The UK is experiencing its biggest baby boom in 40 years, however, parents-to-be across the country are worried about how they will afford the cost of having a baby.
Parenting on Female First
Clare Francis, personal finance expert at MoneySupermarket.com, says: "Planning your finances for having a baby needn’t be a major cause of stress for expectant parents.
“Taking a thorough look at your household budget, making some simple money-saving changes and being realistic about how much you really need to spend on things for your baby will ensure you and your family get off to a flying start.”
Justine Roberts, Mumsnet CEO and Co-Founder, says budgeting is extremely important along with seeking out the right advice from other parents and relevant sources.
She said: “There are all kinds of financial pressures on parents, whether it's the dip in salary whilst on maternity leave or the rising cost of childcare.
“It's great to budget if you can, but a helpful piece of advice from Mumsnet users is to hold fire on buying a multitude of baby products in advance, and to wait until the baby arrives before making big purchase decisions.
“Our users also find that talking to other parents - about what you do and don't need to buy, how to budget, and the realities of day-to-day finances with an extra mouth to feed - is priceless."
Financial planning tips for when you're having a baby:
1. Work out what your essential weekly expenses will be when the baby is born e.g. nappies, baby food and how you will afford them.
2. Rising costs: calculate how much more you think household bills such as heating and groceries will rise by with an extra person in the house.
3. How much can you comfortably save every month to deal with any unexpected surprises?
4. Reduction in income: Yours or your partner’s income will fall especially if one is on maternity leave. Assess how much your income will fall by and how you will juggle your finances around this.
5. If you plan to pay for childcare arrangements, start looking into how much you will have to pay per week and what percentage of your salary you will need to put by to cover these costs.
6. Be realistic. Of course you want your baby to have the best of everything, but many new parents find that they wind up buying lots of things they don’t actually use in the end.
See if friends and family have baby items they’re no longer using or hit eBay to bag a bargain – you’ll be amazed at how much this can save you.
Share your tips with us in the comments below or tweet us @FemaleFirst_UK
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