Everyone's told me it cannot be done. Telling friends and family that 'we're waiting until we are fiscally prepared' before we start a family is usually met with 'but you'll never have children!', or 'haha, good luck with that. Tell me how that goes for you'.

Well, we've done it. We've gotten our financial ducks in a row and are now confidently, proudly, exuberantly pregnant with our first.

It CAN be done.



...



I just had to share our success with people that understand it. Otherwise, I'd burst!

Congratulations! [/list]

Congrats!

You can certainly be well prepared, obviously there are unforeseen expenses but lots of the basics can be taken care of ahead of time like strollers, car seats and breast pumps.

That being said, my wife and I were SURE that we were prepared until we found out she was having twins, then our costs doubled instantly. Naturally, this threw a wrench into the work but thanks to sound frugal principles and generating income creatively we made it work. Now that I say, maybe that's the key to preparedness, sound financial principles and follow through on those principles.

Best of luck to you and congrats again.

Congratulations.

Keep a tight rein on those ducks, because they can get out of line in a hurry. Little Junior or Little Missy will charm you into wanting to buy things you never thought you'd need... so try not to give in all the time.

Congratulations Becca, that is fantastic news! Best wishes for you, dad and the new tricycle motor

cheers,
Zulu

congrats! i hear the same lines and hope someday to be as happy and proud as you are today.

That's wonderful, very happy for you. Now you have even more reason not to listen to naysayers.

Yes, I hear the same opinions from family and friends who have already entered into parenthood. "You'll never have enough money to have kids!", or "If you wait until you have enough money you'll never have them." Of course, these comments come from people who are broke and were broke when they started having kids. Now don't get me wrong, I have no problem with people having a child at any age or economic status as long as they can take care of it, without assistance from welfare. I know some people have life changes after they have a child that requires them to seek assistance, but I'm not talking about them. I'm talking about the morons with a household income of $20,000 per year that have 4 kids and are planning on having a 5th and know they will have to use Medicaid to pay for the hospital bills! I've seen it happen repeatedly and it is completely irresponsible.

I am 28 years old and my wife is 27. We now have a huge emergency fund, all debt paid off, a great monthly budget, and are saving for retirement with huge strides each month. In two years we will start having children. If we would have started having kids 4 years ago would we be "ok"? Sure. Would we have significantly more stress, especially related to finances? Darn right. Now that my income has increased over the years, my wife will be able to live her dream and stay home with our kids, instead of having someone else raise them. Having children is not a necessity. Taking care of children and providing the best possible life for them is a necessity to me.