In the early days when you first bring your new kid home, things are going to be stressful. All those sleepless nights spend watching your baby monitor and endless crying can take their toll on you. When things finally calm down, that feeling of relief makes you feel like having another one is out of the question. But eventually, you’ll forget all the hard stuff and remember all the amazing things about those first few months. You might get to thinking that it’s time to have another one. But if you rush into things, you could find yourself in a bit of trouble. Having a kid is an expensive business but when you’re caught up in your excitement, you might forget to think about things like your finances. If you’re considering having a second baby, make sure you get your finances in order first.
Have You Got Debts?
The financial strain of having your first child might have left you with a few debts. If you have another child before you’ve cleared them, you’ll just end up piling more problems on top. There are plenty of companies out there that can help you find a debt relief option so you can quickly and easily clear those debts. It will only take small monthly repayments if you plan your finances carefully and it won’t take anywhere near as long as you’d think. By putting yourself in a stronger financial position, you can be sure that you’ll be able to afford everything you need for that second child.
Where Can You Save Money?
Although it’s going to cost a lot of money to have another kid, there are some benefits in certain places. Hopefully, you’ve kept everything that you used the first time around because you can use all of it again. All those clothes and toys that your first child grew out of ages ago will finally be useful again. You also won’t need to spend money on parenting books or anything like that because you’ll already be an expert dad by this point.
Everything Is Doubled
While you can save money by reusing a lot of your old stuff, there are other areas that are going to cost you a lot more. Almost anything that you need to buy for your kids is going to be doubled now. Your food and clothes bill is going to increase massively. Make sure that you check your finances and work out whether you can afford to be paying that extra amount of money every month.
Plan A Budget
Before deciding whether to have another baby or not, make sure you plan a proper budget. It isn’t just as simple as doubling your current budget because the costs for a newborn baby will be different to your first child. Make sure that you include every single expense because you can’t afford to make any mistakes. If you’re completely sure that you can afford it, then you can start to move forward.
Health Insurance
The next step is to review your current health insurance and see whether the policy is extensive enough to cover a new baby. You should have a better idea of what your medical bills are going to be like if this is your second time around so it should be easy to forecast whether your policy is going to cover it. If it won’t, you’ll have to extend it. This is something else that needs to be factored into your budget.
You also need to find a good pediatrician for when the baby is born. The likelihood is that you’ll already have one that you like but you need to check that your insurance will cover you for two children instead of one
Plan for Paternity Leave
If you have another child and you find that you can’t afford to take the time off work, then your partner will have to struggle on their own to look after the baby in those early weeks and months. This isn’t ideal for a lot of couples so if you aren’t going to be able to take paternity leave then you might need to reconsider. Speak to your employer and see where you stand, and then review your finances and see whether you can afford the time off or not. If you can’t, you might need to take some time out and save up more money before having another baby.
If you’ve considered these things and you aren’t too sure, that doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t have another baby at all. The best thing to do is wait a year or so and save up some more money, then have another look.
