Having a baby can be one of the most daunting experiences of person’s life, with money concerns being one of the biggest worries for most parents-to-be.

As most new mothers are being forced to cut maternity leave short due to the financial strain of a new arrival and a decreased salary from a parent staying at home, here are a few things to consider to financially plan for your new arrival.

Top things to consider when financially planning for a baby

1. Work out what your essential weekly expenses will be when the baby is born e.g. nappies, baby food and how you will afford them.

2. Rising costs: calculate how much more you think household bills such as heating and groceries will rise by with an extra person in the house.

3. How much can you comfortably save every month to deal with any unexpected surprises?

4. Reduction in income: Yours or your partner’s income will fall especially if one is on maternity leave. Assess how much your income will fall by and how you will juggle your finances around this.

5. If you plan to pay for childcare arrangements, start looking into how much you will have to pay per week and what percentage of your salary you will need to put by to cover these costs.

6. Be realistic. Of course you want your baby to have the best of everything, but many new parents find that they wind up buying lots of things they don’t actually use in the end.

See if friends and family have baby items they’re no longer using or hit eBay to bag a bargain – you’ll be amazed at how much this can save you.