage to overcome that situation by managing our income and the expenses. I prefer to avoid expensive products for my baby.

 

[Pilty]

This is a familiar situation

 

[Little_Pip]

I think the majority of expense is a choice. If you are not picky, you could certainly get by with spending very little on your baby but many people prefer cute/new/clean/name brands etc.etc

Babies are definitely expensive to me but that's because I have to pay childcare (which you wouldn't as a sahm) , because I do want to buy a lot of things for her (not many friends with kids and family live on another continent). Also formula and diapers do cost something(maybe 20 EUR a week)?