What’s Your Money Tip To First-Time Parents, And Other Money Questions

Last post on my Money Talk series, what’s my money tip to first-time parents answered here! Here’s my usual intro to this post series:

Have you seen the money related conversation starter cards circulating in the social media lately?

It is the Financial Service Council NZ teaming up with Hatch investment platform who brings us these downloadable cards that each have a money related question to answer.

I thought I’d do a post series of personally answering a few of these questions in each post and inviting you to share your own answer to the same question in the comments! You can download your own set here.

What do you wish you’d done differently with managing your money before going on parental leave?

To be honest, I don’t think I would have done anything differently. I applied for Paid Parental Leave (and was granted that) and did my best to pay down debt while working full-time before my income dropped.

That was the best I could do, and I did that.

After that I became reliant on my partner financially which was/is hard as an independent woman.

But with my level of income and the debt I had, there wasn’t much I could have done to change the outcome when I realised I was pregnant.

If I take this question to mean what I’d differently before going on parental leave as in, when I was still working full-time in the years before having kids?

I would definitely have worked harder on paying off debt (or maybe not even gotten myself into debt in the first place?) so I wouldn’t be burdened with it when my income dropped.

The income drop was inevitable though because working as a waitress on minimum wage there was just no point going back to full-time work and pay high daycare fees.

I was better off working part-time and getting Working For Families Tax Credits.

But what is done is done, and I did manage to become consumer debt free despite low income!

If you’ve had kids, what’s your money tip to first-time parents?

My best money tip for first-time parents is to track your spending and that there’s no need to buy into all the baby gadgets out there!

It is so easy to spend a lot of money on kids, especially your first one.

Personally I felt very overwhelmed with all the “must have” baby items and lists. And the price of most things was eye-watering!

For a lot of the big ticket items I bought second hand (cot and pram for example), that way I was able to get the brand I wanted without the price tag.

There’s also things that can be hired out, like capsules for cars, as babies outgrow these relatively quickly, which will save you a lot of money.

Even after the baby stage it is so easy to spend a lot of money on your children, and it will only keep going up.

I still get mostly second hand clothes for my kids, when they’re babies they outgrow everything so quick and when toddlers everything just gets dirty and pants get holes in them.

So, kids will cost you money, but they don’t have to cost you ridiculous amounts of money. But you just need to be mindful about your spending and always really consider if things are a want or a need, and if you can get them second hand to save money.

Are you confident that you can support your family if you’re unable to work?

At this stage, no. I would be reliant on Working For Families Tax Credits and/or any government benefit I might be eligible for. And of course my partner’s income.

I know it is something I should sort out though! Especially since I currently don’t have much savings or an emergency fund.

I have increased the priority of an emergency fund on my financial to do-list and I’m currently saving up my starter $1,000 in EF again. My ideal amount is at least $15,000, this should cover emergency flights to Finland (for me) and to cover some expenses while I’m there and/or cover a few months of expenses at home if needed.

I’ll talk about insurance in the next question!

If you have a family, have you thought about life insurance and a will?

Yes I have. And I really really should sort it out.

I would have to consider what kind of cover I need, but possible take out a term life insurance to help cover my kids’ until they are 18 in the case of my untimely death, then trauma insurance in case of not being able to work because of disability.

I have some sort of income protection, but I really need to look at the policy and see what it actually covers and if I need to get rid of it or change it somehow.

When it comes to a will, I definitely should have one drawn up, especially appoint guardians to my kids and enduring power of attorney for myself (someone who will make decisions for me if I’m incapacitated).

I will hopefully get this done in the 2 years realistically. 2023 will just be too hectic with studies to put much energy or thought into anything else.

… And that concludes my Money Talks series! I might visit some of these questions again as things change and my financial situation changes.

In the meantime, you can read my answers to many other questions here.

I’d love to hear your answers to these questions in the comments below!