Post # 1
Member
814 posts
Busy bee
I’m not so much looking for someone to tell us what to do, as I am just looking to see what other people did in this situation. DH and I currently rent a 2 bedroom house and are working on paying off credit card debt as soon as possible. We have paid off around $7000 since last August. We still have around $11,000 left, with a plan to pay that off by next May! We are planning to TTC next month, with a plan to save up 3 months of my income so I can take an unpaid 12 weeks of leave. We also want to buy a house, but can’t save for a down paymen, pay off debt, and save for leave at the same time. Also, waiting until I graduate in May would allow us to get pre-approved for a higher amount. What did you do first in this situation? Pros and cons?
Post # 2
Member
3716 posts
Sugar bee
mrsdfarrar6714: we got out of debt, bought a house, and then got pregnant. Houses are expensive. Babies are expensive. We wanted to make sure we could afford the house before adding in baby costs.
Post # 3
Member
562 posts
Busy bee
- Wedding: August 2015 - Alexander Homestead
I ditto what the PP said. I would definitely focus on the debt pay off, finishing school, and saving up for the house.
Post # 4
Member
336 posts
Helper bee
mrsdfarrar6714: i grew up with the mentality to always have the house first, then baby. so that is what we did, we bought our house first (not pregnant yet). i know plenty of people who have babies and rent, which is fine, but personally i would rather have the house first. moving when pregnant or with little babies sounds like a night mare to me, i would prefer to have a home base first. but the cons of buying the house first could be going against biological time clock and may not be able to get pregnant.
having a house, i felt like we could truly invest and nest in it (spend money on quality furniture, home decor, kitchen appliances, etc) because we knew we were going to be living here for the long run. a lot of my friends who rent say they never feel they could invest much on their place as they knew they wouldn’t be living there forever.
Post # 5
Member
814 posts
Busy bee
Like I said, we weren’t so much looking to be told what we should do..just seeing what others did. We have been discussing and will obviously do what’s best for us; it’s just somewhat of a difficult decision. School will be finished in May regardless of our decision, so that’s not a factor.
Post # 6
Member
1051 posts
Bumble bee
We had no debt to pay off but we did have to spend a little over 50k on fertility treatments to get pregnant. Now that I’m about 16 weeks along, we’re hunting for a house. Hopefully we’ll find a place and move in before baby arrives but if we don’t we could stay in our current place a bit longer. The housing market in my area is incredibly competitive and we’ll likely have to offer on 5-10 houses before being accepted.
Post # 7
Member
1154 posts
Bumble bee
mrsdfarrar6714: I would rather have a house and then a baby, but I am really really tired of renting. DH however loves renting and wouldn’t care if we rented for The rest of our lives. We are now early in our pregnancy and will be renting for awhile, but I am pushing us to save for a house by our due date in March.
Post # 8
Member
2007 posts
Buzzing bee
mrsdfarrar6714: I already had the house before Fiance and I met but we have been looking at land which will then be used to build our forever home. We want to take care of all of that stuff and clear most of our debt before TTC. I feel it’s much easier to take care of everything now while it’s just the two of us and we can always TTC sometime down the track however if we TTC now, then we have three people to worry about, expenses will go up and we’ll never get around to doing everything we want. People don’t realise just how expensive babies can be. You need to worry about clothing, furniture, nappies, medication, transportation like prams and baby seats, etc. It’s a huge financial hit and we’ll be able to afford everything we want to take care of now, but who knows if we could afford it when we have a child? Plus we want me to be able to take a year off for the first child so we definitely have to do the other stuff now if we are ever going to do it.
Post # 9
Member
7761 posts
Bumble Beekeeper
For us, it was more the stress of everything related to a house and less the money. There are always things a person wants to do with a new home – painting, remodeling, changing the finish on kitchen cabinets, installing carpet or refinishing hardwood floors, etc. I cannot imagine tackling that with a baby, too. It was so much easier for us to go for the home first and have it the way we wanted it before bringing a baby into the picture.
Post # 10
Member
418 posts
Helper bee
SO and I both own properties and are not ready to start TTC, but if we were in different situations i would make sure we had a home and some money saved before TTC. I wouldn’t want to outgrow a rental and not be able to afford to move out.
Post # 11
Member
53 posts
Worker bee
Get your house and debt sorted first IMO 🙂 Good luck!
Post # 12
Member
9076 posts
Buzzing Beekeeper
House and debt. Baby later.
Post # 13
Member
1908 posts
Buzzing bee
House first. I would think it would be a better situation to have debt paid off and home ownership before expanding your family. Also, it would be nice to customize everything for the baby to suit your tastes which can be a little more difficult in a rental.
Post # 14
Member
814 posts
Busy bee
I like seeing all the opinions! Unfortunately, waiting until debt is paid off isn’t an option, as my studebt loans will go into repayment in the fall and won’t be paid off until I’m around 36! I am NOT waiting that long to have kids lol! In fact, DH and I intend to be done having kid by the time I’m 30-31!
Post # 15
Member
1351 posts
Bumble bee
We had a house for a few years before TTC.