How do you cope, financially, with 2 kids?

[babyperks]

DP and I have a 10mo DS. We are thinking about trying for another baby in around 6 months time, but we're worried how we're meant to cope financially?!
He is self employed and at the moment, bringing home £2000-£2500 every 4 weeks. After Christmas this could change and go down to less than £2000, and our monthly outings come to around £1700 a month on bills and rent etc . I am currently a SAHM, but am looking to go back to work as soon as possible. The most I'm likely to bring home a month is £250-£380 a month including child benefit, as I'm probably only going to be able to get a cleaning job or similar.

How do you manage?
I mean, we're not extravagant spenders so surely we should manage?
Is going from 1 child to 2 that much a difference on your financial state?

I'm sure there are lots of parents out there who manage on much less, I just need to prove this to DP

Thank you all for reading, and to those who give your lovely advice

If you can mange without working and one child, it should be fine with 2.
DS2 has cost very little - but then we had 2 boys, so everything has been handed down.
Its the childcare on 2 that is crippling, if you have a small gap, and return to work.

Yes childcare is a pain in the behind!! That's the main reason why I'm trying to find an evening cleaning job so then I don't have to worry about that. But it's proving a bit impossible for me to find any work at all at the moment!!!

Yeah, I mean unless you're talking private schools and lots of flights, then basically 2 children cost the same as 1, especially if no childcare is needed if you stay at home with them. I have a second due soon (dd 17 months), I'm not too worried. The more the merrier!!!

They cost the same, apart from childcare, until they hit their teens. Then they start eating a lot and need separate allowances. But on the bright side, they don't need childcare.

As under fives with no childcare costs it's not much different. Then they go to school and start needing dinner money/school trip money and having hobbies, and the costs keep rising until they leave home:) longer if they go into higher education.

Ah right, that's comforting!! Hopefully I'll definitely be working by the time both kids are in school so that should be easier. Well, we'll see!!!

The childcare was going to completely knacker us when we had 2 under-1s so I requalified as a childminder, which made just enough positive difference (not having to pay for childcare plus what I could earn) to mean that we could afford the two.

im a stay at home mum so dont have need childcare anyway i have 3 dc now

basically we havent found the extra 2 cost that much more how ever if i needed to go to work childcare in london would cripple me i have 1 child in full time education so have 2 indoors they really dont cost much extra tbh its just birthdays and xmas and when they get older i guess they become more expensive

We had to wait until DS was starting school to have DD, childcare was too expensive and I wouldn't get another job as good as I had if I left work. To have DC3, we have moved to Sweden, where our childcare is less than the equivalent of child benefit.

I didn't have to spend a lot extra on dd2 as so much was handed down from ds1 and thankfully my dsil has given me bags and bags of little girl clothes. The biggest cost was having to switch to formula feeding when I got endometriitis and had to have an emergency op and could no longer breast feed. Formula costs a ton! So try to BF if you can! eBay things that you do need - so many good quality children's clothes and toys on there. Can't comment on the childcare as I work evenings so haven't had to go down that route thankfully.

I have 2 years 9 months between my dd and ds. Things have been expensive at times but we have always managed. Our incomings dropped by half about 18 months ago, so we have had to change our standard of living but we get by. We managed to go to Florida in July and always try to get away at least once a year.