Plan your finances for parenthood

It's recommended you pay off as many debts as you can before your baby arrives. Your monthly spending will go up when you're providing for an extra person. Paying off your overdraft and cutting down on credit card and loan repayments means you have more money to spend on your baby.

Now that you'll be supporting a family, you might want to consider life insurance and critical illness insurance that provides financial assistance in case of unexpected events. 

You might be entitled to benefits and financial support, either from the government or your employer.

Any help they can provide will also be important to planning for parenthood.

Once you've focused on your essential spending and checked out the support available to you, the next thing to decide is your working arrangements. Will you have one income or two? 

Going from two incomes to just one can be a challenge, but it’s easier if you plan ahead. 

• Get a snapshot of your current budget 
• Change the income levels to review your new budget
• See what non-essentials you could cut from your expenditure
• Try living on one income for a month to see if it works
• Use the second income to pay off debts or create an emergency fund

You both might want a more flexible working pattern in order to share childcare responsibilities. Talk to your employer about working from home, job sharing or working annualised hours so you can save on childcare and travelling to and from the office.

If you're planning on returning to work after your baby is born, you'll want to think about the different childcare options available.

• Day nurseries – every nursery has different fees but care for toddlers can cost more as children at this age require more attentive care
• Your parents or other relatives – a lot of parents find the cheapest and most flexible option is for one of their relatives to look after their child while they're at work

Ready to create a financial plan for parenthood?