How do people afford to have children???!!!?

Question

Me and my partner have quite good jobs, have a mortgage, would have to pay childcare costs etc etc but we may still find it a struggle. How do people do it??!!

Answer 1

you just do. you have to make sacrifices but you always find a way to manage

Answer 2

I can't believe all the comments on public assistance. We have seven kids, on a single income, and we don't need any help. Even with two disabled children, we don't ask for government help like many others. We have decent clothes, we have medical care, etc, no one is malnourished, a 2002 SUV, and a running car from 1994, and one mortgage. We don't have car payments, we *do* have some credit card payments to cover some of our disabled kids therapy (Since insurance won't cover many therapies for autism)

It's not even a sacrifice, once we started having children, movies and dinners out weren't as important, we ENJOY being a family. I love being a stay-at-home mom, and so don't worry about childcare. Our first was in daycare and abused horribly, and that made up my mind for me! And as for all the NEW stuff, mortgages, car payments and credit cards, whoever answered with that should read 'Total Money Makeover' by Dave Ramsey. There is no point in putting yourself in debt to keep up with the Joneses. And buying a new wardrobe every week doesn't seem as important.

As someone else mentioned, it's been a wonderful thing for my children to grow up appreciating what they have because they don't have parents who just buy things on a whim, or buy things for them. They have their moments, but they work hard to contribute to the family and make a happy family. Including the babies.

Answer 3

My husband and I have 3 children we pay childcare for, a 1300 mortgage 2 car payments and we do it you just have to stop thing about yourself and give up some things I teach and he goes to school right now so I'm doing on my own I bring in all the money and teacher don't make that much

Answer 4

You just do it. I have 5 kids & both me and my husband had good jobs before we started. I gave up after we had number 2 and have been a stay at home Mum since then. I now do childminding to help with the household income which still allows be to be at home for my kids. We don't do expensive holidays but we still manage to have fun staying in a tent or caravan. I buy in bulk which works out cheaper and we don't buy all the expensive gadgets that kids want these days but the kids understand. We go to the library instead of buying books & there are so many charity shops you can always pick up every day clothes there to top up the nice new ones you buy.
If you want kids, don't think about the money side of things - you will get by & kids bring so much joy, it's worth the sacrifice.

Answer 5

it is hard but you have to cut back on things that arent necessary. My husband and I both worked before we had kids and didnt save much money. Now we have two kids and I stay home with them, we still dont save much money but we are making it on one income with 2 kids. Childcare cost would have been so much for 2 children It would have taken half of what I made anyway. You just make a budget and stick with it as much as possible and only go out to eat, movies etc once in a while

Answer 6

Hi Claire louise,

We our only in our late twenties, married, a 2 year old and one on the way.......... hubby goes out to work, I stay at home...... yes we had to make a small sacrifice with one wage coming in but you get child tax credits, working tax credits and child benefits depending on the total salary coming into your house hold.

We own our own house, car paid off etc and have plenty left over at the end of the month so it can be done easily.

You will never be able to work it out...... but believe me you will always have enough and there is nothing more precious in life than staying at home and looking after your own child if you can.

I know some people can not afford this but we are quite content at the minute to live in our 3 bedroom semi in a nice area in northern ireland..... and when I go back to work eventually then we will be better off financially - we just prioritised our children over our lifestyle for the moment!

All the best, and I hope this helps you!

Sophia x

Answer 7

Well, I stay at home. My husband makes about 3,500 take home, and we have a mortgage and car payments, everything normal. My neighbor has two kids and she is the primary breadwinner and she is a teacher, and she pays out two hundred a week for daycare. She doesn't have any car payments. I would trade in your new car for a cheaper minivan or car. Try and get cheaper car insurance. Find cheap homeowners insurance. Breastfeed and if you don't want to or can't buy good start formula. buy the more expensive gas if you car calls for it and it lasts longer, shop at second hand stores. Etc..

Answer 8

prioritize, it's a struggle, but i feel the world has become very materialistic, we have five children and i stay home, we do OK, my children do not have cell phones, or a lot of the things there friends have but they don't really miss them, we have each other, we fill our time with a lot of family activities, we own a home, we home school, we are very involved in our church, we have a membership to local YMCA, rec center, the kids are in swim lessons, play ball, and other sports, i guess we keep busy, I'm not sure what your struggle is exactly so not sure how to answer, if i had to pay childcare i don't think we would make it, but i guess it's all depends on what you need and what your priority's are, trying to keep up with the Jones , will never work, being happy with what you have is a mindset, but i do understand and sympathize with you

Answer 9

hi i understand where u are coming from with worrying about being able to afford to have children. when i first found out i was preg me n my husband neva had jobs and found it quite hard to get jobs due to either not having qualification or experience or with the discrimination i got for being preg which i know they cant do but i know that was there reason. any way my husband has now got a job and i am studying at college, we dont get alot of money but its enough. we get help of the government, (although some may see this as wrong or inconsiderate but you pay your taxes you should be entitled to some thing back) we get child tax and working tax credit which you can get if you total anual income is below £45,000 a year. every body gets child benifits which in april is going to be £18 something in the north. if your both working you can claim childcare element of tax credits you both can also get child care vouchers from where you work, although you do have to pay for these you dont pay tax n n.i. on them, we currently get childcare vouchers they are 55 a week and we pay 37. i know that people think that some benifits are not ideal which i agree someone who decides they want to stay at home all day and claim income support i believe are not doing the best for their child, but if you feel that you may struggle the child tax and workin tax credit are an avenue to look down. the first few months of my sons life tho i found not to be that expensive at all, my cousin had just had a baby boy a year previous so she gave us everything we needed from clothes to a moses basket, i also breast fed for about 4 n half months so i didnt need to buy any formula milk, but if u decide to bottle feed then you can always buy a sterilizer and most of these come with bottle when we decided to bottlefeed eventually we bought one from ethel austins and it cost us 7 quid. any way formula milk costs about 6 quid and 1 of these will prob last a week or so and then nappies, the first few weeks ull prob get through about 2 packs of carry pack disposables and you can get some deals on these like 2 packs for 8 quid. so in the first few months of my sons life as a nessesatiy i probably only spent about 15 - 20 quid a week on him, but me being me saw somethings in the shops such as toys or cute outfits which i just had to buy and that bumped my weekly expenditure up to about 40 - 50 quid. if you look in the right places to buy tings a baby really isnt as expensive as it seems, its when they get older it becomes expensive but u find that after the first few months you finances begin to adapt to suit the living costs of the baby so when your child grows older u find it easier to cope with the financial strain u may think is ahead.

Answer 10

This is part of the growing phenomena. Have children - give up work - can`t afford the mortgage - can`t afford to send kids to baby farm - so keep on working waiting for Lottery win ! If you have some leeway in your incomes, consider working locally, if you have two cars, sell one, if you can reduce luxuries do so, try to live as though you already have a child. It`s not easy, but my Mum did it, six times !

Answer 11

When my wife and I found out we were having our first we worried about that also, but you know what.....it seemed to just work out without really doing anything......a few cutbacks on extras, and with young children, you really don't get to "go out" as much so that saves a ton of money....but most of the time you do what you have to and dont' even realize your doing it.....on thing you might look into, is when we had our first, we realized that my wife could cut her hours in half and we would be bring home more money because of not having to pay daycare.....good luck