For starters, my question: how much can we expect to spend, per month, on a new baby. This does not include pre-natal and childbirth expenses (these will come out of our savings, HSA and health insurance). We are frugal people and don't need all the fancy schmancy stuff (considering x-posting to r/frugal). As much as possible, we plan to use reusable diapers and breastfeed instead of disposable diapers and formula. Obviously at some point, the baby will start eating people food also. I would prefer baby-led feeding/weaning to baby-food, but that depends on the kid, I guess.
Our Jobs: He is a teacher and has summers off. I work seasonally and my winters are flexible. We will need some childcare, but also have family around that will be excited to help (although we do plan to compensate them somehow with homemade bread and the like).
Current budget status: We currently do a decent job of following our set budget. We use a spreadsheet created by PearBudget. Our combined AGI last year was around $65,000. Our savings account currently sits around $12,000. We would like it to not dip lower than $8,000, for emergencies.
Some main points from the monthly budget:
$420 for groceries
$140 for eating out and dates
$84 unquestioned spending ($42 for each of us)
$225 for travel/commute expenses, mainly gas
$425 sharing/tithe
$1680 for monthly expenses (house payment, insurance, student loans, gas, electric, sewer, internet, etc)
$1994 for irregular expenses (property tax, investing, savings, other insurance, subscriptions) $1775 of this is currently for savings and home improvement projects
I'm not sure what other information would be pertinent, so please mention and I will edit it in
TL/DR: Want to have a baby, how much is reasonable to budget per month post childbirth. We are frugal people.
Submitted July 01, 2017 at 12:37PM by WonderWanderWoman http://ift.tt/2uvBOJx
