We started by looking at our existing budget - simply a table which has our combined income at the top per month, and then a list below of all of our monthly expenses - rent, credit cards, bills, food, phones, gym memberships, health and general insurance etc. This gives you an idea of how much is coming in and what fixed expenses are going out. Whatever is left over I like to call "mad money" or money that we can do whatever we like with. We are saving most of it now, but have also allowed for a holiday to New York next year before we start TTC.
If you do up a basic budget of your income and expenses, you'll have a clear idea of what you have to work with for baby.
We then used the above budget and forecasted for the next 3 years - allowing for standard increases in our expenses, but also in DP's wage. That's how we worked out how much savings we would need to continue living as we are (with a few small sacrifices) and start our family
I'm happy to email you my budget if you like, just send me a PM
Jellyfish: Yeah, that's what I thought! It sounds like babies can be relatively cheap, but as they get older, well... I'm not too sure what we'd end up doing!
BeautifulMadness: Wow, third?! Congrats! At least you're managing!
Aimz: That would be great, if you don't mind? Except for some reason I don't think I can send PMs. I seem to have limited capabilities on the forums... not too sure why? Could be because I'm new?
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