EXPECTING A BABY? HERE ARE FIVE FINANCIAL TIPS TO HELP YOU PREPARE BEFORE YOUR BABY ARRIVES

Married or not, if you decide to keep a pregnancy then you should be prepared for the expenses that comes with it. Babies are very expensive to take of these days, that is why you need to be financially prepared for it. There’s nothing that changes one life more than having a baby, because any decision you make affects the baby directly or indirectly, you will have to think about the baby in any decision you make whether a personal decision or a general one.
The common question most parents or a single lady who wants to keep a baby ask is “how much do they have to save when expecting a baby? “ or am I or are we ready for this? You are not alone and you should not feel alone. Well, planning before the baby arrives is very necessary, apart from being ready emotionally and
physically you need to also be ready financially. Like I said before, babies are expensive to
raise.
Let’s quickly go into the five financial tips that will help you prepare financially before the arrival
of the baby;

1. Start keeping money aside for the arrival of the baby:

once you have decided to keep the baby, the next thing should be making financial plans for the
arrival of the baby. Like it or not you will spend a reasonable amount of money once the baby
first arrives, from hospital bills to other bills. The first three months of the baby’s arrival will be
stressful, both physically and financially. The rest of the months will also be stressful but by then
you will have gotten used to it and you’d already resume work.
To achieve saving money for the baby’s arrival you can start by opening a savings account for
the baby. Then you can start putting some amount of money in the account from your salary if
you are a salary earner, this could be every month. If you own your business you save money in
the account every week. You can as well set a target too and try to meet up your target. Just
make sure you save enough for the baby’s arrival so as not to get stressed on financial issues when baby finally arrives.

2. Get the necessary things before the baby arrives:

it is very important to get the necessary baby things aside from saving for the arrival of the baby. It is not
compulsory you get everything at once so as not to get overwhelmed by the expenses. You can
plan or decide to get a few things every month end or every week depending on whether you
are a salary earner or entrepreneur.
The best way to do this is writing a list of the necessary things you need to buy. Start by buying
the important ones first before buying the less important ones.
This way, you will not get choked by expenses and your mind will be at rest. Examples of
necessary baby things are baby’s clothing, baby’s crib, diapers, baby’s wipes, stroller, baby’s
formula(food), baby feeding bottle, crib mattress, breast pump, baby car seat ( when you have a
car), baby’s wardrobe, toys, socks, baby carrier etc. Make sure you get the necessary things
before the due date. To reduce expenses, you can ask your friends or family who had raised
their kids to a certain age for the things they used and no longer use. You’d be surprised at what
you’d get from them and this will reduce some of your expenses.

3. Try to clear debts and build an emergency fund;

as soon as you plan to have a child, plan towards clearing your debts as it will make it easy to save for your
baby’s arrival. This will also help you build an emergency fund. Do your best to save at least
three months’ living expenses in your emergency fund account. If a parent decides to stay at
home with the child, save at least six months living expenses.
Emergency funds are for unexpected but important emergencies. In raising a baby, so many
unexpected emergencies will always pop up and you need to be prepared for these
emergencies because most of them will be important. That is why it is wise to build an
emergency fund before the baby arrives. And even though you borrow money to clear bills in
the process, create a plan to pay the debts too.

4. If you will need child care, start planning it now:

Don’t wait till the baby arrives before you will decide if you need a child care service or not. If both
you and your spouse decide to continue your salary work after the child’s birth then you will
need to start planning on childcare bills. You can explore options with your partner as well.
Preparing to have a baby requires a lot of planning and readiness. One will need to carefully
plan everything well so as not run into debts and be able to take good care of the baby.

5. Have a money talk with your partner:

this is one of the most important things to do after deciding to have a baby. It is an important conversation you need to have with
your partner. You will need to discuss how to prepare for the baby’s arrival, discuss about` the amount
to save each month and also the financial decisions you’d need to make when it comes to the
child’s future.
You will need to decide whether one of you will stay at home with the child or not, whether you
guys will pay for part or most of the child’s college expenses etc. Before you know middle school
and kindergarten will be here, so you’ll also need to discuss that too. Discuss hospital bills,
discuss getting health insurance, discuss baby items, and child’s care too. There are lots of
things to be discussed when having a baby. You and your partner need to be well prepared so
as not to let the arrival of the baby affect the things you still want to achieve.