Once you have figured out how to put your baby to sleep, and even if you have managed to get some sleep yourself, you’ll probably still be too exhausted to address the many ways your little one is likely to affect your financial life.

So this week’s Your Money column tries to compile the many money-related tasks and decisions you will face as a new parent in a giant guide. We didn’t have the space to print every single item on the to-do list, so we’ve listed some more of them below. Please add your own in the comment section.

• Budget for Help Consider what kind of support system you’ll have in the early days after you take the baby home. If the father has to go back to work and a new mother doesn’t have family or friends nearby, it may make sense to budget for a doula, night nurse, babysitter or housecleaner for some much-needed relief.
• Take That Babymoon It may seem like silly or obvious advice, but it may be a while before the two of you can escape as a couple. “You’ll miss this, quickly feel the pull of ‘saving money’ and find yourself three years out without having taken any trips,” said Kristin Harad, a financial planner in San Francisco whose firm, Vitavie Financial Planning, focuses on new parents.
• Subscribe to Everything If you live near one of the big warehouse clubs, this is probably a good place to start buying diapers and related baby items in bulk. But if you live in a city without a car, think about subscribing to everything. I no longer have time to think about what we’re running low on, so, after much research, I decided to start monthly or bimonthly subscriptions, through Amazon.com, to diapers, baby wipes and a variety of sundries. The deals aren’t going to blow you away, but many items cost about what you would pay at a wholesale club and they’re delivered to your doorstep.
• More on Estate Planning In addition to the steps laid out in the column, each parent should also create a durable power of attorney, which allows a person to handle your financial affairs if you become incapacitated. Estate planning experts also recommend creating medical directives. These will vary depending on where you live, but they generally include documents that will appoint a person to make medical decisions on your behalf if you cannot make them for yourself, as well as instructions on life support.
• Letters of Instruction Lauren Lindsay, director of financial planning at Personal Financial Advisors, created a letter of instruction for the guardian and trustee she appointed in her will for her daughter. It essentially outlines how she would like her daughter’s money to be spent.  “This is not binding but made me feel better,” she added.

What steps did you take to get your financial and legal house in order before or after bringing home your new child?

Article source: http://bucks.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/03/08/how-did-you-prepare-for-your-baby/?partner=rss&emc=rss