Everything changes once you have a baby, including your finances. In fact, how you spend your money is just as important as how much you save. So, as time your child grows, it’s important to have enough money put away to cover everything that might come up. Even if you just found out you’re expecting, it’s never too early to start preparing gif their future. In this article, we’ll talk about some of the costs you should be saving for – before and after birth.

Before Baby Arrives

Having a baby is expensive. Even if you have excellent health insurance coverage, every aspect of the delivery might not be covered by your insurance. In some situations, you might not have met your deductible and will still have to pay out of pocket. In other situations, additional procedures might not be covered under your policy. In any case, it’s important to start saving well in advance. If you’ve been planning on getting pregnant, then you might have already started to put more money away each month. If your pregnancy comes as a surprise, then it’s time to kick your money saving skills into action. Cut out unnecessary costs out of your budget, which may include eating out, getting your nails and hair done, and even shopping at expensive stores.  [Read more…]

Deciding to have a child is a serious decision. There are many factors to consider when deciding whether or not to have children. For some people, the decision is easy. They know they want to be parents and start a family right away. For others, it’s not so clear-cut. 

There is a strong amount of hesitancy when it comes to having a child nowadays. When looking at current birth rates, it’s evident that people are having fewer children and waiting until later in life to have them. This makes sense though, having a child is not something you necessarily want to rush into. 

There are several situations where you may want to wait to have children or at least consider waiting. We’ll go over five of them in this article. [Read more…]

Summer is a super fun season to have a birthday. Sunshine, blue skies and lush greenery entice families to head outside and experience the restorative influence of nature. In addition to gorgeous weather, many families also fill their schedules with vacations, family visits and extra time off from work. 

If your baby has a birthday this summer, there’s no shortage of fun ways you can celebrate. Although they might not remember the party, you will – and it’s an amazing opportunity to invite friends and family over to celebrate with you. You can enjoy the memories and pictures for years to come. Here are five exciting birthday surprises to throw for your summer baby.  [Read more…]

Why is a love of reading so important?

We all want to raise readers. Reading helps build vocabulary, develops empathy, and is a form of entertainment and stress relief.

Reading is a skill that is essential for both academic and life success. Developing reading proficiency takes lots of practice. Stated another way, the more kids read, the better they will be at reading.

If kids don’t care much about books, they aren’t going to spend much time reading. This can lead to a lower reading proficiency or struggles with reading, which often makes kids like reading even less.  [Read more…]