Beating Broke

6 Unexpected Baby Expenses to Budget For

February 27, 2020 By MelissaB Leave a Comment

There is nothing more exciting than the anticipation of a new baby. However, a baby can increase the budget even if you’re frugal. These are just 6 unexpected baby expenses to budget for. These items can’t bought second hand and likely won’t be gifted at a shower.

6 Unexpected Baby Expenses to Budget For

If you’re planning for a new arrival this year, there are a number of expenses you should plan for:

Formula

6 Unexpected Baby Expenses to Budget For — Photo by Rainier Ridao on Unsplash

I breastfed all three of my kids, but all three were such massive babies with big appetites that I had to supplement with formula while breastfeeding. We hadn’t planned on that expense, and formula is expensive!

Breast Pump

If you are going to breastfeed, you’ll need a breast pump because even if you’re a stay at home mom, there will be times that the baby doesn’t want to eat or you won’t be with the baby at feeding time, and you’ll want the option to pump. If you don’t plan to breastfeed for long, you can rent a pump month by month through your local hospital. I bought mine for $200 and used it for all three children, so it was well worth the expense.

Unexpected Medical Expenses

While most babies are perfectly healthy, some babies have issues and have to visit the ER. My friend’s baby got RSV and then had a partially-collapsed lung, all at 5 weeks old, so she spent five days in the hospital. That was an expense they had not planned for, and it took them a few months to pay it off.

My daughter had jaundice for three months, and we had to see a number of specialists, and she was checked into the hospital one night. (She was fine, but we hadn’t planned on the specialists and going to the hospital several times a week to check her bilirubin.)

Increased Grocery Bill

If mom is breastfeeding, she’s going to eat a lot! It takes a lot of energy to produce all of the nutritional needs for baby. Don’t be surprised to see your grocery bill increase for the duration of the time that mom breastfeeds.

Clothing

Mom’s body changes after delivery and the post-partum period. Not only will she need clothes that fit her when maternity clothes are too big and she can’t yet fit into her pre-pregnancy clothes, but she’ll also need some good nursing clothing if she’s breastfeeding.

Miscellaneous Items

There are other, little items that you may need such as diaper rash cream and gas drops. Our second child had so much gas that she wouldn’t sleep at night, and we went through baby gas drops what felt like every week. We later found out she had a milk intolerance, and when we took her off milk, she did fine.

Final Thoughts

If you’re expecting a baby, you can get many of the items that you need at your baby shower. However, there are other items that you’ll need that you won’t get as gifts and can’t get secondhand. Being aware of these before the baby comes can help you create a realistic budget.

What other expenses would you add to this list?

Why It’s Okay to Make Financial Mistakes

February 24, 2020 By MelissaB 1 Comment

What’s the worst financial mistake you’ve made? Ask any adult, and you’ll likely hear about thousand dollar or even hundreds of thousands of dollar mistakes. Ouch. We’d all love to go through life with a great handle on our money, only making smart decisions and watching our money grow in investment accounts. But life isn’t that way. Sometimes we’re just stupid with money, and other times, we think we’re making a smart decision only to find out later that we were wrong. But that’s okay. In fact, there are many reasons why it’s okay to make financial mistakes.

Why It’s Okay to Make Financial Mistakes

Chances are you’re more financially savvy because of the mistakes you’ve made!

You Learn

The most important reason why it’s okay to make financial mistakes is that you learn from those mistakes.

When I was in my early 20s and just out of college, I was working at a job and was told that I would be getting a raise in the next few weeks. I increased my meager standard of living because I knew the raise was in the works. But week after week went by, and I didn’t get the raise. In fact, a few months later, the company went out of business. Not only was I out of a job, but I had accrued some debt by raising my lifestyle prematurely.

A few years ago, my husband was guaranteed a raise. It was supposed to come in August, but it didn’t actually come until December. Thanks to the lesson I learned in my 20s, we were very careful to avoid lifestyle creep.

You Can Help Others

When you’ve learned from your financial mistakes, you can help others avoid the same mistakes that you made.

Why It's Okay to Make Financial Mistakes — Photo by Irina Murza on Unsplash

When I went to graduate school, I did my best to avoid student loans. I chose a college that paid my tuition and gave me a small stipend for teaching two classes a semester. But after I graduated, I wanted to teach at a community college. Those full-time jobs are inaccessible if you don’t have experience. The only way to get experience is to teach as a part-timer, and part-time community college jobs pay next to nothing (about $1,000 for a 16 week class).

I went into credit card debt trying to maintain my college lifestyle (which was already frugal) while earning poverty level income. The next year, I did get a full-time community college job, but I entered that job with over ten thousand dollars in credit card debt thanks to trying to subsist on such a low income.

When it comes to encouraging my kids to save and plan for college, I urge them to try to get scholarships that will also help them pay their living expenses. We’re sending my son to SAT prep classes so he can score high enough to be in the running for a lucrative scholarship from our local college.

Final Thoughts

Making money mistakes is part of your history. Hopefully, you’ve grown and made smarter decisions because of your financial mistakes, which is an excellent reason why it’s okay to make financial mistakes.

However, if you find yourself making the same mistakes over and over again, i.e. running up your credit cards, paying them down, and then running them up again, you may need to explore more deeply why you keep following the same negative behavior patterns.

Best Ways to Get a Pay Raise

February 20, 2020 By MelissaB Leave a Comment

If you’ve been employed with a company for a few years, two things have likely happened. First, you generally have a good feel for the company culture and likely fit within that culture. Second, you are likely good at your job. You may have even added more tasks beyond the scope of your original work as people leave the company. Because most companies now don’t rush to fill a vacancy, you may be doing the work that the person who left used to do in addition to your own job. As you work harder and better, wanting more compensation is completely normal. But before you ask the boss, first consider the best ways to get a pay raise.

When You Shouldn’t Ask for a Raise

Before you start the process of preparing for a raise, take a look at your work history and where the company is now. When asking for a raise, timing is everything. Now might not be the best time to ask if either of these things are currently happening:

Your Work Record Isn’t Stellar

Did you botch a big project? Has your child had the flu and you’ve missed a number of days of work? If you’ve had any life events that have disrupted your work, now might not be the best time to ask for a pay raise. Work hard and focus on being the best employee for a few more months before you ask for a raise.

Is Your Company Having Financial Difficulty?

How is your company doing financially? Have you noticed that the budgets are tighter? Have a few people gotten laid off? When employees are let go, you may have to pick up the slack. If you’re doing more work than ever, you may feel you deserve a raise, but that doesn’t mean you’ll get one.

If the company is struggling financially, now is likely not the best time to ask. You want to pick an optimal time when your work is good and the company is on solid financial footing. If that is not the case now, then wait a few months.

The Best Ways to Get a Pay Raise

If your work history is solid and the company is fine financially, you’re ready to take these steps in preparation of asking for a raise.

Keep a List of Accomplishments

Best Ways to Get a Pay Raise — Photo by CoWomen on Unsplash

Before you ask for a raise, keep a list of all of your accomplishments. What have you done within the last few years to help others and advance your company? These accomplishments are easiest to remember if you keep track as they happen. However, if you want to ask for a raise now, take at least a week to remember all of the things you’ve done since your last raise and to write them down. This will be your best evidence that you do indeed deserve a raise.

Research How Much Others in Your Area Are Paid

How much are others in your area paid? Is your salary equivalent? Is your salary lower than the average for others doing the same type of job? Researching how much others in your area are paid helps you see if you have a case to ask for a raise. If you’re at the high end of the average, then maybe now isn’t the right time to ask. If you’re at the low end, you know your request is valid. Doing this research also gives you an idea of the amount you’d like to request for your raise.

Set an Appointment with the Boss

When it comes time to set the appointment with your boss, don’t just ask if you can chat for a minute. Instead, ask if you can make an appointment to discuss your career. This will let your boss know that the discussion may take more than a few minutes, and he or she can schedule enough time accordingly.

Praise the Company

When you’re in the meeting, be sure to first praise the company. Let you boss know what you like about the company and your job as well as how much you’ve grown since you’ve been employed there.

List your Accomplishments

One of the best ways to get a pay raise is to highlight for your boss the significant accomplishments you’ve made for the company. While you don’t want to go through a laundry list of every little task you are responsible for, you do want to impress upon your boss how vital your role in the company is.

If you can prove to your boss that you’re essential to the company, you have a better chance of getting a raise.

If Your Pay Raise Request Is Denied

It happens. Sometimes you come to the boss with evidence why you should get a raise, and you’re denied. If that happens, you have two choices:

Accept It

You can just accept that you won’t be getting a pay raise this year. Maybe you can ask again in another six to twelve months. This is a good option if you really enjoy your job and think there’s a chance you’ll get a pay raise in the future.

Apply for Other Jobs

Even if you have no intention of leaving your current job, you can apply for other jobs and see what the market is like. If you interview well, you may even get an offer from another company. If the offer is higher than what you are currently getting at your job, you can use that offer as leverage to ask your boss for a raise. However, if you go this far, be prepared to walk away from your job if your request is again denied.

Final Thoughts

Asking for a raise can feel intimidating, but you’re your own best advocate. If you feel that you are an asset to the company and that you’re being undercompensated, use these best ways to get a pay raise to improve your chances of being successful. Remember, if you don’t ask, you likely won’t get a raise. Be confident in yourself and your skills and abilities and make the case that you deserve a raise. Your boss may be appreciative and reward you with a raise.