Baby costs

[chody47]

Hi all! I'm new here and am enjoying looking around.

I have a question for you all.....what's the cost of having a baby?...

My husband and I and (hopefully) going to start TTC shortly but my husbands main worry is the affordability of this. He has basically told me that if I can 'prove' we can afford it then no worries, we can start trying.

I've done a bit of 'research' and to my calculations rekon it's possible but he keeps thinking I'm 'missing' stuff in my calculations.

We have some inital plans laid out...I am a teacher and entitled to 14 weeks maternity leave at full pay (this is likely to be 16 weeks as hols aren't included in this) or 28 weeks at half pay. My husband may also be entitled to some leave once I go back to work too...I anticipate going back to work 3 or 4 days a week (am I crazy to think this????) so we wouldn't be relying on one wage...

So can anyone tell me some of the costs of having a newborn that I need to consider so that I can make a budget and convince my husband we can do this???

[BrightSparkles]

Things to consider in planning:
- cost of cot/pram etc. Can pick up good ones second hand. We brought pretty much all our stuff second hand except the car seats which I wanted new.
- nappies
- are you going to BF? If not or for some reason you can't you need to consider cost of formula
- public or private patient? Costs can be involved there.
- Bills while your not working. Things can still be tight on paid mat leave so good budgeting skills.

People are pretty generous when you have a baby. Or so we thought they were So you might be given lots of stuff.

I know there is lots more but my baby brain in mush after lack of sleep. I will BBL to post when I think of more stuff.

HTH xx

[shellbell3]

What we did too was work out roughly how much we spent a fortnight then calculated that by how many fortnights I'd be off work.
From that we could see roughly how much we'd need, calculate in how much mat leave we'd get, annual leave I'd use, baby bonus etc then see how much we needed to save up ready for it.

[~Raven~]

The upfront cost of having a baby is a bit when you consider all the stuff you need to buy, but the baby bonus covers that and then some if that's what he's worried about If more than one child is planned then you don't need to set up again so then you get the most out if your baby stuff.

TBH we worried how we could afford it too but we made it work.

[chody47]

Thanks for the replies so far

I guess I'm especially interested in the ongoing costs once the baby would be here.

For instance:
How much would you spend on nappies a week?
Still not sure about BF or formula (I guess I like the idea of BF but you never know), so what's the cost of formula/week?

I guess I'm figuring that in terms of set-up costs (e.g. furniture) we can afford to buy those items before the baby is born as we regularly put money away each fortnight.

[feeb]

To formula feed a baby for 12 months costs about $2500 for formula, bottles, teats.

You would then need steriliser etc.

Nappies depends on what brands you buy and if you go cloth or disposable. Some places sell large boxes in bulk much cheaper.

Laybye is great for set up costs.

[shellbell3]

Nappies (huggies) I buy when on special, safeway often has 2 boxes for $66, sometimes you can even buy box for $30.
Formula a tin prolly lasted me roughly 6-7 days, cost can vary on the brand you use. Don't buy at the supermarket, way expensive, go to chemist warehouse or pulse pharmacy is quite cheaper too.
If you're regularly putting money away fortnight thats a good start, maybe even try one of those higher interest savings account, I had one thru bankwest, got good rates and didn't have to lock it in could touch the money when i wanted.

[~Hestia~]

How To Afford A Baby by Justine Davies would be a great book for you. She is a financial planner who has written a nine month guide to organising your finances in preperation for a baby. She is Australian, so the section on government benefits is relevant too.

[*Ali*]

Chody- Are you a teacher in WA (other states may be the same too)? Did you realise that you still accrue holiday pay while on paid maternity leave so just for the 14 weeks you are on leave you will get about 4 weeks of holiday pay, plus any extra that you already have owing to you? I didn't realise the first time I went on mat leave that you still accrue holiday pay, so it was a lovely suprise afterwards.

[chody47]

I'm a teacher in SA.

The way I understand it (from reading policy stuff on the decs website) I get paid for hols but they just don't count as my maternity leave so I'm guessing that (depending on when I went on maternity leave) I would end up with about 16 weeks of fully paid leave (or 18 if the first lot of hols were early on in the leave...).

[mitzy81]

We worked out all of our bills, mortgage, insurance, food, car costs etc and worked out what we could afford for me to take off work. I have 26wks of half pay, plus also baby bonus. We started to layby the big items as soon as we started trying, and bought bits and pieces each pay. I have bought nearly all the baby gear 2nd hand. Clothes I have saved a fortune on. Babies cost as much as you want to spend. I couldn't justify spending $600 on a cot, so I bought a new cot in box from ebay for $80. If you look around you can get bargains, and if you start a budget now, it can be done.

[didispunk]

Yup I agree babies cost what you want to spend..

Formula you can buy on special.. asks friends to buy that as a gift.. people like to help.. nappies as well. If you have a babyshower you can have a registry etc.. or just the person organising knowing what you need.. can save heaps!

[chody47]

Thanks for all the info everyone. I guess what you are all saying is just confirming the thoughts I had....and I guess it proves that what I worked out was basically right so I'll just have to remind DH of that....