Congratulations, you’re expecting! You will soon be a parent and never look at life in the same way again. You also will never look at your financial needs the same way again, because your spending habits are about to have a major overhaul. Now is the best time to start preparing. You don’t want to have anything distracting you from your newborn that you could have handled beforehand. There will absolutely be enough keeping you busy that finances shouldn’t be a major one if you plan properly.
It can take between two to eight months to make a new behavior a habit, so the sooner you start your financial preparations, the better. Your baby is on a pretty set schedule to enter the world and isn’t going to wait around for your financial plan!
Think Long-Term
You want to begin thinking about and making financial choices that will be in effect for years down the line. These items include college savings, retirement plans, estate planning and emergency funds. We know, it’s a lot to take in and learn about. Especially if you’ve never looked into any of these items before. Don’t feel lost. Find a way to learn! This is probably one of the times in life when it is the most recommended to seek out financial advice. You already have so many other emotions and thoughts running through you constantly during this process that having an outside expert step in to help with the financial advice aspect will not only be a relief but help make your financial plan realistic.
If you don’t wish to seek out professional financial advice, seek some resources out on your own. The Economic Policy Institute has a great tool sorted by state to show you costs that will affect you and your child, such as average cost of child care, cost of housing and cost of college.
Knowledge is Power
Two words to always keep in the forefront of your parental finance brain: credit score. Make sure you are actively checking your credit score to make sure everything is as it should be. This also ties into thinking about long-term goals instead of immediate, future, or impulse purchases. Plan your budget now and make allowances for unexpected events. Don’t go crazy spending money because you want to get the most out of your time before the baby arrives, you should be doing the opposite! Start saving more, be more conservative with splurges and prioritize monthly expenses.
Regularly checking credit score helps you see that you are keeping on the right track to cover all of your new, newborn-induced expenses. You’ll know when you need to make changes to your budget and continue to evolve your spending and improve upon family finances.
You may also want to keep on the lookout for free sample programs to help tide over your frequent trips to the store for more baby-related goods. One such program is EverdayFamily.com’s Mom Sampling Club. Enrollment is free, and you’ll receive a box of brand name samples every month!
