When you move from being a dual income family to a single income family, even if only for a little while, there are some important actions to take.
Prepare. Before you decide to start your family, engage in a little preparation. Begin scaling back some of your expenditures and paying off debts to get yourselves ready. During the pregnancy, invest in some of your big baby related expenditures like baby furniture, diapers, and clothing. Get some money into your savings account for the unanticipated expenses of early parenthood.
Budget. Many DINK couples have poor spending habits. If you haven't yet set a budget and learned to live within it, now is the time. A little financial self-discipline can go a long way toward making the financial challenges of fatherhood more manageable.
Shop and Cook. If you spend a lot of money eating out, consider preparing meals at home and eating there more. My wife was surprised a few years ago when she had a church assignment to work with struggling single moms in our congregation how few of them had any cooking skills-eating out with the kids was the norm. Your food budget can go a lot farther than you think if you can cook at home. And you might even find you enjoy cooking.
Insurance and More. As a reminder, you will need to add baby to your health insurance policy soon after her birth. If you have a policy at work, contact your employer's human resources department for forms. If your insurance is private, call your agent and get the baby on the policy. Otherwise, you may have some very unpleasant conversations with the doctor's or hospital's collection staff. And you should consider increasing your life insurance when the baby arrives.
