Being a parent often means having to be mindful about money matters. And when you’re a mother who also writes about personal finance, there’s a lot of pressure to do a good job with managing your cash flow, all the while making sure your kids’ needs are accounted for. With that in mind, my fellow writers — and moms — and I are here to share some tips to help you navigate the financial side of parenthood.
1. An emergency fund is even more important when you have kids
Christy Bieber: I’ve always stressed the importance of an emergency fund as a personal finance writer. But once I had a child, I learned that kids are pretty much emergency magnets.
Of course, any time you add a new member to the family, whether a person or a pet, there’s an increased chance of surprise expenses. After all, there’s another individual who could have issues that cause unexpected spending. But the reality is that a child significantly increases the chance that you’ll have costs you didn’t plan on.
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That’s because kids come with all kinds of unexpected expenses, from surprise trips to the doctor’s office to needing a different car seat because they scream at a very high volume when they hate the one you bought.
My emergency fund was tapped more in the first year of my son’s life than it has ever been.
And because of…
