First Baby on the Way

[EdithKaye]

My husband and I are working on paying off our debt we have it down to about $5,000. However, we are now expecting a baby (which was a surprise). So my question is this should we continue paying off the debt as fast as possible (by putting all extra money into paying off the dept) or just pay the minimum and save for the baby? We really need help here Savings/Paying off Debt we have about an extra 840 dollars a month, sometimes more we get payed bi weekly and if we get payed three times in a month we have an extra 1,000 for savings. What do you suggest we do because my fear is we will not have the money put back for the baby if we continue trying to pay all our debt off we wont have enough time to save to get everything for the baby!!!

[MoneyTips4U]

Hello!

First off congratulations on your baby!

I think the first thing you need to do is to try and figure out just how much you will need for your future baby. After that is done, how much per month do you need to save to achieve this goal?

Any leftover money can be used to pay off debt. Obviously still pay at least the minimum on your debt, and definitely more if you have leftover money from what you did not put into the "baby fund".

So, every paycheck, pay the "baby fund", and then pay the minimum plus what you can afford on the 5k debt you still have.

Also know that it is fantastic to save from every paycheck, however, if your debt has a high interest rate, it is best to pay that off entirely before you continue to add to your savings (assuming it is savings and not a retirement fund). However, if you have no savings or no emergency fund, then do save some money from each check.

Note that you can put roughly $100 per week towards your debt and it will be paid off in 1 year(Not including interest)!

Best of luck to you!

[Baby_nurse]

Congratulations on the baby. My 1st was a surprise to my DH and myself, too

I'm assuming that you are probably working right now and will take some time off after the birth before returning to work. If that's the case, I would look at funding a "maternity leave" account for you to cover your expenses while you are out. Also look at how much your insurance will cover for your delivery/hospitalization and set enough aside to cover any deductibles and copays. After that, you can continue on your debt reduction strategy.

[disneysteve]

Congrats on the baby.

I would absolutely be piling up cash. Hopefully everything goes smoothly and everybody is happy and healthy but you never know and you want to be prepared.

For example, I have a friend who is due in mid-July. She developed a lot of low back trouble and her doctor took her out of work over a month ago. So not only isn't she working but she has extra doctor visits and is getting physical therapy 3 times/week for which she has a copay each visit.

If all goes smoothly, then once the baby is here, you'll have a big stash of cash and can make a big payment on the debt and continue on from there.

[Tree0164]

Congratulations such an exciting time!

I would be saving any extra money right now until you know the baby is here and healthy. Just pay the minimum on the credit card debt for now. Once you know evertyhing is good then send that chuck of money towards the credit card debt.

Are you planning on going back to work after the baby is born?

[BMEPhDinCO]

Honestly, I'd approach this a bit differently. With $840 a month, I'd put $40 towards the "Baby Fund" and the other $800 to the debt, that means in 6 months and 1 week, you'll be debt free, leaving you almost 3 more months to save for baby alone (ie, $2,550ish when baby comes). And of course any extra also goes to Baby Fund.

Good luck!

[disneysteve]

Honestly, I'd approach this a bit differently. With $840 a month, I'd put $40 towards the "Baby Fund" and the other $800 to the debt, that means in 6 months and 1 week, you'll be debt free, leaving you almost 3 more months to save for baby alone (ie, $2,550ish when baby comes). And of course any extra also goes to Baby Fund.

Good luck!

$2,500 can be gone in a flash unfortunately if anything at all goes wrong with the pregnancy or the baby. Any type of medical complication, even a relatively minor one, could burn through that in no time at all. Just having to leave work early or a delay in returning to work could cost far more than that.

Personally, I'd rather have the cash on hand just in case.

[Baby_nurse]

I agree with disneysteve. Of course, things going wrong is my business, so I am a tad jaded. Preterm labor, abnormal test results that require more (expensive) testing, problems during labor... I could go on, but I don't want to scare the OP.

Money on hand is more useful than a paid of CC in these kind of situations.

Plus, just normal baby stuff is expensive! Note to OP- you truly don't need half the crud the baby stores try to get you to register for. One of my coworkers recently had a boy. One of the things on her registry was something called a "pee pee tee pee" Basically, it a little cloth cone to cover the baby while you are changing the diaper so you don't get peed on. First of all, you WILL get peed on at some point - it even happens to we professionals . Second, a wipe does the same thing. I could only laugh because I probably would have put that same junk on my list if it had been my first. By the time you get to your 3rd, you wise up.

[Gailete]

Some great ideas. First and foremost check to see what your health insurance covers and what deductibles you might have to pay. I you aren't sure and don't understand your policy, check with your human resources manager. You should also check about maternity leave and what it might cover and your hubby should also check at his job.

Second try to calculate what you really need for a baby and what you don't. I was given used baby things from friends that had babies (this was pre-yard sale time period) so I didn't have much of a cost for that. I used cloth diapers. I breast-fed. I got sufficient clothes at baby showers to keep them dressed. My actual cost for having two happy healthy babies was minimal even though later the one was found to be autistic, it didn't cost us extra money. Yard sales and thrift stores are great resources for what you need. Friends that don't need their baby things are also great resources. There are also lots of frugal baby sites on line that can help you out in knowing what is really necessary.

Realizing that DisneySteve is very correct that things could happen, at the same time I would probably do what I could to pay off those bills ahead of time so that you don't have them to contend with after the birth and a possible slow return to work or any other problem that might crop up as that could add just that too much extra stress to deal with. In the meantime, other than cutting out good nutritious food for you, see what else you can cut from your budget to get those bills paid off and so you can set some money aside for baby and your needs, you will most likely need some maternity clothes, possibly new shoes (my feet grew a size on my last baby and were so swollen I couldn't wear shoes my last two months before the birth) and new undies including nursing bras if that is on the agenda. Breast milk really is better for baby if even if you can only do it for a month or two and way less expensive than buying formula!

[Gailete]

First of all, you WILL get peed on at some point

Absolutely true!!!

[EdithKaye]

Thanks!!!!

Well we've talked it over and I read all your advice and we have decided to pay the minimum because the $5,000 is a student loan that draws no interest until mid next year so we will have time to pay it off. AND I will have the baby in DEC!!!! The due date was off! ^_^ I know I will get peed on I helped raise my THREE nephews and even though none of them hit me while changing a diaper I also worked at a daycare and was peed on by little girls as well as little boys. LOL I have four weeks PAID Maternity leave with my job as well as a small co pay on my insurance. They cover a 48 hour hospital stay after the baby is born and 24 hours before or whenever labor starts until baby is born. Also thanks to the fact my sister had three boys who are all out of the baby stage I have many things she has given me a changing table and dresser set, etc. I am also using cloth diapers because I was allergic to all the store brands when I was born and my mother warned me the baby could also be. However there has been a twist to this now Feb of next year I will be taking a new job which is Traveling almost 100% of the time. The pay is extremely good and my husband and our child can come with me, so he has decided I should take it and he will leave his job and be the stay at home parent. So now it seems everything has fallen into place for us as of now. I do understand health problems happen, but all the prenatal test have been good results. However our TWINS!!!! Are being difficult and not letting us see their sex yet but I don't think I want to know. I think I'm going to buy gender neutral clothing and things because even if it's a girl I doubt she is a girly girl LOL I never was and neither was an of my siblings. I'm excited and so is my husband he can now be a stay at home dad and work on his art instead of having to work all the time. I wanted to say thank you so much for all the advice it really did help. Oh and even though we are only paying the minimum if the baby is healthy and we have money left over we are going to throw what's left at the debt and probably finish paying it off! We do have an emergency fund of 3,000 that we never touch unless something serious happens and we need it but I didn't wanna have to dip into that for the baby. He said that's what it was for and I said this isn't an emergency we have time to save and plan we might need that for something else. LOL Anyway he saw things my way and we worked it out ^_^

[Baby_nurse]

Twins?

Double the congratulations I love the idea of not knowing the gender; there are so few good surprises left in this world.

Best wishes for a healthy and easy pregnancy and a speedy delivery.

[EdithKaye]

I know!!!

Twins?

Double the congratulations I love the idea of not knowing the gender; there are so few good surprises left in this world.

Best wishes for a healthy and easy pregnancy and a speedy delivery.

Thanks so much! We are waiting to tell our families about the pregnancy at all just now I'm almost 12 weeks but I don't think with Twins I'm gonna be able to hide it for as long as I'd hoped, I had two miscarriages last year when we were trying and had savings for it, but after them we gave up and then Along came the twins LOL So it's a happy surprise and I told my husband I wanted two more happy surprises so we were waiting and he agreed

[snafu]

Wishing you a happy, healthy pregnancy and terrific fun planning arrival. I can barely imagine how thrilled you families will be when they hear the news.

[LivingAlmostLarge]

Congrats on the twins! And finding a way to make it all work out.