OfficeKiln

Baby's First Year Budget

Will your savings last the first year? Your buys, your monthly costs and your money, month by month, with the first month it runs short. Printed on one page.

Your money

Your savings pay for what you buy before the baby. From month 1, the monthly amount comes in.

Buy once

Every month

Letter ยท prints exactly as shown
computed in this browser only - nothing uploaded

Will the money last the first year?

Most baby cost calculators give you one big number from national averages. That number doesn't tell you the thing you actually need to know: whether your own money lasts, and if it doesn't, which month it runs out.

This page works it out month by month. Your savings pay for everything you buy before the baby: the crib, the car seat, the first clothes. From month 1, what you can put aside each month comes in, and the monthly costs start: formula, clothes, and daycare if you need it, each in the months it actually runs. The balance after every month shows whether you're ahead or short.

Mark the gifts from the baby shower and they come off your total. Set a priority on each buy, and if a month runs short, the page shows how much the nice-to-haves and can-waits would free up.

Nothing here leaves this tab. Your numbers are saved in this browser's local storage so they're still there next time, and the finished page goes only to your printer.

Check the big numbers

Childcare is usually the biggest cost in the first year, and it varies a lot by where you live. The U.S. Department of Labor publishes childcare prices by county in its National Database of Childcare Prices. Having a baby lets you change your health plan through a Special Enrollment Period on HealthCare.gov, so check what adding the baby costs. And the IRS explains the Child Tax Credit.

Questions this tool gets asked

How is this different from a baby cost calculator?
Most calculators give you one total from national averages. This page takes your own savings and what you can put aside each month, lays your own costs out month by month, and shows the balance after each one. The question it answers is whether your money lasts, and if not, which month it runs out.
What does month 0, before baby, mean?
Everything you buy before the birth: the crib, the car seat, the first clothes. Your savings pay for that month. From month 1, the birth month, your monthly amount comes in and the monthly costs start.
How do gifts work?
Tick Gifted and the item costs you nothing. Its price is added to what gifts saved you, so you can see how much the baby shower actually covered.
What does could skip if tight mean?
The nice-to-haves and can-waits you have not bought yet. If the plan runs short, this is the money you could free up without touching the must-haves.
Where can I check the big numbers?
Childcare is usually the biggest cost, and the U.S. Department of Labor publishes childcare prices by county in its National Database of Childcare Prices. Having a baby lets you change your health plan through a Special Enrollment Period on HealthCare.gov. The IRS explains the Child Tax Credit.
Is anything I type uploaded?
No. The plan is worked out inside this browser tab. Your numbers are saved in this browser's local storage so they are still there next time, and the page goes only where you print or copy it.

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