Money, Honey
Over on the Debt-Support board, athenamorrigan posts: “On another board, several people are stating that if you don't have at least $18,000 in savings, then you are in a really poor position to be starting a family.”
Hmm. I mean, I know raising a child is an expensive venture. MSN Money actually has an interesting little chart that parses it out, giving the cost of raising a child from $124,800 to $249,180. That’s total, or anyway, until age 17. But, uh, that doesn’t even include college or, god help us all, graduate school. I guess the lesson is: It’s easier if you have money. So...it's like everything else. In the world. Hm, thanks.
But back to this question of how much one needs to start… mommabean3: “That's a load of baloney! We didn't have that much when we started our family. We don't have that much now and we have 3 kids. We are putting money into retirement, but it's not ‘cash liquid.’ All of the stuff that they say that a baby needs is a bunch of bogus. Really. Trust me, I have 3 kids.”
kaypurdue : “Eep! At that rate, I'll be in my 50s before it's ‘okay’ for me to start having kids!”
layman75: “We had a couple of thousand and lots of used stuff for our son. I am a very firm believer in having health insurance and life insurance…I think not having debt is a great help but if everyone waited until they were debt free (assuming they don't have debt to go with their savings) and at least 18K in the bank, there wouldn't be any kids born until the parents are in their late 30s or early 40s if even then.” Which, granted, lots of people do do, especially in New York City. But then aren’t there a whole other list of concerns? Is it ever The Right Time?
purl2 writes, “Honestly, there is no right answer on this one....you can argue that a couple needs to be financially stable and 18,000 may represent 6 months of living expenses in an emergency fund but obviously that varies from location to location."
And cl-beckymk writes exactly what I would have suspected to be the case: “There is never a perfect time to have a family...let's see I've heard you should have a house, you should be completely debt free, you should have a million dollars saved up to pay for expenses including college, you should, should, should, should...”
What do you think? Especially if you don’t have kids, what would it take to make you feel READY, financially?
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I've told all my friends (I had the "honor" of being the first to procreate!) that if you waited for the right time on paper, you'd never have a kid. It's one of those situations in life where you try to prepare - and then you just leap!
Very interesting discussion indeed! I am going through this situation right now as a newlywed. My husband and I have been married for four months and we like to plan for everything. We have a house that was given to us by my husband's parents. It's nothing fancy, just a small three-bedroom starter house that we mortgaged to make some improvements. But we are in a great position to start a family in the next 2 years because we don't have much debt. I've read that you should have about $10k in the bank before you get pregnant. I had a friend interrogate me about every last detail - who will stay home with the baby? how will I afford child care? will my health insurance be adequate? - until I finally had to throw my hands up in the air. I think you can plan to have a family but as with most things, you just have to roll with the punches. People have been having children for millions of years - and they found ways to make it work. I know my family will, too.
How about this? Save as much as you can, do your best to get the housing and health insurance in place and when you can't resist any longer, have the baby!
Hello!
I am going to be conducting a workshop for parents within the next 2 months (a few of them) and first need to find out what parents actually want and need in terms of how to discipline their children, how to help their children learn, how to supply their children vital study skills, etc.
To be able to know this information so as to design a perfect workshop, I need your opinion on the following questions:
1) Do you have children in the public schools in NYC?
2) What do you feel is the biggest problem with your child's school?
3) What do you think should be done to improve your child's school?
4) What do you feel the results should be of a good school?
Please let me know what you think by responding to these questions and emailing me back with the answers. Also, please feel free to forward this survey on to your friends, other parents you know, etc.
I APPRECIATE YOUR HELP!!
THANK YOU VERY MUCH!
Email results to DIRPRNYD@gmail.com
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