Single Income parents- advice?

Hi everyone,

DP and I are considering TTC next year. It's still up in the air but I'm doing as much research as I can before hand so we are prepared as much as possible financially.

One of our issues is, I am self employed and at the moment and work 4 days per week on average. When i fall pregnant I will be looking for a temp/ casual of 2 or 3 days per week up until my 7/8th month of pregnancy.

I don't know how much I will be making, so we will mainly be relying on DP's income until a few months after birth when I can return to work.

Does anyone else know if this is possible? DP has an above average wage, but he does have a few credit card and personal loans (a few of which we are hoping will be paid of by the time we TTC).

I guess if we budget right and don't over spend on unnecessary things we should get by until I go back to work.

Anyone have any similar stories or experiences being in this situation? The last thing I want is to be pregnant and stressed over not having enough money to get by...

What you need to do, is strip back your spending to how much you'd have if only he was working, and then push all your money plus a portion of his into clearing your debts and getting a little savings together. By the time you go on mat leave then you will be accustomed to spending within the bounds of a single income. We've been single incoming it now for nearly 3 years, and have accrued some extra debt along the way (esp this last year when I've had unforeseen medical-related expenses) but it's do-able. You just need to be aware of what is a need and what is a want, kwim? You'd be surprised how much extra you can whittle out when you cut down on the impulse spending.

The other thing you should look at doing it consolidating the debt (and cutting up a few of the credit cards) into a single low-interest option, and then pay that off with as large a chunk as you can manage every payday. Also, when your tax returns come in, put them straight against the debt. Be strict about paying everything on time so there's no extra fees. This makes the money you have work harder.

Thank you!

Before we TTC, we plan on getting rid of almost all debt but DP's car (which would be impossible, it's a 15k loan) and for a few months before hand I'll save my income for bubs of course!) and we will try live mainly off his pay to see what it would be like...

I just wanted to see if anyone out there has done it, to give me some hope! :)

I got a great book about this very subject. It's called How to Afford A Baby by Justine Davies.
It's about how to financially plan for a baby & the changes they bring to your income. I thought it was awesome!
Good luck!