How do you do it?

AdamsGirl81305

My husband has been panicking, which has me getting a little worried.  We both had good paying, seemingly stable, jobs.  Unfortunately we are in a HCOL area.  We are really getting into looking at daycares and realize that so far the cheapest place is going to cost us at least $1500 a month (and thats only 3 days per week!).  That is only a few hundred lower than our mortgage!  This will leave us some money leftover each month, but will be tight.  We want to save up a downpayment for a new house since ours is going to be small for 4 people.  We also need a bigger car.  We can make either of ours work, but it will be hard to do anything as a family because of space limitations.

I don't see how we are going to be able to save up for a car and a new house with the childcare costs.  I wish I could stay home with the girls, but we can't loose my salary.  Financially, we were prepared for 1 child, but 2 has us scared.

mmbench

That price for two infants is pretty good in a HCOL area, even if it's part-time.  I'm in NC, and most of the places we looked at wanted $2200 a month for two full-time infants (double my mortgage).

Luckily we managed to find a center with an excellent multi-child discount.  After that, we would have looked at home care centers that tend to be a little cheaper.

We didn't get a bigger car.  We have a Subaru Forester, and that's worked out for us just fine.  We just bought a used one to replace my DH's batchelor car so that we have a backup.

BabyDavison

You will be surprised at how resourceful you become.  My DH and I were NOT financially prepared for even 1- my pg was a surprise and DH had JUST quit his job to work 100% comm in real estate sales!!  AND then the market tanked

We definitely did not think I could SAH but we're making it work.  You just find ways to cut back that you never even imagined.  Good Luck to you- we were beyond stressed about all of this but so far, so good.

pea-kay

It's hard, no doubt about it. Luckily, we live in a pretty low COL area, but of course that means we don't make much money to begin with. :P But it works. You make it work. You just do. The tax breaks don't hurt, either.

SportsLover

Honestly, our nanny costs more than our mortgage, but I carry the benefits (and like my job) and it's similiar in cost to full-time daycare in our area. 

One thing I've noticed since having the twins is that DH and I very rarely go out and I honestly don't have a lot of free time to shop for myself.  I've scaled back on frivilous purchases and stuck to more of a budget.  You'll be surprised at how easy it is to cut corners (no eating out, coupons, etc).  Good luck!  You'll make it work!

 Ditto the pp who stated that twins mean a larger car.  Atlhough we have an SUV, we still use our 12 year old Honda Accord.

cands

Like Nike says, you just do it.  When my parents had my twin sister and I, they already had my older sister, and they were living in a one bedroom apartment with no washer dryer.   They moved to a three bedroom apartment when we were a few months old, but I've seen that apartment, and considering two of those rooms as bedrooms is questionable.  They didn't have a phone for several months because they couldn't afford the phone bill, and needless to say didn't have a TV or anything else extra.  But my sisters and I were always cared for, and all grew up knowing that our parents love us.  And over the years, they got new jobs and promotions and saved and whatnot, and moved into a bigger apartment, then a house, then a bigger house, etc. and put three kids through college and then bought a boat, and now my mother goes a little nuts buying cute baby outfits for my girls that she couldn't afford when my sisters and I were little.  So whenever I worry about how DH and I are going to make it work, I remind myself that I know my parents made it work somehow with a lot less, so it's possible.

barker2B

I agree with pp's.  We also have two very good jobs and good salaries but live in DC area so daycare is a fortune here too (we pay about $30K/year right now).  But as someone else said the reality is you don't have the time anymore to shop, eat out, go to the movies,etc. In the first few months even though we were spending money on diapers, formula (Nutramigen, none the less), $40 co-pays at the pedi office all the time it seemed, etc. we still ended up saving more money per month b/c we didn't do any social activities.  Once I went back to work and we started daycare we are just really as frugal as we have ever been--we don't order out, etc.  I also would LOVE to have a minivan right now but our cars are both paid off and though not the best for two babies, we make them work and we don't want a car payment right now.  So, bottom line is you figure it out--you don't have a choice so you just make it work.  And, the bright side is that on top of feeling so good about yourself for raising twins (which is NOT easy) you feel good about yourself for you financial accomplishments too!