Navigating love and money can be challenging before kids. But throw a baby into the mix, and oh boy, can things get really complicated.
When I interviewed Farnoosh Torabi for the Family Money podcast, we talked about how when you have a baby, you don’t just add a new line item to your budget. You basically burn down the old budget and start from scratch.
With kids come all these new expenses—daycare and diapers—and your old routine gets thrown out the window. In the early days, you don’t get a lot of sleep. And once your kids are big enough to walk and talk, they suddenly have a social calendar that rivals the Queen of England. Basically, parenthood means you’re both busy and broke most of the time.
And being tired and worried about money can be a bad combination for married couples. It’s easy to start fighting over the smallest things, to start questioning different line items on the credit card statement, and to wonder if you’ll ever be able to achieve your financial goals when all your money goes to daycare.
For our fifth episode of Family Money, I sat down with my friends Heather and Douglas Boneparth to talk about how couples can navigate these hard conversations. Heather and Doug have written a book on this very topic: Money Together, and they’re also parents of two young daughters (who were hanging out in the background of our podcast recording!). They know first-hand the challenges of raising kids, juggling careers, and trying to make the money make sense.
Check out the episode to hear all their amazing advice. And drop in the comments your biggest couples and money challenge!
Family Money episode recaps
Lindsey Stanberry
Lindsey Stanberry
