‘Having a child’ is one of the videos we produced with the Central Bank of Malta in our budgeting series. Click here to watch it.

Let me introduce the ĠEMMA family.  I am Tony.  I am Maria’s husband.  I work as a manager in a large business in the services industry.  My wife, Maria is 40 years old and works in her father’s family business.  We have two kids:  Matthias, our son who is 11 years old, and is now in secondary school, and Angele, our daughter who is 17 years old and is finishing upper secondary school this scholastic year.

Download the ĠEMMA My Baby Planner by clicking here.

Angele was telling me that the elder sister of her best friend was having a child.  Apparently, they have been married for three years, and only recently bought a new house.  The parents are super happy, as they should be.  Yet, preparing and having a kid is expensive.  From my experience as a mother and a parent, these are some lessons I learnt, and which I share with soon to be parents:

  1. Do not buy every baby gadget on the market.  There is no doubt that it is tempting to buy everything so that the little one has the very best.  Be selective and do not go overboard.  These things are expensive and have a very short life span.
  2. Some baby items, including cribs and seats you should purchase new so that you follow the latest safety guidelines.  Other items such as clothing, books and some kind of toys can be bought second hand if they are gently used.
  3. Make sure you plan for the fact that having a kid will have a financial impact on your budget.  You will need diapers, your baby will need to eat, and if you work you may have to take time out for a while if your mum or mother-in-law cannot take care of the baby – until he or she is old enough for childcare.

Let us know your thoughts.  We look forward to hearing from you.  We at ĠEMMA encourage you to share this link or the video or the calculator or all of them with your friends or publicly on Facebook. Visit the ĠEMMA Facebook page and give us a like!