Saving for a baby?

Good for you for thinking ahead :)

Here is what I would do:

1 - Make a list of every fixed monthly expense you and your husband currently have (include estimations for gas and groceries) Add an additional $200 a month for miscellaneous "baby" expenses. If your husband's salary is greater than your total monthly expenses, then you are in business, if not multiply the amount that would NOT be covered by 6 and make sure you have that TOTAL amount in your savings by the time the baby arrives so you will be able to afford your maternity leave!

2 - It is wise to have four months' worth of living expenses in your savings account at all times (even when you aren't planning for a baby!) That way if your husband should lose his job, become sick/injured/unable to work you will have a four month "safety net" while you search for new employment.

3 - look into child care costs in your area. You may find it is actually cost-effective to stay home full time rather than work part time and pay for child care.

Good luck :)

Let me just say this--you will NEVER have children if you try and be "financially sound". You will never have enough money--and consequentially you will never have kids.

That being said however, I would make sure you don't have too much credit card debt--and if you do, pay that down or off so that isn't hanging over your head and the money you used to pay that off can go towards buying necessary baby things. I would also make up some kind of budget and stick to it so that you know where your money is going every month and so you dont' have to use credit cards and run up unnecessary debt.

It's funny, but i worried about the same thing--and for some reason, it is working out just fine. Stuff like this usually does. The key here is that you have steady income, so that is something you can relax about.

Go through the bills and figure how much half of it would be for 6 months. Then go window shopping for furniture and accessories make a list of the prices then add about 750 to that for diapers and formula.Put those figures together that should be a good place to start.Roughly about 7500 is a fantastic little start. That's baby furniture,accessories,and 1/2 the bills for 6 months.The baby shower is a wonderful way for friends and family to bless you as well. So you might be even better set. Just don't get greedy keep most of the big stuff for yourself to purchase.Although grandma's are good at getting the jump on ya. lol You sound very mature and straight forward good for you. Very responsible. Many blessings and best wishes.

First, take a look at your current budget with both of your salaries combined. How much are you putting away monthly? Can you put away a bit more? Can you shave off expenses in some areas (groceries - buy generic/store brands, eat cheaper meals like peanut butter or ham sandwiches)? Can you cut out some expenses altogether (newspaper deliveries, dining out once a week, or other unnecessary expenses)? I would suggest trying to save $1,000 per month, which is what the average monthly cost for a newborn baby is, plus 10 to 20% more.

Second, sit down together with your husband's salary and your budget. Figure in how much the average cost of taking care of a newborn baby would cost. Can you afford it on his salary alone? Will you need to apply for financial assistance? Some states will allow you to apply for financial assistance since you are new parents. It may vary on his salary and yours combined.

Once you have done that, consider what half of your present monthly salary is. If you can sock away that amount a month, until you are ready to have the child, and still live comfortably, then more power to you.

Good luck with having the child.

Baby or not its always safe to put away a savings worth about 6 months of all your bills plus some should one of you lose a job. I say that would be ideal and perfect for you to spend time with your baby before returning to work. Good luck! And Congrats in advance! For more money saving tips go to daveramsey.com he's wonderful!

I am a firm believer in you will never be financially ready for a baby! My husband and I are case-in-point. We had an entire nursery, clothes for days, diapers in all shapes and sizes - and our daughter didn't use any of it. We had to go buy preemie clothes and preemie diapers b/c the newborn stuff was too big. All of the cases of diapers we bought she couldn't tolerate, luckily we could exchange those. It is really kind of funny in hindsight! We though we were good to go! For me personally, saving money is not as easy as buying little by little. Money can always be spent on something else, if you buy a crib or something like that, you are much less likely to return it than you are to dip into saved money.

My husband and I arer trying to do the same thing. I suggest get a savings account that has a high interest rate. That way you save more than just what you have saved. Also create a budget. Right down everything that you have to pay, insurance, gas, bills and such. Then don't go out and eat so much, don't spend what you don't need to. Give your self a little fun every month/ week but just don't spend without keeping track.

A very wise statement I have heard was if you are waiting to be financially stable to have a baby, you will never have one. You just need to be sure you can afford stuff when they come up. I would say put aside a couple of bucks to even a hundred a month into a savings account. My husband and I did that for our house and we had tons by then.

Hope I helped!!!

You will never be financially stable enough to have a baby. The main thing would be to make sure your bills are up to date. Beyond that its not much more you can do. I would however start saving for college now.

Here's the easiest way to see if its doable. Say you want to work half-time after baby. Take half your pay each month and put it in savings. If you guys can make it on half your salary, you'll be okay. Set a goal for 2 years (or whenver) and continue to set aside that half of your pay. You want to be able to have enough savings to cover your leave without depleting everything.

If you cant live on half your pay now, you'll need to figure out some bills to pay off to lower your living expenses. You'll also want to keep atleast one month in reserve of living expenses (with 2-3 months being ideal) in case of emergency (like your hubby loses his job.)

Also, figure an extra $100-200 a month in baby expenses (diapers, clothes, formula.)