Wednesday, February 2, 2011

Babies Change Everything

They say life changes when you have kids.  They are right.  From a mom's point of view everything changes; your body, your relationships, your house, your sleep, your emotions, your love, and especially your finances.

We knew that kids can be expensive.  When we found out I was pregnant with our first baby, I contacted my insurance and the hospital to find out how much I should expect to pay for the baby.  I was told it would be around $1500.   So we started saving for our little one. 

We had a stash of Costco Cash cards saved up to purchase diapers.  My sister gave us a crib, and I received wonderful clothes from my baby shower.  Nine months into the pregnancy, I thought we were financially ready for our bundle of joy.

Then she came early, and had a bad case of Jaundice.  Luckily we didn't have to keep her in the hospital- we just had to rent a "suitcase" for 14 days at a rate of $100 a day.  Sure insurance would cover that, after we met the baby's $1000 deductible.  My deductible which was only $500 when we got pregnant changed to $1000 three months before baby was born.   So that $1500 I planed on paying changed to $4000 after all the bills came due.  Goodbye to all our savings and extra money in the bank.  I drained our resources and still owed about $1000.  I thought it would be best to pay off the doctors and hospital so I put our remaining balance on a credit card.  One of the worst mistakes I could have made.

Did you know that some hospitals will work with you?  They will set up a payment plan.  Some will take a look at your finances and if you qualify they will reduce your bill.  I didn't know all this.  I thought "The hospitals and doctors say I owe this by May 15th, so I better pay it by May 15th"

Oh how I hated that balance of $1000 on my credit card.

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