A Book Review of Financially Fit Parenting written by Author Sarah Deveau
As you may already know Mrs. CBB and I have no children as of yet. We are hoping to have a child one day soon and this book was an excellent guide to answer some of our questions. When we hear about children and money we automatically believe it will cost a fortune to raise a child. That may be the case but if you plan and budget your money it may not be as bad as it sounds.
Sarah doesn’t miss a beat in this book offering tips on everything from making the decision to have a child all the way to budgeting and saving for the future. All soon-to-be or wanna be parents like us should read this book and make notes and lots of them. You will learn everything you need to know about parenting tucked into this well planned out guide.
One of the most important topics is preparing for one income and adjusting the budget to show this change. I often have mothers asking me how they can budget while on maternity leave and I often tell them to “live it” before the baby arrives. What that means is sort out a mock budget using as many figures as you can and live from one income to see if can be done. If not then you will know ahead of time what needs to be changed. Some parents decide to stay home for good and not return to work and this helps you to make a sound decision. It’s important to understand the basics of maternity and paternity leave before you set any plans in motion.
Sarah goes on to explain that ”after running the numbers,many families find that it just makes sense for one parent to just stay home with the children”.
While you are staying at home you no longer need to spend money on items such as work clothes, lunch, coffee etc. These out-of-pocket expenses that you won’t be spending need to be taken into consideration when budgeting for a one income family. You both need to sit down as a couple and make a list of all the important details of your budget. Make important adjustments to see if it is a realistic expectation to stay home and still pay all the bills.
Another money crunch in the budget when having a child can be all the baby items you need to purchase. I know that Mrs. CBB and I were terrified about all the baby stuff on the market. We truly thought how are we going to afford all of this stuff. Sometimes we walk through the baby section at the shops and the prices scare us. The sheer amount of gadgets on the market can really add up in the budget.
Sarah warns that they grow up fast, remember this speedy development also means they grow out of things equally as fast.
You can easily take advantage of the vast amount of garage sales in the summer time to find anything and everything baby related. You can scour the internet or mom to mom sales for cheap baby clothes and then some. When your child grows out of things you can turn around and sell them to another parent. You can also take advantage of using coupons to stockpile diapers,bottles,formula etc. before your bundle of joy arrives to save money in your budget.
Since reading Financially Fit Parenting Mrs. CBB and I feel better prepared to make the right decisions for preparing to bring a child into this world. If you have questions and you want answers Sarah has them all in Financially Fit Parenting.
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You can purchase Money Smart Mom-Financially Fit Parenting on-line at Chapters Indigo and visit Sarah’s website at MoneySmartMom for more tips and ideas.
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