18th December 2012 | by MFC Team
Taking the plunge while we’re still young
My husband Dan and I met during our first year of college. We had lots of fun together as college students, but both knew we wanted to settle down once we finished school. We graduated, found jobs, got married, and bought a house all in the same year. Phew – it was a busy time! Now we’ve been married for about 6 months. When we were searching for houses, we looked for places that felt like home to us – places that we could picture having little kids running around in, and having lots of family and friends over. We really extended ourselves financially, but we wanted to find somewhere where we could put down roots, have our kids, and become part of the neighbourhood without having to move again after 3 years.
Dan and I are now both in our mid-20s. We’ve talked a lot about having our kids while we’re still young and have the energy to enjoy them. But I have to admit that I’m a bit worried about how much it’s going to cost to have a baby, and whether we can afford to start a family now. We’re managing to pay our mortgage and bills but we don’t have a lot of money left at the end of the month. Dan’s hoping for a promotion in the next year or two – so that’s promising. As for me, I’m working as a teacher and likely won’t see much change in my salary for the next few years. But the good news is that my job is flexible. I can finish work by 3:00 and I have the Christmas holidays and summers off. And both Dan’s parents and mine are willing to help out with childcare. So maybe we can manage after all.
Dan doesn’t seem to worry as much about money as I do. He said that so long as our kids have a loving family, it doesn’t matter if they have the latest video game or name-brand clothing. These things don’t really matter to me either. My parents were young when they had kids and we certainly didn’t have a lot of money. But looking back, I don’t ever remember feeling deprived. We went on lots of camping trips and spent a lot of time with my cousins and aunts and uncles. And the schools we went to had uniforms, so everyone looked and was treated the same. I guess what Dan said is true – what was most important was knowing that I had a loving family surrounding me. I know that Dan and I can provide that for our children. And unlike a lot of kids these days with older parents, our kids would grow up knowing their grandparents and having them involved in their lives. So maybe it’s time to take the plunge while we’re still young and start trying!
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