Having a baby requires significant financial commitment and changes to one's priorities. The document outlines various costs associated with having a baby, from supplies needed for hospital to essential baby items. It recommends using a free baby cost calculator and budget planner to help estimate and manage expenses. These tools can help prioritize needs, avoid unnecessary purchases, and support financial growth by allocating savings. The planner also allows reviewing costs over time and adjusting the family budget as needs and expenses change.

1. Retirement and Financial Capability
My baby planner calculator
Having a baby – what does it entail?
Your budget planner
Having a baby is one of the most exciting experiences, yet it changes your priorities. A
baby requires commitment: It involves lots of hard work from the moment the baby is
born. It involves financial costs, time, dedication and will impact you in practically every
area of your life. In fact, children’s’ needs account for a good part of the family budget.
A big transition

2. Retirement and Financial Capability
Having a baby – what does it entail?
In preparing for your baby there is a bewildering array of things you will have to put
together. Most of them will cost money.
These include:
• Putting together a labour bag.
These may include your hospital registration forms and health card; slippers or warm
socks; an oversized T-shirt to labour in; a sports bra for the bath or shower; a robe;
comforts (music, lotion, lip balm, hand-held fan); your own pillow and birth ball; a list of
people to call and a mobile phone or change for the pay phone; and your camera and
video camera (both charged!).

3. Retirement and Financial Capability
 Packing postpartum supplies too: diapers and clothes for the baby, something
comfortable to wear home, maxi-pads and a nursing bra.
 Extra care help that you may require in the early days after you and the baby go
back home.
 Purchase of new born essentials including clothing, blankets, feeding equipment,
feeding food, diapering, bath time, bedtime.
 Necessities such as crib or cradle, push-chair, baby carrier sling, infant safety seat
for your car, reclining stroller, night light, sun shade for cars, playpen, etc.
Some of the above are needed when you go to hospital, others immediately when you return home
with your baby. Others you may not necessarily need them from day one and best to be
postponed until needed.

4. Retirement and Financial Capability
My baby planner calculator
Our free downloadable baby cost
calculator is divided into five sections
namely:
• Nursery Costs
• Feeding Costs
• Travel
• Clothing, Bathing and Changing costs
• Play Time costs
First and foremost, the planner is, in itself, a checklist of all the things needed. Other
baby essentials can be included in the list as needed.

5. Retirement and Financial Capability
My baby planner calculator
Our baby planner is a long term approach, at least until some baby necessities are not
needed, to manage finances,
- helping the mother / parents prioritising between what is needed now and what can
await,
- leading to financial growth by not purchasing unneeded items. Money not spent can
be put aside and used in the future for other purposes such as investing,
- which works part and parcel with a budget planner and
- helping make the most of the resources. The planner with the detailed list serves as a
brainstorming session to help the mother reflect on what she already has and/or what
the mother might obtain free of charge from a relative or friend.
The right financial
planning will provide
for more disposable
income

6. Retirement and Financial Capability
My baby planner calculator
- comparing the estimated costs (of how much one foresees to spend) with the actual
prices,
- showing which section is resulting the most expensive and what can be done, and
- checking if total costs are resulting in over budgeting.
Our baby planner is a long term approach,
The baby planner is just one segment of the budget planner, which goes into depth
about babies’ needs.

7. Retirement and Financial Capability
Your budget planner
Life is a series of events
where needs, priorities
and expenses change. As
such, the baby planner as
well as the budget planner
cannot be kept static but
need to be continuously
reviewed.
Is a mother’s net worth / a family’s net worth calculated as the gross salary less taxes
and national insurance contributions? Baby needs are essentials and fixed expenses
need to be paid. Thus, once both financial plans are in place, the mother / a family can
determine the actual Net Worth: what is owned (cash inflow) less what is owed (all the
fixed and needy expenses).
Download our budget planner
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