Starting a family is a serious commitment. Not only is it a serious emotional task that you need to undertake, but you also need to prepare financially. Here are the initial steps you can take to ensure that you have the essentials for your children.

Build Up Savings

A robust savings account is a must-have. In fact, that’s a good standard for life, not just for children; a savings account can make the difference between survival and disaster during an emergency. Savings are necessary for retirement, for children’s education, and for making sure you have a safety net in case you were to lose your job. Ideally, you would have started saving as soon as you became employed. If that’s not the case, try to save as much as you can for months or years before you have your first child. Do what you can to have those safety nets already in place. Thus, you will be able to afford the most important insurances and other essentials in your time of need.

Get Life Insurance

In the case of a tragic accident leading to the death of a parent, life insurance guarantees a significant payout that helps support the family during the grieving process. Not only does it help support, but it can actually be lifesaving – especially if the deceased parent in question was the primary breadwinner. It’s important to have life insurance the instant you have a child. You don’t want an unthinkable accident to leave your child struggling for basic necessities. Consider getting a more inclusive insurance plan as well; it’s just as important for a stay-at-home parent to have life insurance as a working spouse.

Calculate and Budget

Budgeting is critical not only for parenthood but for being financially autonomous in general. By planning and budgeting your future baby’s immediate costs, you will be able to see more clearly how they will factor into the coming months and years. Do adequate research to get a realistic estimation of the costs of birth, as well as the initial first few years of infancy. Will the costs be crippling enough to cause a serious financial problem? If so, you may want to consider saving for a bit longer.

The most important thing you can do is ensure that your child will have the basic necessities of life. Nutritious food, clean water, shelter, a healthy environment, and unconditional love are what they will need the most. Make sure that you have the finances to provide that – and you will be okay.