For those who are expecting, it can be a time of excitement. A new addition to the family can bring so much joy to everyone involved. A new life, innocent, precious, and ready to take on the world. Some parents plan for a child, while others find their newborn to be a surprise. One thing that’s for certain when you’re trying to have a baby on a budget is that it will change your finances forever.
My husband and I just got married a week ago, and we were having a conversation the other day about when we think we’d be ready for a child. Initially, we said when he paid off his car, then we’d have some extra money coming in to take care of a new life. When we realized how soon that could be, we pushed the date back for a couple of years. There’s a few things we want to do before we have a baby.
- Travel: When you travel with kids, it takes a bit more preparation than just two adults who can pack and go off on a spontaneous trip. It’s a bit more complicated when it comes to kids. Finding kid friendly attractions, bigger accommodations, more packing, keeping kids entertained, this list goes on. We want to have the freedom to go a few places before bringing in a new life.
- Move: We’re currently living in a 1,400 square foot townhouse that has 3 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms. This may sound like we’re ready to have a kid, but we’re not. One of the bedrooms is currently the guest room, and the other is my husband’s “man cave”. Of course, we’d be willing to sacrifice a room, but then there’s the bathrooms. Our master bedroom has a full bedroom, while our second bathroom has a shower, and the downstairs bathroom is really a powder room. We’d like to have an extra bath tub available. Our backyard is decent size for us, but mostly concrete outside of our small garden. No real “yard” available. We’d like a more family designed home first.
- Income: We’re really living off one income, which is usually eaten up by current bills including rent, groceries, cars, and entertainment. We’re getting by, not necessarily living comfortably as we once were when we were living off two incomes. We’d like to be comfortable and not have to struggle to feed and clothe a child.
So what are some of the financial things you have to prepare for when having a child?
- Baby furniture: You’d need a crib, a car seat, and a stroller at very least. You can also get a high chair, a jumper, maybe a rocking chair too.
- Baby clothes: Even though they may come into the world naked, babies don’t stay that way. They need clothes, including onesies, booties, beanies, and other things that end in -ies.
- Insurance: In reality, babies get sick, and sometimes need to go to the doctor. You want to be sure your baby can get proper health care, and if necessary, medication.
- Child care: Unless there’s an arrangement between you and your partner where someone can stay home with the baby, you’re going to need to pay for child care for your new addition.
- Diapers: The obvious thing you’ll need when you have a baby is diapers. They’re not cheap, and definitely not something you can avoid buying for the first couple of years.
There’s a laundry list of things a new child needs, and it’s something I want to be prepared for when the time comes to have a baby on a budget. What are some things you did to prepare for a new addition to the family?
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Briana Myricks is a 20 something freelance writer and blogger. Striving for financial independence as a newlywed, she blogs about young married life at 
Don’t forget eating. Breast feeding is ‘free’ but there are a variety of reasons why this might not work or provide 100% of a baby’s needs for the first few months, in which case formula will be needed, and that’s REALLY expensive.
One expense that was pretty high – but that we expected – was the cost of baby food – formula to be exact. One container of formula can cost around $20-25, and in some months you can use several of those. It adds up quick. Add in the baby food once they get a little older, and you can spend a ton on baby food.
Probably our biggest expense was baby furniture – although we spent a lot more than we needed to – just because we bought most of the stuff new and bought things we really didn’t need.
I second Peter–our biggest expense was also furniture for the new baby room, even though we tried to be as frugal about it as possible.
On diapers, I’ve actually found that we spend much less than what other people told us to expect, about $40 or less per month. A lot of that has to do with our warehouse club membership.
You’re doing great by already living on one income! We did that before our first baby. We are now expecting #4. As PP noted, formula could possibly be your biggest expense. Which is why you might want to make sure you get as much support as possible to try to nurse. It pays off financially and in many other ways. I did not spend much at all on the nursery. We reused my SILs crib, and just assembled a makeshift changing table from a desk we already had and a changing pad. We did buy a glider, but we’ve gotten 9 years out of it. IKEA has cute/affordable child room furniture. Our biggest expense was daycare. It is VERY pricy. Being able to work from home, work opposite shifts, etc will be a great help. Also, where I live, there is no discount for part time infant care, so working part time is really the worst option (financially speaking – less $ coming in, no discount on the daycare). I was able to work for a while on 4×10′s and have Mondays off while DH had 4×10′s with Friday’s off. That didn’t save or make us any more money, but we got to spend more time with our kids, which is invaluable. One thing I would recommend, if you are doing well with your money already is to set aside a little bit each month for education. It doesn’t have to be a 529 or anything, just set it aside somewhere and don’t touch it. We have put aside $150-$200/month per child since they were born, and if needed, they can use it. If they get scholarships, well, HOORAY! More for us!
Don’t fall for the scam of child life insurance and don’t put the education fund as a higher priority than your own retirement. OK – that was my 4 cents worth! 
Remember, Kiddos can be washed in the sink when they are first born… and if you have a master bathroom they can use that one… after all you aren’t going to let them bathe alone until they are far older.
You have plenty of space and while yes, you don’t have a yard, i’m sure there are parks nearby.
Yikes. Its a whole new world budgeting for a new family member, even more so when its a baby.
This isn’t exactly part of the financial courses you take in school or even while working in an investment firm