The Costs Of Married Life

Last weekend we were guests at a family wedding and it was a really lovely day. We know how much planning had gone in to making it the perfect day. It's took years, some stress, quite a few sleepless nights and lots of money. The planning for a wedding begins with an engagement ring and usually ends after the vows. Now that the day is over it's time to start life as a married couple. Most will go on a honeymoon but some will start planning their new life and then time to save money starts again.

For many couples, having children is the next big step after marriage. Starting your own family can be costly — let’s take a look at some of the costs that you can expect to face after pregnancy. 

When you factor in nappies, clothing, nursery furniture, toys, and a pram, the cost of a baby can total £3,120 in the first year of their life alone. If you plan on attending activity classes with your new-born, such as sensory or swimming classes, you could face an additional annual cost of £465.50. 

How you feed your baby can result in different outgoings too. Add £165 to this yearly cost if you plan on breastfeeding, or a whopping £1,040 should you opt for bottle feeding. 

After maternity leave, child care expenses will need to be considered. Statistics have shown that for a relatively well-off couple in the UK, the cost of childcare is the highest in the world. In Britain, the average cost of sending a child under two to part-time day nursery is £122.46 per week. For full-time care, this rises to £232.84. 

It can depend on where in the country you live as to what costs you will face — part-time day nursery can cost around £42 more per week in London than the British average and full-time care increases by £73 in the capital. 

When you first have a baby, their first day at school can seem a long way off. But, if you are considering sending your child to a private school, you must consider the average annual outgoing of £14,102.  

At the age of ten, it’s likely that they’ll be asking for their first smartphone. If you’ll be the one to pay for this, you can expect to fork out around £27 per month — or £324 per year. 

As you can see, it can be costly, and this is before you add the cost of an average holiday (£3,133 for a family of four) and those Christmas and birthday presents.

Once the big day is over with, you might start to think about moving into a bigger home. Whether this is for investment purposes or to accommodate for a bigger family, you’ll face some extra costs when you do decide to make the move. 

Along with moving to a new house and starting a family, you might want to swap that convertible for a more family-appropriate car. 
Of course, it’s up to you how much you spend on a new car, but you should expect it to set you back a few pounds! In fact, the running costs of an average family car in the UK costs £1,000 more than in the USA and Australia, £1,825 more than Japan and £2,000 more than in China. 

If you consider a car as a lifestyle item and not just as a form of transport, consider spending around 50% of your annual income on a car.

Even though strict saving might have temporarily paused when the wedding arrives, it’s likely you’ll have to dig deep again for the future! With starting a family, moving to a new house and buying a bigger car, married life can be expensive — but it’s so worth it! 

Michelle

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