Can You Afford a Baby?

Parents should plan ahead for a baby. Me and my girlfriend are pregnant now and we can hardly afford our selves. It is stressing me to no end over money. I mean if ALL my money goes to debt now and I'm using credit cards before I get paid just to make it, then whats it gonna be like when the baby comes and it needs something I cant afford. I hate the saying" where theres a will theres a way", Well I have a will just not the knowledge to make things better. Things just dont happen on there own.

tc of @ Aug 10, 2008 14:18:48 PM

Forgot a Question

What about couples who are looking at a big change in the near future? For example, moving to a new city (especially for the military), changing a career (new stress, new schedule), or completing a degree (which can mean new bills when loan interest takes affect). These can all affect a family's readiness to have a baby and should be considered before jumping in.

Ashley of DC @ Jul 16, 2008 15:04:07 PM

of OH

of OH,

No, you cannot adopt from a state at no cost. The entire adoption process is expensive. You have to pay for a homestudy ($1000), background check and biometrics ($500), dossier processing ($1000), mandatory pre-adoptive parenting workshops ($500), and the list goes on. Yes, there is financing but those are loans at interest rates - money you have to pay back.

I was talking about international adoption that averages $40,000. Not everyone chooses to adopt domestically because of wait time, medical reasons, and a slew of other reasons.

Tasha of OH @ Jul 09, 2008 23:29:53 PM

The best things in life are unplanned

I was a high school drop out who got pregnant at the ripe ol' age of 17. I got married a week after I turned 18 and believe me there was not a whole lot of planning going but what can I say we were madly in love. I had 4 kids in 5 years and if you think things only got worse from there, you're wrong. What no one has talked about is how your entire life is altered forever once you hold that child in your arms. No matter what the experts say no one can plan how that will affect each and every one of us; that can only come after the fact. We've been married for 17 years now and have created the life we wanted. I never did go back to school but I also never took a dime from the government or moved in with friends and family. We were fortunate enough to have his parents help with childcare which enabled us to work very hard and now own several companies. I don't know if we would've been as driven to push ourselves constantly if the kids were not in the picture. While our single friends were partying and not taking life seriously we were working and builidng our future. My point in commenting is that just like someone who has planned everything down to the last detail can have something go wrong so can someone who hasn't planned at all have everything go right. It's all about what you make of your life not what your life makes of you. With that said, YES our kids college funds are fully funded.

Bianca Echeveste of CA @ Jul 06, 2008 13:49:52 PM

The Answers are Obvious

The bigger picture to all of these questions and answers, except number seven, is that if your answers are Yes, you have successfully acheived the following even before the thought of a baby enters the picture:

1. You can save money (current bills don't eat the WHOLE check)

2. You can afford $1000 (without charging it) for anything if you wanted it

3. You have a job

4. You have a job that provides Medical Insurance for you and child

5. You have saved money (following closely behind no. 1)

6. You have planned for your death or disability

If any of these are 'no' and you haven't committed to change these life successes, how can a partnership expect to set good examples for their child, even if having one 'happens'?

Everyone (except me, it seems at times) says, "No one's ever ready financially. Just go for it."

Wrong. You can be ready if you are financially successful along these terms of planning for your own life. If your own life isn't following this course, I believe it would not be ideal to add another life to it until it does change.

Then you're ready.

elizabeth of FL @ Jun 25, 2008 17:02:45 PM

Kids and College

I am soon to be a father and me and my wife have both discussed the college issue with each other. I hold my bachelors in electrical engineering and she is currently going to school for a bachelors in elementary education.

Everyone is so worried about setting aside a college fund for their child and people such as Kia of NY claim it is crazy to expect a child to pay for their college expense. What is so crazy about it? I graduated 2 years ago and I am still repaying the debt. I worked hard before I went to school, worked hard when I got into college, and now I am working to pay off the debt I accumulated. I attended school, worked a part-time job, and eventually graduated making 60k a year. I do not blame or look down on my parents because they did not pay for my college. They gave me a place to live while I attended school and I would do the same for my daughter. I feel a much greater sense of pride and accomplishment for putting myself through school. The same is true of my wife. She is attending school through a scholarship she got because she worked hard in high school and is continuing to work hard in college. We feel that if our daughter wants to go to college, she should be the one who works for it, not us.

Of course, I have discussed with my wife that if she were to possibly get into an Ivy league college then I would have no problem helping her with her college expenses. There are always exceptions to every rule, but the brunt of her college costs should be shared by her and her alone. I do not feel it makes me a bad parent because I want her to gain some responsibility for her education and her future.

Chad of AL @ Jun 25, 2008 10:44:54 AM

Bad quiz and wrong about college

I'll say this, no I've never had a baby but I think the cost they say up there is what you have to spend in maybe a years time. Now a days preparing for a baby, as in buying clothing, food, toys, ect. seems cheaper then what was said in the questionair. I work at a cosignment shop and I go hunting at yard sales, baby aparell isn't THAT expensive. as for daipers, I'll have to agree on that.

As for the college thing, I agree with Joanna there are parents that have thier child pay for thier own way in. That's what scholarships and grants are for...at least that's what my mother told me.

Also in a way babies sometimes do just happen, but at the same time, schools will tell you in sex ed. class, whenever you have sex there is ALWAYS a risk of getting pregnant. And with that, teens are encouraged to think about the responsability of caring for a child before they have sex.

Tanuki of TN @ Jun 24, 2008 12:41:55 PM

Tasha of Ohio

You can adopt from the state at no cost, and they offer financial assistance.

Babies just happen? Yeah . . . that's about the most idiotic thing I've read. Having a baby is a choice and a responsability. If you can't take care of it - financially and emotionally - then you should be having them.

of OH @ Jun 20, 2008 08:45:20 AM