Looking to start a family, any financial tips?

[Runingoncaffeine]

I am in my mid 30s and I’ve been with my partner for over 10 years. We are getting married in March, and are keen to start trying for a baby asap.

I am worried about the financial side of things given the CoL crisis currently, so do any parents or others have any tips for us financially?

We don’t earn too badly - but we live in SE England and our mortgage is fairly high. I have spoken to my partner about the possibility of relocating one day as my job is remote, but he needs to be down here for work (works in a niche industry, so needs to be close to London).

I am going to start making some cut backs now so I can start adjusting to a different lifestyle as obviously life without kids is very different and somewhat luxurious dare I say….

Thank you everyone. Your replies are so helpful!

Lots of good advice already. @BitchinTwinset Is correct - childcare costs are terrible BUT they are for a short time only. Don’t be buying any line of ‘it’s not worth working’ …

my tip would be that child benefit is based on net adjusted income, not gross income
and not simple net income either. This means that you may be eligible even if your gross salary seems high. You will get many people sucking their teeth and accusing you of being Jeff Bezos/ stealing food from the mouths of waifs but once you’ve looked at those childcare fees you may change your mind.

other than that I’d say go second hand or, if you are like me and nothing seems available when you need it, think about not just purchase cost but resale. We’ve bought and sold Frog bikes and either got all our money back or made a profit. One memorable resale was a baby carrier. Paid £50 and resold for £180.

editing to add: for me, my child was a gift and an enhancement to my life. That is priceless. When you get to mid-30s I’d say don’t let fear of costs be a block. You may conceive tomorrow or you may need assistance. Thing is you just don’t know yet. Sorry, this isn’t what you asked I know but I got to mid 30’s and it took five years of fertility treatments to have my child.

Childcare is brutal and I've never had better maternity pay than SMP. We worked towards making our monthly outgoings as low as possible, ie got rid of our financed car and bought a cheaper one for cash.
Bought a lot of second hand equipment and sold it on once we were done with it. Also bought loads of baby clothes bundles from Ebay. Luckily I BFd which saved a fortune, although I know it's not always feasible.

Hi sorry what does BFd mean.

Breast Fed

Work out childcare costs in your area and what you'll get from maternity leave and then start saving those costs now to see if you can manage. So if your income is reducing by £500 a month on maternity leave (take out travel costs etc) then start saving the difference to see if you can manage.
When working out childcare consider the tax free childcare element.