babies and money

mrsquannab

Hi all,

Hubby and I are starting out NTNP adventure next month. I'm excited and looking forward to beginning the chapter of our lives. But I'd be lying if I didn't admit how scared I am that we don't have enough money saved up to have a baby.

How much money are you guys stashing away in anticipation of bringing a little one into the world? I know there are tons of articles out there... guess I'm looking for the real world perspective.

Thanks in advance!

kcisthebombdotcom

I think a good goal is six months worth of bills in an emergency fund.

Ducktale

We've been planning on possibly me being a SAHM when we have kids, so this is something we've thought about a lot and have spent a good amount of time getting ourselves to a place where we feel financially comfortable. This includes:

-6 month Emergency fund of living expenses should DH lose his job

-Enough to cover our family's family out of pocket maxiumum for the year, should the labor and delivery hospital bill be that high (NICU stays, etc.)

-Enough to cover the expenses to get the items we'll need for a baby, set up a nursery, etc.

We've also paid off debt to be able to afford monthly bills, including continued contributions to retirement, kids college fund, extra life insurance policies, plus the costs of a baby (extra health insurance premiums and all the things that babies need)

If you'll be a working parent, you will need to factor in day care expenses plus lost wages while on maternity leave. Don't forget the possibilty of bed rest and being unable to work.

FemShep

Agreed with 6 months of expenses in an emergency fund.  In addition, I'd look at the following:

-Health insurance coverage of pregnancy and birth.  How much will you have to pay out of pocket to literally have the baby?  Set aside at least this in savings.

-Maternity leave coverage.  Most short-term disability policies cover your maternity leave, usually at a reduced pay (often around 60%).  Check what your policy covers and if you need to start saving to supplement your income during maternity leave.

-Day care costs.  If you plan to go back to work, call a few daycare centers nearby to get an idea of costs.  (Costs vary widely based on where you live, so it's not easy to find a good approximation of this without calling).  Spend a few months putting that amount of money into savings as a way of getting used to a "baby budget" and boosting your cushion.

-Life insurance.  Ideally, both parents should have a life insurance policy, with amounts based on 5-10x annual earnings.  The good news is that these are relatively cheap if you're young, in good health, and don't have crazy hobbies, but you should get these in place as soon as possible.

You can do the actual buying for baby on the cheap if you look for bargains, and baby doesn't need anywhere near as much as stores try to tell you.  But you can probably set aside another $500-$1000 for baby stuff as well.

Good luck!

Twinkie0612

We had a very nice cushion in our savings account when we first started TTC.  That number is now dwindling as we are looking at paying for our third round of IVF OOP.

dogperson11

Ducktale said:

We've been planning on possibly me being a SAHM when we have kids, so this is something we've thought about a lot and have spent a good amount of time getting ourselves to a place where we feel financially comfortable. This includes:

-6 month Emergency fund of living expenses should DH lose his job

-Enough to cover our family's family out of pocket maxiumum for the year, should the labor and delivery hospital bill be that high (NICU stays, etc.)

-Enough to cover the expenses to get the items we'll need for a baby, set up a nursery, etc.

We've also paid off debt to be able to afford monthly bills, including continued contributions to retirement, kids college fund, extra life insurance policies, plus the costs of a baby (extra health insurance premiums and all the things that babies need)

If you'll be a working parent, you will need to factor in day care expenses plus lost wages while on maternity leave. Don't forget the possibilty of bed rest and being unable to work.

We've done pretty much exactly this, only difference will be I'll be going back to work after 10-12 weeks so we've saved enough to get us through those weeks when I'm not working.

Jags8

I've heard that you should have 6 months of your monthly bills saved. We're also wanting to save how much our health insurance deductible is, in case of emergency.

lifeonthehill

We plan to have 10,000 in the bank and continue saving when we start TTC. Once we are actually pregnant we are going to put that money into a separate savings account just for baby things and co pays on our insurance.

I agree with the six months of living expenses for a good base but that wont work for us. Right now six whole months of living expenses would total to be less than 5,000 and I can't stand the thought of only having that much put away.

mrsquannab

Thanks ladies! This is very insightful.

We are striving for 3 months of living expenses (not including what we're squirreling away for a new home and having some money set aside for the pregnancy and first year expenses).

Scared about not having a full 6 months, I came across this little quiz interesting: https://money.usnews.com/money/blogs/alpha-consumer/2008/06/12/can-you-afford-a-baby