If you planned for baby...

anderson2008 · December 2013

Did you have 6 months saved before TTC? Or did you save say, half, and then start TTC knowing you would have another 9 months to save if you were fortunate to get PG on the first try. Hubby and I are just starting to plan. We are saving and paying down debt and going to reevaluate in 6 months to see if we are ready financially for baby. That's all we are waiting on. We have stable jobs, own a home, have a good relationship (married 5 years!), and have good insurance. We are paying down debt and he's looking at transferring into another department of the hospital where he works for better pay to help us prepare. I would love to hear your thoughts if yours was 100% planned. Thanks!

Ducktale · December 2013

We are not TTC for a few months, but we have had an emergency fund for several years now. It's very important regardless of TTC. So yes, we have it saved before TTC.

laurenstar18 · December 2013

We're gonna start next month. We won't have much saved since we've been saving for this vacation coming up. We're gonna start our baby/emergency fund next month. We're comfortable in our financial situation since we live with my parents. We still pay rent and help them out but the amount is no where near a mortgage. Also, i have student loan debt to pay off. We don't plan on buying a house since i'm an only child and my parents' home is pretty large for 4 people any way. We actually love living with my parents even though i'm 28 and my husband is 27.

It's a personal choice and you just need to make sure that you and your husband are comfortable with your financial situation. It sounds like you guys are ready...best of luck!

Ardmhs83 · December 2013

We had money in savings, but still had bills and def didn't have 6 months saved. Honestly, with being a teacher and paying our monthly bills that are a must, their isn't much to save. I wish I had a ton in savings, but we don't. If I waited to have 6-9 months pay in savings I would never be able to try for #2. This is our situation and we are still able to pay for everything we need and provide for my DS. If you can save that much before baby, then def do it.

Edited because I wrote did instead of didn't.

anderson2008 · December 2013

I was just curious how much people had saved before truly TTC and if it was enough! We are aiming for 5k in savings and pay off 1 car and one CC in 6 months. Ambitious, but that's the goal for reeval in 6 months. Love hearing these stories. Keep em coming!

lifeonthehill · December 2013

We are planning to start TTC next Dec. We are waiting to accomplish some more financial goals first.

We want to have 6 months worth of his salary saved which will be completed by May 15th and to pay off two more of H's SL by Dec. 15th which will leave us with $8,500 in SL debt(a fourth of what we started with last April). After that we will be putting money away ($1,000 a month) into a baby fund while we are ttc and fully fund H's 401k as well.

I know there is "never a right time to have a baby" and all that jazz but honestly we are happy knowing how much more prepared we will be in a year and how much easier our lives will be without the additional stress of a practically empty bank account. Everyone is different though.

jnnfrrose6 · December 2013

We didn't set a goal for savings before TTC, but we also generally keep a good amount on hand anyways. DH doesn't like to carry too much debt if he can help it, so we keep our cc's paid down for the most part. Our car loans are super low (and we just paid mine off last month, yay). We have DH's student loan, and we just bought our first house in August. DH also wanted to be able to put 20% down on the house, so we had saved up for that. I have to say, writing a check that big was scary. DH's new goal for us is to have 6 figures in savings, hopefully by the middle of next year. He would much rather have closer to 1-2 years of savings on hand than 6 months, though. He works in finance and we did have to deal with him being out of work for almost a year (he did some consulting in that time, but didn't have a steady job), so I think that's why he wants more saved up.

SmileyJay · December 2013

Our first child will be 100% planned but I wouldn't say we are 100% prepared. We had a long list of everything we wanted and ultimately had to reconcile that with our wish for 2 or 3 kids and being young parents. We have stable jobs, own a house, good insurance, etc. and are 24/25, married for almost 3 years. If we get pg 1st try next month, the due date would be October.

We are hoping to save more, but just with what we are currently used to we will have about 4 mos income in savings at the birth. That is total income but closer to 8 months of actual living expenses. My job allows me to work from home and it's not possible for me to just be MIA for weeks at a time so I won't be actually taking much leave. Maybe a full week then working at home at leisure.. like 1-2 hours a day if possible and still have my normal salary. Then around 2 months we will be using day care for about 25 hours/week while I work. Our jobs are stable but DH is trying to find something with more room for growth and higher income which would be great.

For us, having savings will alleviate some of the financial pressure and worry. Most of what we are able to save each month now will be used for the baby, so I am not counting on being able to save more than maybe $300 or so each month after LO comes. Maybe we can plan our meals better to save on groceries and the baby will keep us at home more which could help a little bit. I am also planning to cloth diaper and breast feed so that would help but I'm not counting on it from a financial stand point at this stage. Still, I feel like we are emotionally ready and more prepared than 99% of the people I know in real life. Sometimes it can be frustrating when I come to the bump and read how it seems everyone else will have 60K in savings plus fully funded retirement accounts, college savings, and be a SAHM, etc. and I feel we should wait longer... but its all about finding your comfort zone and what works for your family.

SmileyJay · December 2013

@anderson2008 - I am surprised sometimes that many people have no savings at all. I think because most people I know in real life don't seem to plan at all, DH and I feel comfortable with the planning we have done. But we live in the south and don't come from well educated families. That sounds bad but I just mean that our peers we compare ourselves to in terms of ability and readiness to parent are mostly non-planners.

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/24/americans-savings_n_3478932.html

Also I remember reading 1/3 of Americans don't save anything for retirement, even in advanced age.

I think your goals seem reasonable as long as adding in baby expenses won't make it so you can't save anything. You don't want to rack up more credit bills and that $5K E fund should be for emergencies, not for delivery costs or baby stuff. Ideally every home owner should always have at least enough emergency savings to pay their insurance deductible or replace their hvac unit. Even new homes have occasional hiccups and it's very easy to have a $500 service call. When we bought our house, the bank required emergency savings aside from down payment.

anderson2008 · December 2013

To be honest, I'm trying to find a happy medium. I'm not happy with our savings account or our debt, but we have reason to believe that we could have trouble TTC. So, I don't want to wait too long to try for it only to find out it's too late. I'm 24 (25 next month) and my husband is 25 (26 in May). So at current plan, if we make our goal, I would be 26 and he 27 at birth if we succeeded right off the bat, which I doubt. LOL. So I'm just trying to figure things out. I'm such a planner!

JordynLeighx3 · December 2013

Saving helped us but not for the reasons we thought it would.

We planned for one baby.
Not two.

Not did I anticipate being out of work for 6 months due to bed rest so the money that we DID save diminished, FAST.

SmileyJay · December 2013

@anderson2008 - if you are planner then you are in good company on this board! I think most of us without kids are here as a way to help us plan our families and redirect some of that energy.

I think if having a baby fits into your monthly budget and you have what you need for insurance deductible, maternity leave, and baby's basic needs then it is just up to you to find that comfort zone. I think $5K in emergency savings would be great. Just always make sure you have enough in savings to cover an insurance deductible - house, car, or health, whichever is greater. That is the bare minimum for me.

When we first got married we sat down and made a huge list of everything we want to have in place before having a baby. When I look back it makes me laugh. I used to feel like life just ends when a baby comes in the picture, like we will never again be able to travel or decorate or grow our careers. That is silly - we still have a good 50 years ahead of us. You want to be financially secure, some savings tucked away, and feel emotionally ready for a baby but the rest of the timing is just up to you to decide.

Our original timeline was to start ttc January 2018. Now it is 4 years earlier than that. A few things helped that like making more money and budgeting better. We will still have student loans, we still have one car loan for another year, and we still pay PMI on our house. But the interest rates on my car and house are both about 3% and we are able to save a quarter of our income each month. We budget, we cut out unnecessary expenses like cable (we have an htpc), and we plan all of our meals for more savings. We have no credit card debt but use a cash rewards card for everything and pay it off each month just to reap those rewards. Some of these may help you save more - we save about $1200 a year by having an htpc instead of paying direct tv and I've never missed a show. Usually I actually see them a day before they come on. This year we have made about $500 in cash rewards just by using a cash back card and pay it off each month which helps in budgeting as well.

We don't have any reason to think it would take a while to have children but have talked and talked and decided that we feel sure we want to be parents. More than that, we want to be young parents. A lot of things changed how I felt about becoming a parent, the biggest was losing my dad suddenly in March. Life really is too short to wait until the absolute perfect moment for everything. Sometimes you just have to leap. I'm not encouraging people who are not ready to be parents to just do it like everything will work out fine, but for our situation we have decided that now is a great time, even if it's not as perfect as it could possibly be.

bugandbibs · December 2013

We had clear financial goals to meet before ttc. The first was a fully funded e-fund, that just makes sense for everyone. How much you need depends on your overhead, and employability. Our only debt is our mortgage and student loans- we could drastically decrease our monthly spending if needed. My maternity leave is unpaid, so before ttc we saved 3 months of my income. We got pregnant the first cycle, so I'm glad we didn't procrastinate. Babies are expensive.

anderson2008 · December 2013

anderson2008 said:

To be honest, I'm trying to find a happy medium. I'm not happy with our savings account or our debt, but we have reason to believe that we could have trouble TTC. So, I don't want to wait too long to try for it only to find out it's too late. I'm 24 (25 next month) and my husband is 25 (26 in May). So at current plan, if we make our goal, I would be 26 and he 27 at birth if we succeeded right off the bat, which I doubt. LOL. So I'm just trying to figure things out. I'm such a planner!

Why do you think you will have issues?

We wanted to be debt free but we ended up needing to get a new car. That is our only debt though. Also, we beefed up our savings and started a retirement plan.

Honestly though, I wouldn't be putting any strict timelines on TTC other than when you decide to start. I got pregnant my first cycle off BCPs. We both thought it was going to take a little longer but regardless we were prepared financially.

If you haven't checked it out yet (or if it's been mentioned already), go to Fertility Friend, sign up for an account, and take the tutorials. It's all free (other than if you want to pay extra for VIP). The only thing you will need to buy is a basal body thermometer that you can get at Walmart for $7. Charting really helped me understand my cycle. I was able to see when I ovulated and was able to choose a day I planned to test. It took the stress out of wondering if/when I ovulated and when I should be expecting AF or test.

Well, my doc was a little concerned that I could have some endometriosis with the level of pain I have during monthly without BC. My husband had to have surgery when he was a toddler to correct an issue with his reproductive parts. So there is a chance he could be operating at 50% capacity because of it. Surgeries 20 years ago aren't as precise as they are now. Right now we have no immediate concerns, but I don't want to add age to the equation. Statistically there is a noticeable decrease in fertility at 27.

kcisthebombdotcom · December 2013

Nope, we waited until we had met the goals then ttc. Not everyone gets nine months of pregnancy to save. What happens if you get put on bed rest at 12 weeks and deliver at 24 weeks?

kcisthebombdotcom · December 2013

anderson2008 said:

anderson2008 said:

To be honest, I'm trying to find a happy medium. I'm not happy with our savings account or our debt, but we have reason to believe that we could have trouble TTC. So, I don't want to wait too long to try for it only to find out it's too late. I'm 24 (25 next month) and my husband is 25 (26 in May). So at current plan, if we make our goal, I would be 26 and he 27 at birth if we succeeded right off the bat, which I doubt. LOL. So I'm just trying to figure things out. I'm such a planner!

Why do you think you will have issues?

We wanted to be debt free but we ended up needing to get a new car. That is our only debt though. Also, we beefed up our savings and started a retirement plan.

Honestly though, I wouldn't be putting any strict timelines on TTC other than when you decide to start. I got pregnant my first cycle off BCPs. We both thought it was going to take a little longer but regardless we were prepared financially.

If you haven't checked it out yet (or if it's been mentioned already), go to Fertility Friend, sign up for an account, and take the tutorials. It's all free (other than if you want to pay extra for VIP). The only thing you will need to buy is a basal body thermometer that you can get at Walmart for $7. Charting really helped me understand my cycle. I was able to see when I ovulated and was able to choose a day I planned to test. It took the stress out of wondering if/when I ovulated and when I should be expecting AF or test.

Well, my doc was a little concerned that I could have some endometriosis with the level of pain I have during monthly without BC. My husband had to have surgery when he was a toddler to correct an issue with his reproductive parts. So there is a chance he could be operating at 50% capacity because of it. Surgeries 20 years ago aren't as precise as they are now. Right now we have no immediate concerns, but I don't want to add age to the equation. Statistically there is a noticeable decrease in fertility at 27.

I was dx with both endo and another condition which impacts fertility and my dh also had testicular surgery as a toddler. We got pregnant on the third try with ds and conceived dd using pull and pray as birth control one time. There is a very mild slope of decreasing fertility at 27. It's not of any statistical significance in your twenties. You have plenty of time. Having a child before you're ready because you might have trouble is foolish unless your doctor flat out told you it's now or never. You're creating a problem that isn't really there.

anderson2008 · December 2013

I hope you are correct that it won't be a problem but there's no way to know that for certain. That's why I am asking what mom's who have already BTDT experienced as far as planning for baby. We are hoping to be financially ready to TTC in the next year. I'm not in a huge hurry, but I also don't want to be in my 60'd with a teenager at home either.

anssett · December 2013

We have a 6 month emergency fund saved up and are on track to be debt free next summer. Not pregnant yet but we're as financially prepared as we can be. I'm concerned about the cost of daycare more than anything. We're in a SUPER high daycare cost region (Seattle) but we'll figure it out.

barefootbluejean204 · December 2013

TheCraftyKoala said:

@anderson2008 - if you are planner then you are in good company on this board! I think most of us without kids are here as a way to help us plan our families and redirect some of that energy.

A lot of things changed how I felt about becoming a parent, the biggest was losing my dad suddenly in March. Life really is too short to wait until the absolute perfect moment for everything. Sometimes you just have to leap. I'm not encouraging people who are not ready to be parents to just do it like everything will work out fine, but for our situation we have decided that now is a great time, even if it's not as perfect as it could possibly be.

@anderson2008 I am totally a planner as well. In fact I have even written out multiple budgets for our household, figured out a guesstimate of what adding a baby would do to it, figured out how much more DH would need to make for me to be a SAHM - I have exact figures for all of these lol.Although who knows how realistic they actually are, but at least I have an idea of how much our expenses would be and goals of how to get there.

@CraftyKoala Also a fellow southerner!!! I love it. Cost of living is way cheaper here and we live in a semi-small town so less traffic and headache.

My goal is to save up 20k. I'm about halfway. Down payment on the house this year took 25k from us. DH and I are not on the same page about when to TTC. He wants to be VERY financially ready as in making enough for me to be a SAHM - as in five years from now when his company is thriving(hopefully). However, I feel we wouldn't have to wait that long as I wouldn't mind working the first few years because I would have to.(me, 24, him, 26) We are planning to talk about it again at the end of the summer next year when hopefully he will be making more to cover the extra expenses.

He does not want to talk about it at all right now - wouldn't even look at the numbers I came up with when I was doing my budgeting. I think he is comfortable with the way our finances are now, and not ready for the sacrifices. I mean we are in no way wealthy but he is able to have 3 trucks, fourwheelers, tons of guns and extra cash for other fun things (although right now we are in saving mode - he IS on the same page about that with me thank goodness!). I'm worried about the cost of healthcare for us.It would be the same as our mortgage payment. But, we are fortunate to have no debt besides our house since I paid most of my way through college and used scholarships, and his parents had started a college fund for him when he was a baby and that paid for his and all vehicles were paid for in cash.

He wants for me to be able to be a SAHM and possibly even homeschool our kids.

Disclaimer - I have a strong faith and these articles lean pretty far right - but take them with a grain of salt as they have been really helpful for me when thinking about options down the road for baby, maybe you can find something helpful for you all too:)

https://www.boundless.org/adulthood/2010/the-accidental-housewife
https://www.boundless.org/adulthood/2009/kids-dont-retrofit
https://www.boundless.org/adulthood/2007/ten-things-now-to-stay-at-home-later

GL to everyone - I think in this economy its 10times harder to be the typical SAHM and like the articles say its alot of times not even really encouraged in this culture. It's not for everyone but it's what I would want.

jess9802 · December 2013

We banked a tax refund from the year we got married and that was our savings to cover medical expenses and loss of salary while I was on maternity leave, which ended up being partially paid. We were lucky to have family as a childcare option, so it was just the other expenses of having a child that came into play. We opted to use cloth diapers and I was lucky enough to be able to breastfeed/pump, both of which saved a ton of money. It's worked out well.

I'm glad I didn't wait until we had six months of expenses saved up. It probably would have taken us a few years to get to that point, and my career and our finances have shifted, so we may be delaying a second baby by another year - I just made partner at my firm so this coming year would not be a good year to start TTC #2.

Musical28 · December 2013

First time post sorta nervous. But me and my husband have really talked about ttc lately. We have one credit card I am paying off and have some money still left in the savings. We are not actively trying yet as I am still on be but it's likely sometime soon we will.

anderson2008 · December 2013

We are working away! :-) I'm happy to say goal number one will be achieved in the next two weeks. We are paying off hubby's truck! Yay!

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