Planning for family extension for the first very time? It is one of the most exciting times in your life. It is a mixed feeling as along with the excitement for the bundle of joy to come, it can get challenging with additional responsibilities and changes in lifestyle. In the next few years to come, along with your baby you too will live a new life.
To welcome this irreversible change, you should evaluate yourself first.
Before making this decision, your mind will throw hundreds of questions at you:
- Is this right time?
- Am I prepared for this?
- Should I continue to work or take a sabbatical?
- How well I am financial prepared for a baby
And the list of questions continues. Let us talk about some important points which will help you prepare better and bring down your anxiety level and will also answer many questions.
Think of Work Options
Today for everyone, job is equally important as family. For the working women, there’s much to talk, think and plan when it comes to having a baby and a career together. She needs to figure out work options that suit her before getting into motherhood.
Be aware of your maternity leave and have an open conversation with your manager for leave extension in case you think of extending your maternity leave. Talk to everyone at home to figure out what options best suit you and your family. If you have someone at home who can support your working after delivery, your maternity leave should be sufficient otherwise you will need extended leave to look after your baby.
At times, maternity leave or extended maternity leave is not an option when you don’t have any one to look after your baby and there is no availability of baby care center in your area. In such a situation you should reconsider the work options. If your current job cannot give you required flexibility, don’t feel hesitant to consider of leaving this job and moving to an option which suits your new beginning.
Be Insured
The day you conceive, get ready for frequent consulting and appointments with doctor. In fact you may wish to consult a doctor before you plan baby. There will be few rounds of checkup before you close on baby planning. After you conceive, your files are going to be fatter with regular checkups and blood test reports. There are few genetic tests which wouldn’t be covered under insurance yet you can recover a big chunk of expenses incurred with a good insurance option.
It’s not only your regular medical expense or pregnancy expense; a good insurance option will also protect your pocket during any complications during the pregnancy.
Review of Monthly Spends
You should be ready with enough balance in your saving account. With the addition of a member in family there would be addition in your monthly spend, a sufficient bank balance will help you in meeting such monthly obligations without any compromise in your lifestyle.
You must review you monthly spend and cut down the not so necessary spends. Don’t hesitate to postpone those expenses which aren’t a necessity for now. If you plan to upgrade your lifestyle or have hobbies or monthly subscriptions and so on; these expenses can take a back seat at time of baby planning. Save this money for the little one.
Baby Shopping Cart
It’s one of the most exciting activities which you are going to enjoy. Starting from the day when you conceive, you will create a shopping cart in your imagination and that is natural. You may want to be ready with all the required essentials needed when your little one is born. The ideal time to shop is somewhere during eighth month of pregnancy.
Get the shopping list checked by friends and relatives who are parents. This will save you from wasteful shopping and give you a good direction about the list of products to be shopped.
If they offer you help with items like baby gear or coat bought by them during their parenthood don’t feel shy in accepting the offer as these are expensive products and will be in use for very short time. Post-delivery, borrow some items to see if your baby is ready to use them instead of directly buying them. These exercises will save you especially from buying expensive products and safeguard your pocket.
A Dedicated Baby Saving Accounts
It is an awesome idea to park some money every month in a savings account which belongs to your baby. Even if you financially secure to welcome your little one, a saving account for you baby is not only a gift for her bright future but it can also act as insurance for an adverse situation. You build a platform for her future by saving money for her interests in hobbies, outdoor activities, and higher education and so on.
Planning a baby is a blend of financial, emotional and mental planning. You feel the most confident when these parameters are in tangent to each other. The above points will smoothen the process of family planning with no stress.
Hope by now you know – How well are you financially prepared for baby.
We would love to read about your journey towards family planning. Leave it in the comments section below.
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