Being able to afford a pregnancy/baby

My husband is supporting a family of 6 on less than £30,000 a year and we are pretty comfortable

Wow, that is good of you to share.  Is that before taxes?  I have to learn to budget better!  I think you have just inspired me

I think Aimiloo spelled out my/our philosophy.  It's about building a good foundation.  We'll never be millionaires and things will never be "perfect", so it's just about giving us and the child the best possible start.

Doesn't matter how much money we have--my babies will be ASDA, Tesco, and Primark poster-babies!   

I have to admit, and maybe it's because I'm adjusting still, it does seem that cost of living here is a lot harder to deal with.  When you start thinking you could retire to the US comfortably on your UK wages...yeah.  I think the fact that both my kids started school over here almost immediately and after no formal education in the states helped make it more of a growing pain financially..the school lunches, the uniforms, the activities, etc. etc.

As for starting to have kids, I have to assume that the feeling of not having enough money will not go away any time soon, at least not before menopause, so perhaps it's better to use other barometers: how easily it would be to have mom at home, how busy dad is, if a move is coming up, etc.  I think there perhaps should be an established minimal living standard though; i.e. if you just can't squeeze formula and diapers into the budget for the foreseeable future, maybe it's best to wait a bit. 

Using hindsight, I would also be sure to have help available should something really bizarre happen during pregnancy/childbirth.  I was lucky to have family around when things went awry for me, but as an expat I would have no such comfort (well, at least not until the in-laws warm up to me more *shudder*).

I agree that the financial side of raising a child hasn't had as big of impact on us as the fact that we can no longer pick up and just go somewhere. These have been the most noticeable differences since having children. We are fairly young parents - both of us are 30. We have 3 kids under age 5 - there are no more last minute weekend breaks, all trips have to be carefully planned out, our families live in US and Australia so there are lots of painful long-hauls involved. The most difficult thing for me to get used to is the amount of time it takes to do daily errands with the kids along.

My children are still young, so I haven't experienced a massive impact financially, though I'm told that they get more expensive as time goes on. I save a lot of money buying most of my children's clothes in big lots off Ebay. Another way I saved heaps of money during their babyhoods (though that's not my reason for doing it) was by breastfeeding and feeding them homemade food. Those baby jars really add up!!

Just my experience.....

Doesn't matter how much money we have--my babies will be ASDA, Tesco, and Primark poster-babies!   

Ah but wait til you see the cute little outfits they have in Gap you won't be able to resist! (I was a Gap hater til I had a baby!)    Thank goodness for their great sales or we would be bankrupt.

Ah but wait til you see the cute little outfits they have in Gap you won't be able to resist! (I was a Gap hater til I had a baby!)    Thank goodness for their great sales or we would be bankrupt.

Oh, yes you can!  I just don't even go in there.  Ebay, my friends, Ebay.

I don't have enough will power to just walk past Baby Gap now I know what's in there .... SIGH. But I do restrict myself to the sale rack at least, and I have got some really good bargains, never spent more than 5 or 6 quid   Maybe the novelty will wear off when he's a bit older but for now I cannot resist buying a few cute things, he isn't going to be a tiny baby for long.   

 i almost bought a burberry sweater (red-my fav) with the union jack in burberry plaid for the child that i will *somedays* have.

now THAT is a problem!

Buy it now!!  you won't be able to afford it once you have the kid! 

i know britwife!  it was at the outlet too!!!! about 30 pounds and the CUTEST THING I HAVE EVER SEEN!!!!!

i thought my husband would get really worried about me though

Well if anything like that should happen again buy it and give it to me. I'll give it back when you need it. I will, really.   

We have loads of baby Gap -- and the greater majority of it came from the sale rack.  Niall's at the stage now where we can guess his size for the following year.  So at the summer/winter sales, we loaded up for next year -- dead cheap!

As I said above, I usually buy off Ebay. However, one sale in town that I never miss is end of season at Benetton. Depending on time of year, T-shirts for £1, or wool jumpers for £5, coats for less than £10.  Love it!

I admit I was fairly addicted to the corduroy overalls/dresses, flannel shirts, sweaters and whatnot for the kids from the Gap when the kids were toddlers...fortunately I was 90 miles from the nearest store.  Now that my laundry pile seems to be an ocean of grey and white uniforms and the nearest Gap is..well, Edinburgh presumably, I haven't even checked, I just don't have the energy.   Let the the grandparents who miss them so much send them clothes, I say .

Yes it is too much temptation for me having Baby Gap only 10 mins walk from my house! But be proud of me I went in today and didn't buy anything at all! OK  I admit, it was because there were too many people crowding round the sale rail so I couldn't get to it