question for parents.

iluvcats

my younger sister just had her FIFTH baby. my dad and his second wife help alot.

the wolf

PatrickBateman wrote:

here is a good test to see if you are ready......;)

1.set up some alarm clocks to go off every 2 hours and at night place 2 on your nightstand also set to go off every 2 hours.
2. Only go out with your gf/friends once a month. (being optimistic)
3. take out about $50 a week from your pay and put it somewhere (savings account)

The money always seems to work out. (my fourth is due in Feb) For our 1st, it was unexpected and I went and got a 3rd shift job so that I can watch him during the day and go to night classes 3 times a week. By our second, I was able to find a job from going to said night classes. By our 3rd I was making decent money. Now with our 4th, I need another minivan...argh;)

ah, the getting up thing wont bother me. if i sleep 2 hours at a time im lucky anyway.

going out. dont think i will care. ive turned into a home body recluse in my older age.

its just the money that i worry about.

Get_Right

the wolf wrote:

hey thanks everyone. i just wanted a few outside opinions. my GF is ready. and so am i . but the cost scares me to death. so im stuck in this forever, "wait mode".

my gf keeps telling me that in my mind we will never be in the right sitiuation to afford a kid. she is probably right.

plus , im getting up there , im 36 !!! and i really dont want my kids to have to go through what i did growing up. my parents were the ages of my friends grandparents. i didnt bother me, the were way cooler than my friends parents. but kids can be brutal to other kids. lol.

im coming to the opinion that ( after i get my ass back to work and for a while ) that we should just go for it. cause i know how she is, and myself, and there is no way that the kid would go without things it needs.
we would find a way.


thanks all.

-steve

if you want kids-dont wait.
I waited for the same reason-and deprived myself of years of happiness.

pickupyourwill

~~~~

Medicated-Genius

the wolf wrote:

just looking for some estimates on how much it costs a year to to raise a child in the first years.


clothes
food
diapers
health insurance
docters shit that insurance may not cover
care while at work

and anything else i am leaving out.


just curious.

A few pointers on saving money in the first year with a baby.

Clothes and equipment: Get as much second hand furniture as you can. Baby's don't care what brand you use, or how expensive everything was. Only thing I wouldn't compromise on is a good stroller......... you use them a LOT....... and a car seat. Best to buy a new one so you are certain it's never been in an accident.

Food: Breastfeed, breastfeed, breastfeed!! The only food a baby needs in its first six months is breastmilk. It's free, it's always sterile, always available and the perfect food for a baby. Formula feeding isn't just the cost of the formula, it's the cost of the bottles, teats, sterilizing equipment..... then the inconvenience of having to make the stuff up, pack it whenever you do somewhere etc etc. Breast fed babies are healthier, smarter, have less allergies, less asthma, less skin problems, better gut flora, healthier digestive systems...... they acquire natural immunity from their mother to a host of bugs and germs in their environment........ the list of benefits of breastfeeding go on and on and on......

Diaper: Use cloth nappies. Better for the environment, better on yer bank balance and no plastics, chemicals or other nasties on your baby's skin. Babies goes through about 8 - 12 cloth nappies a day...... and make up about one load of washing a day. Really, they aren't the inconvenience people seem to think they are.

Doctors and insurance: I can't really comment on this one. We have universal healthcare over here, and lots of public options for maternity care. We pay an annual medicare levy with out taxes, I think it's about $800 for a family and this gives you access to all public hospitals, for anything you need. I would recommend midwife care for a normal, healthy pregnancy and birth. Doctors are only needed when the woman or baby are unwell and things are not going along normally.

Child care: Another I can't really comment on. I stayed home with my children, worked part time in the evenings here and there when the kids Dad was home from work. We did it tough, there were plenty of lean years but I wouldn't trade it for anything.

Time: Babies will cost you a LOT of time. When you are not changing nappies, feeding, bathing, soothing, rocking, walkin the floor at 4am, grabbing a shower between feeding, wiping baby spew off yer shirt, trying to clean the house etc........ you will spend hours and hours gazing at them, marveling at how perfect they are, delighting in their first smiles, first words, first teeth, first roll over, first crawl, first steps........ you will even delight at their gorgeous little baby farts, when you take their nappy off and they pee all over you, when poo squirts out the nappy and down their legs. You will be amazed when those gorgeous baby farts become the loudest, wettest and most hysterical things you ever heard. You will clap your hands and yell " wow, look at that DISTANCE you little champ!!" when they projectile vomit and manage to hit the tv screen. And the first time your baby laughs, every sleepless night, every piercing cry will dissolve away and you will fall in love with that baby over and over and over again.