Now that you’re a dad, this means that not only are you to ditch your immaturity and bad habits, you also would have to do some serious changes in your lifestyle and finances. After all, you would be paying for not just yourself and your wife, but also your new child. The latter is first priority, of course. No more reckless spending or drinking just for fun. No more other bad habits and no more selfless think either. The baby has to come first, yeah?
So how do you suddenly change your spending habits and your entire lifestyle for the new living being in the house?
Re-evaluate your budget
This is why we say there shall be no more reckless spending. For those who didn’t have a budget before, tough luck, you are definitely going to need one now that you have a baby. As a first tip for first-time dads, you will be needing a renewed plan for your salary. Parts of that money, probably the majority of it, will be going to the family, including the baby.
Research day-care options
You would think that this won’t be much of a problem. Unfortunately, these may cost you a lot because of the location and the provider you require. And you can’t dismiss this either because your child is going to need attention and you plus your wife won’t be with the child ALL the time. You both have jobs and none of you are probably experienced in how to handle babies at all.
Start to save for his or her future
College and university. That is still so far away but they are very expensive. You would need to save as soon as the baby is born. If you want your child to at least have a nice future and have less debt to worry about, you need to cut a percentage off your salary on top of the retirement plan too. As an adult, there will be more things to spend on, unfortunately.
Update your insurance policies
This needs to be done almost right away. This is in the unfortunate event that you and your partner were to die. It ensures the safety of the child even without you. Life and health insurances ought to be updated so your kid can be factored into it.
Your emergency fund needs levelling up
Emergencies happen when we least expect them. And now with a child in the mix, we cannot really afford to mess anything up or allow the world to mess it up for you. In the event that something bad happens – from you and your spouse losing your job to a storm destroying your house – you need to have a huge emergency fund that will bring you all right back up.
Being a dad isn’t going to be easy. In fact, if there was ever a job that you can NEVER get used to and will keep tossing you in places you aren’t familiar with, it’s parenting. Try to have as much fun as you can during that, yeah?
