Are you expecting a new baby or maybe you’ve just added an adorable bundle of joy to your household? For a lot of new parents, there is so much to think of that you may actually not think of everything, so here’s a few hints and tips to help you plan for your new baby.
Emergency Phone Number List
Post one of these in a prime area in your home near the phone or on the refridgerator . You want numbers like poison control, nearby hospital, your neighbors and the pediatrician’s office. If your baby has special health concerns, you want those posted in plain sight too – you can go ahead and program those into your home and cell phone too.
Write Up Your Will
This may sound morbid to some people, but tragedies do occur. You want to have a say in who will be your baby’s guardian and who will be the trustee for their inheritance such as it is. If you don’t have mortgage insurance on your house, now is the time to get it. Life insurance policies should be updated as well. Most children will receive a social security checks for their deceased parents until their 18th birthday, but if you take the time to plan – then you know what will happen for your baby after you are gone and you don’t have to worry about decisions being made that you don’t want to have happen.
The Baby File
Yep, that’s right – you need to devote an entire section of your file cabinet to your baby. There’s going to be lots of paperwork and necessities that you need to keep track of for your infant and if you keep them altogether in a file so that you can lay hands on them at will. Some papers that you will keep in this file will include growth charts, birth certificate, immunization schedule, the social security card and more. If your baby has a passport or baby identification card, this is another good place to keep those records.
College Saving’s Account
Considering what college is going to cost in about eighteen years, it’s never to early to start saving up money for them. It can be as simple as opening a 529 or an investment savings account and putting just 10 dollars a week in it. Imagine if you will, at 10 dollars a week – you can save up over two thousand dollars in just four years – at that rate, you will save over ten thousand before their eighteenth birthday. Remember what they say about a little going a long way?
What kind of things did you do to plan forward for when your new baby arrived?
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