Discussion
Hi there,
I'm not sure if this is in the correct section or not so please feel free to move it!
My wife and I are seriously thinking of having a baby but I'm worried about finances. We have agreed that she would take 40 weeks off as her employer pays full for 6 weeks, half for 20 weeks and then stat. for the other 13 weeks. Is this a realistic timescale to send a child into day care?
Roughly what sort of start up costs would we need?
Would we get child benefits? Reading the government site I presume we do.
I'm sure I have lost more questions but that should do to start with!
Thanks in Advance!
I'm not sure if this is in the correct section or not so please feel free to move it!
My wife and I are seriously thinking of having a baby but I'm worried about finances. We have agreed that she would take 40 weeks off as her employer pays full for 6 weeks, half for 20 weeks and then stat. for the other 13 weeks. Is this a realistic timescale to send a child into day care?
Roughly what sort of start up costs would we need?
Would we get child benefits? Reading the government site I presume we do.
I'm sure I have lost more questions but that should do to start with!
Thanks in Advance!
I don't know if you still can, but you used to be able to put babies in full-time nursery care from the age of 3 months. It was 8 or so years ago that our son was in nursery, but at that time we were paying about £750 a month for three "full" days a week. You have to pay for either a full day or a half day, so if the baby is in nursery from - say - 11 am to 3 pm, that counts as a full day. Nursery isn't cheap...
If you're a lower-rate taxpayer, you'll get child benefit - the current rate is about £81 a month. Don't know about tax credits though.
Babies are relatively cheap to run, except they grow like weeds so you have to budget for clothes! Although when they're first born, family and friends tend to want to buy them stuff. The NCT runs very good second-hand/new sales where you can get everything you need for a baby for a lot less than brand new prices, even though some of the items are new and unused. (People tend to buy stuff for their babies that they never end up using.)
It's when they get older and want PlayStations and bikes and things that they start to cost really serious money.
If you're a lower-rate taxpayer, you'll get child benefit - the current rate is about £81 a month. Don't know about tax credits though.
Babies are relatively cheap to run, except they grow like weeds so you have to budget for clothes! Although when they're first born, family and friends tend to want to buy them stuff. The NCT runs very good second-hand/new sales where you can get everything you need for a baby for a lot less than brand new prices, even though some of the items are new and unused. (People tend to buy stuff for their babies that they never end up using.)
It's when they get older and want PlayStations and bikes and things that they start to cost really serious money.
Edited by SGirl on Tuesday 17th April 10:18
Thanks for the responses!! Sorry I made it sound like a business idea :-)
Just really concerned that we wouldn't be able to cope money wise..... We both have decent jobs and don't think we will be in a much better situation in 5 years time so thinking we might as well bite the bullet now!
Just really concerned that we wouldn't be able to cope money wise..... We both have decent jobs and don't think we will be in a much better situation in 5 years time so thinking we might as well bite the bullet now!
Good on you for researching this first!
If you're both under £50k pa then you'll qualify for Child benefit (£80 per 4 weeks).
If your combined income is significantly less that that, check the HMRC calculator to see what may be available:
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/taxcredits/payments-entitle...
It's not an issue sending a 40 week old to daycare... many go at a much younger age. I can only imagine how hard it must be on the mother though - hence many prefer to go back part time. Then around that time you start thinking about #2.
Costs for #1 are crazy, especially if you (wife) feel that you need all the accessories / gadgets. The push-chair can cost a fortune. The 'must have' models are upwards of £600 before you start adding accessories like the matching car seat. There are the clothes, the crib (which only lasts for about 6 months), the cot, the travel cot, the realisation that your car can't fit enough in for an overnight stay etc etc. My 15 month old's shoes cost as much as mine but last only 3 months.
Another hidden cost is if the pregnancy / baby prompts you to go 'organic'. Welcome to the world of £4 for a small pack of blueberries.
Then they turn 2 and the costs of your holidays seem to double.
Do you have any nieces / nephews or close friends with growing children who may be able to donate any of this?
Ditto the advice to use NCT nearly new sales. Baby stuff generally has a <3 month lifecycle and in early months they do little more than sleep and drink, so it's not like clothes etc have a hard life.
It's probably all worth it in the end though!
If you're both under £50k pa then you'll qualify for Child benefit (£80 per 4 weeks).
If your combined income is significantly less that that, check the HMRC calculator to see what may be available:
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/taxcredits/payments-entitle...
It's not an issue sending a 40 week old to daycare... many go at a much younger age. I can only imagine how hard it must be on the mother though - hence many prefer to go back part time. Then around that time you start thinking about #2.
Costs for #1 are crazy, especially if you (wife) feel that you need all the accessories / gadgets. The push-chair can cost a fortune. The 'must have' models are upwards of £600 before you start adding accessories like the matching car seat. There are the clothes, the crib (which only lasts for about 6 months), the cot, the travel cot, the realisation that your car can't fit enough in for an overnight stay etc etc. My 15 month old's shoes cost as much as mine but last only 3 months.
Another hidden cost is if the pregnancy / baby prompts you to go 'organic'. Welcome to the world of £4 for a small pack of blueberries.
Then they turn 2 and the costs of your holidays seem to double.
Do you have any nieces / nephews or close friends with growing children who may be able to donate any of this?
Ditto the advice to use NCT nearly new sales. Baby stuff generally has a <3 month lifecycle and in early months they do little more than sleep and drink, so it's not like clothes etc have a hard life.
It's probably all worth it in the end though!
Yes Unfortunatly we are both earning around 30k each (hence my money concerns).
We do drink and go out a fair bit on weekends so I presume these are all costs hat will be cut.
Our parents are also pretty good support and money wise so I know if it came to it we wouldnt be homeless.
We are also thinking of asking the parents wether they would be willing to maybe look after said child once a week to reduce nursery costs..... Not sure if that's abit rude tho!
Thanks for the help so far!
We do drink and go out a fair bit on weekends so I presume these are all costs hat will be cut.
Our parents are also pretty good support and money wise so I know if it came to it we wouldnt be homeless.
We are also thinking of asking the parents wether they would be willing to maybe look after said child once a week to reduce nursery costs..... Not sure if that's abit rude tho!
Thanks for the help so far!
spoofking said:
If you wait until you can afford kids, you'll never have them. You'll cope, things will change, life will change, nights out will become rare, take up any help from parents/in laws and friends.
They are great and worth every penny (currently!!)
Pete - dad of two girls 6 and 3!
The man speak the truth.They are great and worth every penny (currently!!)
Pete - dad of two girls 6 and 3!
If you want to know what the finance side of a child is like, open your wallet and burn all the money you have. If your luck you might be like me and have the chance to buy a few of those childhood toys you always wanted.
It can cost as much as you want it to really. As long as you can keep a handle of your wife spending (you'll be surprised at how much crap you suddenly NEED to look after your child)
Ivan Father of a 7 year old boy and a 6mth old girl............and a nice Scalectrix set....star wars lego......Toy RC Cars......and even a wooden train set
edition said:
Yes Unfortunatly we are both earning around 30k each (hence my money concerns).
We do drink and go out a fair bit on weekends so I presume these are all costs hat will be cut.
Our parents are also pretty good support and money wise so I know if it came to it we wouldnt be homeless.
We are also thinking of asking the parents wether they would be willing to maybe look after said child once a week to reduce nursery costs..... Not sure if that's abit rude tho!
Thanks for the help so far!
2 x ~30k is more than enough as long as mortgage / debt is manageable. It's not meant to be easy but if you think of where you want to be / are likely to be in 5 or 10 years time, then your lifestyle should return.We do drink and go out a fair bit on weekends so I presume these are all costs hat will be cut.
Our parents are also pretty good support and money wise so I know if it came to it we wouldnt be homeless.
We are also thinking of asking the parents wether they would be willing to maybe look after said child once a week to reduce nursery costs..... Not sure if that's abit rude tho!
Thanks for the help so far!
I'm sure you'll be too tired to go out for the first 3 months so budget will naturally adjust!
Don't underestimate the value of local parents - I'd be surprised if they wouldn't be delighted to help out. With in-laws in the US and my mum 250 miles away, it can make it very hard on us and a night out gets very expensive.
You may find that there's not much difference in cost between 4 days and 5 days in a nursery; they're well versed in extracting every penny they can and know the trick of new mothers returning on 4 days per week, hence offer a good discount for the 5th day.
Childcare vouchers, if offered by your employer, will help as you can pay for some of the costs pre-tax.
onedsla said:
Costs for #1 are crazy, especially if you (wife) feel that you need all the accessories / gadgets. The push-chair can cost a fortune. The 'must have' models are upwards of £600 before you start adding accessories like the matching car seat. There are the clothes, the crib (which only lasts for about 6 months), the cot, the travel cot, the realisation that your car can't fit enough in for an overnight stay etc etc. My 15 month old's shoes cost as much as mine but last only 3 months.
you CAN spend as much as you want, you can also spend as little as you want, 2nd hand stuff like cribs, prams etc, selling it on again when you don't need itkids shoes, clothes etc can be cheap as chips at supermarkets etc
edition said:
We do drink and go out a fair bit on weekends so I presume these are all costs hat will be cut.
You won't have the energy for the first few months in any case. edition said:
We are also thinking of asking the parents wether they would be willing to maybe look after said child once a week to reduce nursery costs..... Not sure if that's abit rude tho!
Some parents would jump at the chance to look after their grandchildren for a while. Until they reach toddlerhood anyway. 
KrazyIvan said:
If your luck you might be like me and have the chance to buy a few of those childhood toys you always wanted.
There is that, yes. We've got a houseful of really cool toys that belong to our son only in name. Oh, and not forgetting that you can take them to see good kids' films when they're a bit older! I'd have felt a bit daft going to see Cars on my own, but our son wanted to see it as well so off we went. Lots of times! And don't underestimate the fun of simply going to the park and playing on the swings, either. Though I'd recommend soft play centres only when the kids are very small and you're allowed to go chasing after them, it's not as much fun for the adults when the kids grow and become more independent and you just have to sit and watch. 
What you save in your lifestyle costs (i.e.not going out) will easily be taken up by generally costs of having a baby to care for. You will probably find that friends/parents will be more than willing to give you clothes/toys and all sorts of other things as it's great to find a home for all this stuff once you don't need it. We have just given a lot fo things to some friends who are expecting a baby this summer....we were glad to see the back of it all!
The big issue is child care.....which really depends on where you live. For example if you live in a decent area of London you're looking at £18k! That does go down a but once they are three as the govt contributes but not by much. My son is three and a half and has been going to nursery since he was two three days a week.....that costs £12k a year......and these places have waiting lists!
The big issue is child care.....which really depends on where you live. For example if you live in a decent area of London you're looking at £18k! That does go down a but once they are three as the govt contributes but not by much. My son is three and a half and has been going to nursery since he was two three days a week.....that costs £12k a year......and these places have waiting lists!
petemurphy said:
if you want one have one - the child will take up all your cash however much you have.
^ thisOffset to an extent by the fact the the money you spend now going out on the piss will be reduced by about 95%
The when you do go out you're so knackered it only takes a few pints and you're wasted and home by 10pm.
But you won't have it any other way once you get over the initial shock of it all.
We were in a similar position to you. You get by.
We're now considering whether its financially viable for the wife to go back after maternity leave following our second child. £2000 a month for childcare will leave virtually nothing left against her salary, but she will probably still go back as she enjoys work and doesn't want to give it up only to have to find something else in a couple of years once they are both at school.
The other thing with childcare if it's a nursery is be prepared for illness. The first 6 months is an absolute nightmare. They will bring home everything that goes round the nursery (and trust me it's a lot) until their immune system builds up. You'll also find they will pass it all on to you as your immune system isn't used to it. After 6 months it all seems to settle down a lot. An understanding employer is a massive bonus in this respect.
Good grief someone actually considering the cost implications before reproducing.
OP are you based in the UK? If not then what the norm is is to have as many kids as you can and not to worry about the costs the more the merrier the state looks after you and your offspring.
On a more serious note I was surprised to learn that everyone gets child benefit I thought it was only for the poor. I obviously don't have offspring.
OP are you based in the UK? If not then what the norm is is to have as many kids as you can and not to worry about the costs the more the merrier the state looks after you and your offspring.
On a more serious note I was surprised to learn that everyone gets child benefit I thought it was only for the poor. I obviously don't have offspring.
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