It’s great news that you’re expecting, but you need to understand that there are many expenses you now must keep in mind, and the sooner you realize that the sooner you can prepare for what you should expect financially.
There are numerous hospital expenses, and then there’s childcare and baby products. This is not even the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the things pregnant moms should be financially expecting.
Even though discounts and redeeming coupons from sites like EMUCoupon can help you exponentially reduce expenses, there are other things expecting mothers should prepare for.
Let’s discuss this in greater detail, highlighting some of the things that expecting mothers should be financially expecting, along with how they can prepare beforehand for these expenses.
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Get Life Insurance
You now have someone that depends on you and your partner’s income, and you need to prepare for the possibility if something might happen to you or your partner or worst-case scenario, both.
As daunting as the thought of your precious little child being all alone in this world is, you need to prepare for it, and the best way to do so is to get life insurance.
It does not matter whether you work or are staying at home, obtaining life insurance will guarantee the financial wellbeing of your child after your passing.
If you work, consider looking at your office’s life insurance policy if they have one. However, it is suggested you do not go for those policies since they may not be suited to your needs.
Instead, expectant mothers should go for a life insurance policy that pays off your debts and the amount is 10 times more than your annual income, since the funding will go to your beneficiary’s tax free.
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Postpartum depression and how you can deal with it
The concept of financially expecting things is not limited to simply expecting stuff that costs money, but expectant mothers should keep in mind that having a child comes with some mental strain as well, including postpartum depression.
Cleveland Clinic states that postpartum depression has an expectancy rate of 15%, so it is not necessary that you might be affected by this, but better be safe than sorry.
You might be wondering what the relation between depression and financial constraints is. Well, they are very much related since during depression, you are more likely to spend your days in laziness.
This affects many aspects of your life, including your finances. Postpartum depression will cause you to take a break from work and delaying the end of your mental health break can cause deductions in your paycheck.
Pro Tip: Consider getting a mental healthcare plan before getting treatment for your depression, as mental health professionals are very difficult to get a hold of.
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Leverage tax breaks
There are some financial benefits to having a baby that expectant mothers can take advantage of, mainly in the form of tax benefits.
Expecting moms can avail many tax benefits that can either reduce their taxes or boost the returns that they can get from taxes.
Keeping this in mind, here are a couple of tax-related advantages expectant mothers should be financially expecting when having a baby:
- If both the parents work and must send the child to a daycare facility, they can take advantage of the child and dependent care credit. This provides working parents with credit of up to $1,000 for financial help with daycare.
- Working mothers can also utilize a withholding calculator to update their allowances at their workplaces. After all, a baby means a family has grown
- Until your child reaches the age of 17, you can avail child tax credit, which will provide expecting mothers with $2,000.
- Low and middle class taxpayers can take advantage of additional tax benefits such as the earned income tax credit, which states that working families that belong to the middle and lower class are provided with a credit of maximum $3,500 per child.
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Prioritize the essentials
Before making any sort of expenses on your child, it is important to first get the essentials out of the way. This includes items vital to the baby’s survival like a cot where they will sleep, a stroller to make sure they get around comfortably, and a highchair where they can sit and eat. Other than that, you should consider buying a breast pump, baby bottles and a car seat as soon as possible and make sure to look for stores that offer discounts to stay on a budget.