Should we have a baby now or continue to wait?

Question

My husband and I are both 30. We have been married several years and have a good relationship. He has a college degree and I have a masters degree and we own a townhome. Unfortunaely, despite our education and frugal spending, we are barely able to make ends meet.

We are responsible people and have been waiting to have a child until we feel that we are financially ready. However, I am begining to get increasingly depressed because I feel as thought we will never be financially ready. I know a lot of people operate under the "it will all work out" moto... but that makes me nervous. We have no family to help us out and would be completely on our own. I just don't know how we would afford childcare.

Ok, so my question is, Do we have a baby and pray that it all works out? or continue to wait until we know we can provide for our child.

Thanks for your opinon/advice

Answer 1

You are right - you will never be financially 'ready'.  It depends what you want in life and what you mean by financially ready.  Do you want a big house?, nice car?, holidays?, expensive clothing? etc. etc.  Or are you prepared to have less but have children?  I chose to have a child and go without the materialistic things in life for a while.  I had no family to support me.  I did not work because I wanted to care for my children myself, therefore I did not have the childcare problem.  I have a nice but small house.  I don't holiday regularly, I don't have a new car, I don't buy expensive clothes.  I decided to put having children before all that.  So your decision will depend on what YOU want out of life and what your priorities are.  Good luck.

Answer 2

Go for it. Learn how to budget however. Use coupons, don't eat out as much, carpool or use public transportation, use fans instead of air conditioning, start a baby savings account (not for baby but for baby funding-to take care of baby), shop at garage sales or thrift stores. Material things aren't everything..children are don't wait til its too late

Answer 3

Many couples raise their children with a lot less.  If you want children very badly, you have to come to terms with the fact that every year that passes after 24, women get less and less fertile.  After 30, the window closes even faster.

I am not trying to make anybody feel bad, or their mortality or anything like that, only saying that if you want children, know that if you began trying, it might not happen for a couple years - Or, it might happen in a month!

The universe works in very odd ways.

If you want a baby with a 100% insured future, consider adoption down the road :) There are lots of babies that could use a stable household.

Answer 4

A good friend's relative told my husband that "Don't wait until you think you can afford to have a baby, you'll never be able to afford one." And THAT'S SO TRUE! Within a few months of him telling us that, we decided to try! We are now parents and we can afford a baby, believe it or not! You cut spending in areas you thought you couldn't.

You should save money and put it to the side if you want to have a child. You may find yourself needing the extra money. Having a baby is worth it, you don't want to stress out financially either. Make sure you can get on a good healthcare plan so you receive the care you need.

Good luck in weighing your options!

Answer 5

It's not fair to ask us this question.  We cannot decide this for you.  While I appreciate how difficult this decision is, you have no right to ask us to decide for you.

cw

Answer 6

If i was you I would go for it it takes a year to concive with someone you have been having s*x with regulary.

and proven studies have showen that if you have children and you are not to stable financialy you make the ends meet and its tru you do all you need is your husbands support

Answer 7

I think you should wait a bit more to afford the diapers,clothes,(but unless you know the gender don't buy clothes until you know the gender)bottles for some juice when it gets older,baby wipes,and things like that.You two just need to read a bit about parenting, they'll drive you nuts at some times and you won't be able to eat certain foods or else the baby'll start kicking when you're still pregnant, but there are many benifits from it,seems like you two are almost ready but if you know anyone who has a baby ask them about parenting and you'll probably be ready after a bit of chatting with them.So in summary I think your almost ready but wait a bit more.