How Financially Ready Are You?

MrsHennyBee · February 2013

I fully expected to have a job by now, but finding a job after getting my masters degree has been beyond brutal. DH works as a ranger, so not a whole lot of income coming in, but enough to support the two of us and cover our bills, and minimums on my student loan payments.

I am currently waiting to hear back on a couple of jobs and just got an update on two more openings. If these don't pan out, I think that we will probably have to stop TTC, which is so frustrating...but it is what it is.

So my question is, how financially prepared are you if your next pee stick is a BFP?

femmepink · February 2013

We are very financially ready. We are extremely fortunate to have the jobs and savings that we do. We're just missing a little family to spend some money on.

The way we are though, if we weren't in a comfortable situation with just the two of us, we wouldn't be TTC.

penelopemaria · February 2013

femmepink:
We are very financially ready. We are extremely fortunate to have the jobs and savings that we do. We're just missing a little family to spend some money on.
The way we are though, if we weren't in a comfortable situation with just the two of us, we wouldn't be TTC.

this

lmills730 · February 2013

DH and I both have very good jobs that we have longevity at, insurance, no credit card debt, a comfortable amount in savings, and know exactly how much overage we have each month to know that we can afford daycare, etc. if one of us didn't have a secure job we wouldn't be TTC.

argonne · February 2013

Very ready. We both have very well paying jobs with excellent benefits, get yearly bonuses, have a savings account, little debt (my student loan, mortgage, cars), etc. We have two new cars, a 4BR house and some assets we can cash in if the need arises.

Kids are expensive. Our daycare costs, this year, alone, were $14K. Ouch.

MrsM507 · February 2013

We are at a place that we could continue the lifestyle we have right now, with our savings, for at least 6 months if H were to be without a job for some reason, so I feel good about where we are financially. We have a nice chunk saved up. It took time, but we got there. This is money we won't touch for IF treatments.

MrsHennyBee · February 2013

femmepink:
We are very financially ready. We are extremely fortunate to have the jobs and savings that we do. We're just missing a little family to spend some money on.
The way we are though, if we weren't in a comfortable situation with just the two of us, we wouldn't be TTC.

I completely agree. We are doing fine just the two of us, and aside from my student loans, we have no debt. It's just our savings isn't up to what I imagined it would be, and I would love to be sitting comfortably (which I will if I get one of the jobs I have been applying to - fx)

Lauren659 · February 2013

We both have good paying jobs, no debt except our mortgage and health insurance that covers a baby. Being financially ready was a huge factor in when our timing decision.

krdesi · February 2013

I have also had a hard time finding a job after I finished school. I am certified to be a teacher and teaching jobs in NJ are hard to come by apparently. I have multiple friends here in the same situation (otherwise I would think it was just me!).

My husband is an accountant and works in NYC right now and makes enough to support us...we would be able to buy a house if I had a job but we are not struggling by any means and I think we could comfortably support a baby, the baby just wont be spoiled with chandeliers and hand-painted cribs!

We have decided we want to leave NJ now and therefore Dh is looking for jobs in other states and I am debating whether I want to immediately look for a job or not because we have been ttc for about 8 months now and I don't want to get hired and then be pregnant and piss new employers off, but then I have no idea how long it will take me to get pregnant either.

ayamw · February 2013

We are in a decent place with both having good jobs, pay all our bills, emergency fund, chunk a good amount extra at those student loans Sally Mae was our "first born" we always say etc. We have put off ttc for a few years now so that we BOTH felt comfortable with finances, careers, and just all around ready for that next step.
ETA: won't take parentheses ugh mobile bumping!

runforcookies · February 2013

We are comfortable. I wish we owned our house, but the only thing stopping us is I am trying to move up in my company and would relocate to be closer to my new branch (I work in banking) when that happens. DH has some pretty serious student debt, but we are on track to have that paid off in a few years.

All in all, we are not rich by any means, but we budget well and always have money to put in savings before the next check comes in. We are comfortable in our decision to start a family.

skinnykate9 · February 2013

You all are making me feel like a big slacker! I'm currently working as a Subsitute teacher, which is barely better than being unemployed, but DH has a good job. We make enough to cover our monthly bills and put a small amount in savings. We don't have a ton of debt, only 1 car payment, our house, and my student loan. We don't really have a ton of extra money, and it will be tight when we have a baby, but I'm not willing to wait any longer. Hopefully I will get a full time teaching job for next year. We basically live off of DH's income now, so it would be a huge difference if I was making a full salary.

shortstuff15 · February 2013

Well for us the financial hit doesn't come until after baby is born. All medical is free seeing as we are in Canada and adding an extra kid doesn't raise our taxes any at all. In fact having another kid actually makes me more money with the government benefits. But since we formula feed it does raise our budget by a couple hundred a month so that kind of balances out. But yes, we would be ok financially to add another kid if the pee stick in 4 weeks is positive.

mmb248 · February 2013

We're prepared. We just refinanced our house, have 1 car payment and no other debt. We're fortunate that we both have very stable jobs, and if either of us lost our job we'd be fine without having to dip into savings. My BF gave us some great advice when we started TTC, every week we transfer money into savings that is equal to the amount of daycare, diapers, clothes, etc. that we would spend for a week on a baby. This way, we get used to that money not being there each week.

Naive me, when we started TTC, I thought that by the time we had a baby, we would have enough saved to furnish/decorate the nursery. HAHAHAHA - 18 months later, we have enough saved for 4 years of in-state tuition or a year at a private college.

mythaldo · February 2013

We're very ready financially. We had a good start on savings and retirement before we married and despite moving across the country, buying a fixer-upper house and two cars together, we've only added to it. We've both been in our jobs five years and refinanced our mortgage (kept our monthly payment the same, but switched from a 30 year fixed to a 20 year fixed). I'm paying ahead on my student loans to pay them off in another 4 years and our only car payment will be paid off by this time next year. We're expecting the monthly cost of daycare to wreak havoc on our monthly expenses, so we started putting away a little extra each month last year so we don't have to pull anything from investments.

Being financially ready is important, but babies don't need fancy things. Having good health insurance, some savings for emergencies and a stable income where you don't have to stretch every dollar is enough for most couples.

curlylocks3 · February 2013

We are not ready at all. We are counting on having very generous family and friends for our baby showers.

FoxiePM · February 2013

We aren't I intend to live off the government.

curlylocks3 · February 2013

Paitonsmommy:
We aren't I intend to live off the government.

*High fives* Great minds huh?

FoxiePM · February 2013

curlylocks3:
Paitonsmommy:
We aren't I intend to live off the government.

*High fives* Great minds huh?

Heck yeah, I better totes get lots of diapers at my shower because food stamps will not pay for those.

nyg2042 · February 2013

I think H and I are as ready as we can be. We both have good jobs with decent salaries, insurance and a healthy amount in savings. Our only debt is our mortgage. We tend to be low-maintenance people, so we try to live as frugally as possible. This way we are able to increase our savings every month.

quidditchcapn1120 · February 2013

We live frugally, but we live in a VHCOL area. We have quite a bit of student loan debt but not a lot of other types of debt. We have some savings and have a little extra to put away each month. We will be doing better once we move out of this city, but we want to take advantage of great health insurance and benefits now before I am self-employed.

LO95 · February 2013

This question always makes me cringe.

Chalk it up to my inferiority complex, but seriously, I do spend WAY too much time comparing what DH and I have compared to our friends and coworkers.

Example: We own a 1,000 sq foot ranch in a neighborhood of your average working-class people. And, OMG, we only have one bathroom. I can't tell you how many nights I've lost sleep over this stupid, mundane fact.

So, on one hand, I'm proud of what DH and I have. No one helped us buy our house at age 23 and our mortgage is less than rent. On the other hand, many of my coworkers liver in $200,000+ houses. (with 2+bathrooms! sigh) I worry that my kids will never have what my friends' kids will have. That we will never get out of the "starter" house. That we will be inferior to "the Joneses".

BUT, here I guess is my light at the end of the pessimism tunnel.

1. DH and I can pay all of our bills on one of our salaries.

2. We have a very healthy savings account and are starting a Roth IRA to beef up the retirement accounts we already have through our jobs.

3. Our jobs are (knock on wood) about as stable as any jobs can be in this world.

4. Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, DH and I are in the most secure place in our relationship we've ever been in 5 years of dating and almost 3 years of marriage.

Sooo... Are we financially ready? Well, I have a laundry list of things I wish I could have before having a baby. Then again, I know we are going to be great parents who will be able to provide for our child's needs. Ready? Ready.

RachC624 · February 2013

DH and I actually sat down this weekend and talked about this. If this cycle was BFP, all of our credit cards would be paid off and we would have a good amount in our savings account. My lease on my truck is up in Dec so we will have another car payment (ideally lower than what it is now) and we are also working up towards saving to get him a new car with our savings. We always have extra at the end of the month so it's not a concern at this time and once the credit cards are gone that's even more we can put in our savings.

aessary03 · February 2013

I think it's all dependent on how comfortable you are in your situation. When I had my daughter, I had just finished my undergrad degree ... and had very little income. I made it work. Sure, finances were tight, I did without a lot, but we lived and we made it through. My daughter never, ever went without ....

Fast forward to today. I have a great job and my husband and I are pretty financially set. Our cars are paid off and we have little to no bills. I feel like we're totally ready. The only thing missing is the baby bump.

this1life · February 2013

krdesi:
the baby just wont be spoiled with chandeliers and hand-painted cribs!

haha, THE HORROR!!!

mmb248 · February 2013

LO95:
This question always makes me cringe.

Chalk it up to my inferiority complex, but seriously, I do spend WAY too much time comparing what DH and I have compared to our friends and coworkers.

Example: We own a 1,000 sq foot ranch in a neighborhood of your average working-class people. And, OMG, we only have one bathroom. I can't tell you how many nights I've lost sleep over this stupid, mundane fact.

So, on one hand, I'm proud of what DH and I have. No one helped us buy our house at age 23 and our mortgage is less than rent. On the other hand, many of my coworkers liver in $200,000+ houses. (with 2+bathrooms! sigh) I worry that my kids will never have what my friends' kids will have. That we will never get out of the "starter" house. That we will be inferior to "the Joneses".

BUT, here I guess is my light at the end of the pessimism tunnel.

1. DH and I can pay all of our bills on one of our salaries.

2. We have a very healthy savings account and are starting a Roth IRA to beef up the retirement accounts we already have through our jobs.

3. Our jobs are (knock on wood) about as stable as any jobs can be in this world.

4. Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, DH and I are in the most secure place in our relationship we've ever been in 5 years of dating and almost 3 years of marriage.

Sooo... Are we financially ready? Well, I have a laundry list of things I wish I could have before having a baby. Then again, I know we are going to be great parents who will be able to provide for our child's needs. Ready? Ready.

Yes

I know that feeling of comparing yourself to others. When compared to my friends, DH and I are pretty much equal to them, but his friends have so much that we'll never have. On the other hand, we're not living beyond our means, and I feel like that is such an important thing to teach your children. I grew up in an average, working class area and once I graduated from college I figured out that it wasn't that my parents couldn't afford to live in a fancier house, they just chose not to so that they could have a quality of life that wouldn't have been possible if they spent all of their time at work and money acquiring things.

iErica · February 2013

We are ready.

We actually waited until the time we did to TTC, so we could be. We are in our 30's and trying for #1. We both have good jobs, we have zero credit card debt (we used to, though) and we own our home and have a savings. It wasn't always like that, though, of course. And one says if you WAIT to TTC before you're 100% ready, you may never get there. But, we did wait until we were wayyyy more comfortable. For us, it was important. So we are ready!

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