Reply to We are adding a child to our family unexpectedly…how to budget

Forum Index » Money and Finances

Reply to "We are adding a child to our family unexpectedly…how to budget"

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous]We did this about 13 years ago on about half your income a week before we closed on a new more expensive house.  Retirement savings took a hit until we got all of the kids out of full time daycare and we didn't save much for higher education.  Health insurance went up because we had to go to a family plan.  But, until they hit teenage years, groceries didn't change much.

We took your plan b.  Everyone's lifestyle took a hit.  The activities budget was divided by three kids instead of two and the entertainment budget now had to cover the cost of five instead of four.  (And, there are some significant changes in costs of things like vacations because you need larger rental cars and hotel rooms that can accommodate five).

You've probably hit the low hanging fruit.  If you can't make ends meet after that, then you probably do have to consider downsizing your house.  I doubt that you will get any relief from the courts in terms of your BIL's assets and the cost to you in legal fees could well outweigh what you will get.

Congratulations and good luck.

Only other thing I will say is this.  If your nephew is going to need therapy, find a way to go in network with your insurance.  Mental health care is really expensive and if you want it to be sustainable, you have to be able to afford it.  [/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics