Five Tips To Be Financially Prepared Before The Arrival Of Your First Born

There is nothing in the world that comes close to the joy of becoming parents for the very first time, and if you have been in the baby planning mode, it’s an even more joyous affair! But along with the joy you must be grounded enough to take care of the financial needs that will be on the rise even before the baby arrives.

If you find yourself breaking into cold sweat after having gotten over the first bout of euphoria, thinking about how you are going to manage the finances once the baby arrives, here are some tips to help you get started on how be prepared financially before your bundle of joy sees the light of the earth.

Maternity leave
First, check with the human resources department of your office about the maternity leave policy. Each employer has own terms and conditions and you should not be naïve enough to assume that you are eligible for a maternity leave with full pay for a stipulated period. Once you discover your pregnancy, it’s wise to go up and discuss it with your boss and the HR head and see the best situation that can be worked out for you. For instance, after a fully paid maternity leave of three to six months, you can consider working from home or opt for flexi timings as the situation permits.

Calculate your expenses
Once the baby comes you will have to think about the expenses of the baby such as cost of diapers, baby food, baby gear, clothes, toys and other paraphernalia. Talk to your friends who have become parents recently and try and gauge the monthly expenses of a baby. Now add it to your current monthly outgo and see how much you are stretching yourself by. Don’t be intimidated if the figure you arrive at seems too high, read on to find out more about how you can control your expenses.

Lose the extras
If you carefully scrutinise your monthly budget, you are likely to find that you have a lot of expenses that you can actually do without. For instance, you may have an expensive gym membership that you are not able to use too often or have subscribed to a lot of premium channels from your DTH provider. With your priorities changing in life, you can easily do without some of these luxuries and once you do indeed decide to cut back, you will be surprised to know how much you are richer by! Suddenly that amount of money that you calculated in the previous step does not seem impossible does it?

Repay high cost debts
Do you carry a large debt on a credit card or a paying a high rate of interest on a personal loan? If yes, now is the time to make a prepayment with the money you may have saved elsewhere. You may consider paying off your debt in full as it will help you save substantially on interest rates. You will also be able to strengthen your Cibil score in the process. However, do this after you have ensured that you have enough money saved to take care of your delivery costs.

Consider making a little extra income
Once the baby arrives, you are probably going to be taking a pay cut post the completion of your maternity leave. In order to make up for the downgrade, consider making a little extra income in the early days of your pregnancy from a talent that you may have. For instance, if you are great at fabric painting or make fancy jewellery pieces as a hobby, use the social media platform to find out if you can milk your hobby to make some extra cash. For instance, boutique owners are designers are always on the look for creative minds and you can always sell your stuff to them! What’s more the sense of achievement you will have will be great for you as well as your baby for you are bound to feel happy after your efforts pay off.

If you follow these steps, you are likely to have a good grip over your finances before the baby arrives and can welcome him or her into the world with a heart full of joy and mind shorn off worries because you are confident that you will be able to take on the responsibilities of being a parent with elan!

About the author: Rajiv Raj is the director and co-founder of www.creditvidya.com

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