Suze Orman - how are you saving for your baby?

by Digital Molly
like I love me some Suze Orman. While I don’t necessarily always heed to her advice, I have to admit – the lady knows what she is talking about.

With 3 kids and a baby on the way – life at our house isn’t quite the vacations and new gadgets that we once had. Paying for things like a double stroller, another high chair, a new nursery and a bigger car is chomping away at our bank accounts – so we are Suze Orman – ing our budget.

Tell It How It IsSuze Orman will tell you how it is. My husband and I are doing that to one another, especially when it comes to wants. Fortunately over the course of a 13 year marriage, we can say these with kind words and still get the point across.

Our latest “tell it how it is” is on this bigger car thing. We’re evaluating the practical vs. the desire. We’re looking at the reality of what we should be putting towards a car and gaining insight on how much we’ll actually be spending a month on child care and diapers. And when one of us (not naming which one, okay ME), says oh look BELLS – WHISTLES – UNICORNS OH MY! – my husband zaps me back down to reality.

Debt Be GoneOf course, this is a well duh – but how much of us REALLY truly live without credit card debt or some type of stupid financing (think mattresses or laptops). Okay, I’m not talking to you if you raised your hand. But in all honestly it’s something that must be gone – and as Suze Orman would say “You must never let this happen again.” And before baby 4 arrives, debt be gone! Because this baby itself is a debt (a lovely, cute, cuddly debt, but something that we will owe on FOREVER).

Get to a financial place that is good for your family, and plan for your future. This means retirement, college and beyond. Also, as a parent – especially of a little one there are the unknown expenses. I’m not talking about that adorable tutu that you just saw and had to buy. I’m talking about the head wound co-pay at the ER or the teeth that come in crooked and need to be straightened. As parents the future is now more than just you and your spouse, it’s a little one or in our case little 4 (LORD HELP ME).