[pcx]

Congratulations!

1. Get a health insurance for you and your wife if you don’t already have one. That takes care of large unexpected costs.

2. Make a budget for next 2 years. This will show how much money you might actually need.

3. Build savings from today. You should be able to make good savings by the time your baby is born.

4. Not sure what you do. If possible find a way to build long term relationships with your clients.

5. Doing 2 projects, about half time for each is also a good idea. Gives you a safety net.

6. Choose clients that have good cash flow. Funding or profitability.

It’s important not to freak out now. Your wife needs a lot of support and you should be there. Also, first time dads under estimate the support they will get from friends, family and the system in general. It should be manageable!

[Yetanfou]

7. Make sure to be there for both you wife as well as your child, i.e. don't be an absent dad. Your child(ren) will fare much better spending extra hours with you present than they will with the extra earnings those hours would make your family. Money is a means to an end, once the end has been met there are other things more important.

[acconrad]

Is the government recommendation of $25k/yr per child accurate? To answer this:

> Make a budget for next 2 years. This will show how much money you might actually need.

How much does one need for a child?

[sloaken]

Government numbers are hard to use in reality. If you have insurance that should cover the medical. What share you apportion that to a child ... Breast feeding saves money, makes for healthier children. Diapers could kill you. We did disposable. Look for coupons and watch for sales, try to double dip that one.

Important things to remember: 1) kids want your time, not the crap you buy them. 2) you will make mistakes, just try to learn and move on. Anyone who says they did not is not being intellectually honest. 3) start reading and numbers as soon as possible. ABC 123 from day one.

[altsyset]

Thanks! That is helpful.

[jmedefind]

Also check what your insurance covers in regard to the child birth. Try to get the plan with the best coverage and least amount of deductibles.

We walked away paying nothing where friends in the same hospital had to pay a few thousand.

You can always change your plan after the kid is born or at the next open enrollment.