Can You Afford Kids? (And How to Start Planning Before You Have Them)
If you've ever typed "cost of raising a child" into Google and immediately felt your chest tighten, you're not alone — and you're also asking the wrong question. In this episode, Maddie and Meghan reframe "can you afford kids?" into something far more useful: "what would need to be true financially for me to feel ready?"
They break down:
Why the internet's scary cost totals don't reflect how expenses actually hit over time
The three cost buckets to think about instead — fixed, variable, and one-time
The pre-kids financial foundation: emergency fund, cash flow awareness, a debt strategy, insurance basics, and career trajectory
Why values-based planning should come before budget planning, not after
Three simple first steps you can take this month — no matter where you are in the decision
This episode isn't just for people actively planning a family. It's for anyone preparing for a big, uncertain financial decision and looking for a way to feel ready without needing everything to be perfect.
Resources:
Budget Blueprint Builder — Our one-hour workshop with an Excel and Google Sheets template built for exactly this kind of mid-year reset. $47. Linked Here!
🎯 5-Day Expense Reset — Free. For when today's episode made you want to finally just look at the full picture.
Previous Episode: You Got a Raise… Now What?
