The Financial Impact of Baby Series: Part I

Well there's great news in the world of Armchair Fiduciary, my wife and I have a little munchkin on the way! Of course, now that she is through the first trimester and is starting to grow a pooch, the financial impact of the baby is starting to grow as well. Even now, well before the baby is born, we have seen his or her financial impact a little.

First, I went out and got life insurance when we started trying to get pregnant. Why so early? Because if something happend to me while my wife was pregnant and I hadn't I wouldn't be able to forgive myself (then again I would be around to be forgiven). You can read all about how I thought about life insurance and the process here. The bottom-line is that it was a big hassle, but it is well worth the time and the ~$1000 annual premium to know that my wife and baby will be provided for if something happens to me.

Second, we have had numerous copays since my wife started going to the doctor. Thankfully we have great insurance so the total cost to us has been minimal. But not everyone will be so lucky. Be sure to know what your insurance will and won't cover. We had one snafu early on where the doctor sent us to a lab for bloodwork that wasn't covered by our insurance. In the end most of it was covered after the doctor changed the coding of it, but it still cost us a lot of worry and a couple hundred dollars.

Third, as my wife's pooch has grown her clothes haven't. While she is extremely frugal, we have still had several hundred dollars worth of spending for maternity clothes. This is somehting everyone should plan for. Hopefully the second time around this expense item won't cost as much if my wife keeps her maternity clothes.

Check back later for more expenses as they crop up and a future post which will include my "baby budget."