We’re Pregnant! Again! Now What?

That’s right! My boys can swim!!!

Haha, okay so technically I already knew that, given that we have a 15-month-old son. But still, very exciting! The due date is 12/21, so it’s going to be a Christmas baby.

Of course, this has introduced a whole round of new to-dos, many of which have a financial tilt. We haven’t gotten into the full swing of things yet, but we’ve started giving some thought to some of them.

Financial considerations for a second baby

I have to say, it feels like overall the second baby is a lot less expensive than the first. We already have the crib, the car seat, the stroller, the changing table, the carrier, the bottles, a lot of clothes, and of course a lot of toys (way too many toys!). Much of the up-front cost that came with a first baby just isn’t applicable to the second, which is really nice.

We do have to prepare a room for our son, which has some cost. Lucky for us we have what’s currently a guest room with a daybed that has a trundle we can use as a toddler bed. We have to buy a mattress for it, but other than that we’re set. We’ll also need a dresser for him, but we think we can find one pretty cheap. This is garage sale season after all.

One of the biggest expenses that we’re facing with an expanding family is the need for a bigger car. You guys were all incredibly helpful with your input earlier this week and I’ve gotten a lot of advice on other forums around the web as well. At this point, I’m actually leaning towards going with a minivan now rather than a small SUV. It just makes sense for a lot of reasons, but we’ll see. This isn’t something we would have to do, but with my car on its way out it’s looking like a purchase we need to make.

When determining our life insurance needs, we did so with a second child in mind, so we don’t need to revisit that topic. We will need to update our wills and our living trust to include the new child, but those are pretty easy to handle. The trust is the beneficiary of our life insurance policies and either the primary or secondary beneficiary for our banking, investment and retirement accounts, so those won’t need to be updated.

We will open up a 529 account for the new baby once we have a social security number for him or her. We had a pretty big initial contribution to my son’s 529 account that came from an old 529 of mine that I never used. We’ve already decided that we’ll take half of that initial amount and move it to the new child’s 529. It isn’t entirely equitable, as my son will have had the benefit of the whole amount earning returns for a couple of years, but it’s pretty close. We’ll start small monthly contributions to the new 529 as well.

Beyond that, there are the additional regular expenses that come along with another child. More diapers, more wipes, eventually more food. He or she (especially she if that’s the case) will get some new clothes and toys. Luckily, my experience so far is that little kids are really pretty inexpensive. So it will certainly add to our monthly expenses, but it won’t break the bank, at least for the first couple of years.

Input welcome

I know that many of you are wise beyond my years to the ways of multiple children. If there’s anything I’ve left out, or if there’s something I’ve misjudged, let me know in the comments. Hopefully we can all learn from each other.

In the meantime, we’re incredibly excited and can’t wait for December to get here. Our son is already running over and hugging my wife’s belly when we ask him “where’s sibling?”, which is incredibly cute, so hopefully he’ll be pretty open to the idea of someone else getting a little attention once in a while. Lots to do before the baby gets here, but it’s all fun.

Other articles I think you’ll like

The Heavy Purse: A great reminder to not let fear prevent you from talking to your children about debt, no matter how dire it feels. Involving them in the process helps everyone.

Financial Samurai: What does it take to be fully happy with what you have? When do you no longer need more to feel satisfied?

On Target Coach: How to be a superhero for your kids.

The Finance Buff: A sneaky way to get your credit card rewards at the gas pump while still paying the lower cash rate.

Edward Antrobus: An incredibly thorough walkthrough of how to perform your own basic car maintenance.

Reach Financial Independence: This one is a guest post from Betsy at ConsumerFu. She talks about the true meaning of frugality, and relays a cool story about the lessons her college-aged daughter has learned about financial responsibility.

Faithful With a Few: It’s so important to distinguish between true emergency expenses and expenses that are irregular but expected. These different types of expenses require different dedicated savings if you’re aiming for true financial security.

Thanks to these carnivals for including me along with some other great posts!

Carnival of Financial Planning
Aspiring Blogger – Personal Finance Carnival
Carnival of Financial Independence
Yakezie Carnival
Carnival of Retirement
Lifestyle Carnival
How to Blog Carnival