I’m Pregnant! Here’s What To Do Next

March 14, 2018

Having a baby is an exciting time! It’s also a time to make financial adjustments. As my husband and I prepare to welcome our second baby boy within the next month, we are definitely looking forward to our new life and prepared for many aspects of our life to change, some more than others. Our free time, family time, and date nights will look differently than they do now. Our financial world will change also as our monthly expenses increase.

If you are expecting or planning to extend your family in the future, check out some of the things my husband and I have learned along the way about adjusting financially to a new baby.

Before the baby’s arrival

Prepare for additional expenses

1. Understand your company’s maternity leave policy and be flexible — you can’t predict every aspect of your leave. A few of my colleagues have shared excellent tips for this step:

• What I Learned From My First Maternity Leave
• What to Do When You’re Expecting

2. Learn about the medical expenses involved. Ask your doctor’s office if they require you to prepay any maternity costs, like the fee for delivering your baby, and when the payment is due. My doctor’s office has a policy requiring pre-payment months in advance for your maternity and delivery costs.

In essence, I gave them an interest-free loan and now have a credit on file with them until they bill my insurance company once my son is born. However, the payment was required in order for me to continue seeing the doctor, so I had to comply.

When selecting your doctor, it’s a good idea to you inquire about how they handle those expenses and be sure you’re comfortable with their process. You may need to start budgeting to pre-pay before you even conceive if that’s required.

Check out Medical Bills 101: From Pregnancy to Delivery for additional guidance on potential medical expenses during this season.

3. Add in the cost for help around the house

• Maid Service: The tail end of pregnancy can be tiring and may slow you down a bit. No matter how much of a superwoman you are, you might find that you could use some help around the house. Consider hiring a maid service to help with cleaning, dusting, organizing, or whatever your custom needs are. Just be sure to factor the cost into your budget. Ask friends, neighbors, coworkers for a referral. Groupon usually has some good deals as well. We finally broke down and hired a cleaning person a couple weeks ago and I can’t even tell you how much of a difference it’s made.
• Food Prep: Things will be a bit busy once the baby gets here. Consider bumping up your grocery budget to account for a month or so of meal prep, potentially ordering in a bit more, or using a service like HelloFresh or Blue Apron to make preparing meals easier.

4. Start preparing for the cost of child care. We have all heard how expensive child care can be. If you are planning to return to work, it’s a good idea to start budgeting for childcare ahead of time. Maybe you’ll be open to having a nanny (a professional child care provider) or an au pair (often an international student who comes to live with you as a part of an international education program in exchange for childcare).

Your costs may even start during your maternity leave — you may just need a babysitter to watch your little one while you get a couple of hours away for self-care, run errands or to go on a date.

5. Prepare to update your health coverage. As soon as you can, you’ll want to make sure you add your new baby to your health insurance, but don’t wait too long — when you have a qualifying event like a new baby which allows you to make mid-year changes to your benefits, you’ll have a limited amount of time to make the change. Add a reminder on your calendar or wherever works so you can be sure everyone is appropriately covered.

6. Get your financial foundation in a solid place. You’re not going to be able to save for college or retirement until you’ve balanced your budget, controlled your debt, and prepared for emergencies. Even if this is your 4th child, your budget is going to change, so work to get a spending plan in place if you don’t have one already. Get your debt under control using the DebtBlaster Strategy. Finally, build your emergency fund so that you have enough to cover at least six month’s worth of expenses.

7. Try living on just one parent’s income. Even if you’re planning to return to work like I am, challenge yourself and your family to live on just one income during the months you’re expecting — this can be a great way to super-charge that emergency fund or help you to get through any unpaid time you take for maternity or paternity leave.

8. Learn about your other work benefits so you can make the most of them. Look into Employee Benefits New Moms Need to Know like the Dependent Care FSA that allows you to pay for daycare, and other eligible expenses pre-tax. You may also have purchase discount programs available for things like furniture, diapers and even baby clothes. Make the most of that!

Adding a baby to the family is an experience to embrace and enjoy! Putting some effort towards making sure you’re prepared financially will help you focus on the things that are more important during this season like creating experiences you’ll remember for a lifetime.