Pregnancy
How much should you actually save before the baby comes?
Don't start from a national average. Work out your own number: the income your household actually loses while she's off work, plus about three months of ordinary expenses as a buffer, plus a few hundred for gear you'll genuinely need. For most couples the lost income dwarfs everything a baby-cost article talks about.
How to work out your own number
There is no national figure worth having, because the answer is dominated by your income gap and your childcare costs and both are local. This is the sum instead.
- Her take-home pay, per month. The real figure from a payslip, not the salary.
- Minus the paid parental leave she will actually receive — from the government scheme and from her employer, both in writing. Employers vary enormously and the difference is often thousands.
- Times the number of months she will be off. That product is the income gap, and it is nearly always the largest number on the page.
- Plus three months of your household's ordinary outgoings as a buffer, in a separate account. Its job is that a broken car doesn't become a crisis in the same month as a newborn.
- Plus the gear — a few hundred if you are sensible, because much of it arrives borrowed, gifted or secondhand.
your number = (her take-home − parental leave paid) × months off + 3 months' outgoings + gear
Method · Inland Revenue NZ — Paid parental leave · Reviewed JUL 2026
The three numbers that matter
- The income gap. Her normal take-home, minus whatever paid parental leave she'll actually receive, times the number of months she'll be off. Get the real figures from your government scheme and her employer, in writing. This is nearly always the biggest number by a distance.
- The buffer. Three months of your household's ordinary outgoings, sitting in a separate account you don't look at. Its job is that a broken car or a boiler doesn't become a crisis in the same month as a newborn.
- The gear. Genuinely a few hundred if you're sensible, because a large share of it is borrowed, gifted or bought secondhand.
What actually costs money, month to month
- Nappies and wipes — relentless, small, adds up.
- Formula, if you use it. This is a real ongoing cost and it is not a moral question.
- Heating. Your house will be warmer for longer than it used to be.
- Convenience: takeaways, deliveries, parking, taxis. Nobody budgets for this and everybody spends it.
- Later, childcare — the largest single cost of the first few years in most countries, and worth researching long before you need it.
What genuinely doesn't need buying new
- Clothes. You'll be given more than you can use, in the wrong sizes.
- Moses basket, bouncer, baby bath, play mat, carrier — borrowed or secondhand is fine and they get used for weeks.
- Changing table. A towel on a bed works.
- Most "nursery" anything, given that safe-sleep guidance in most countries has the baby in your room for months.
What to do this month
- Find out your actual parental-leave entitlements — both of you, in writing, from the scheme and the employer.
- Set up an automatic transfer on payday into a separate account. The amount matters less than the automation.
- Cancel two subscriptions you don't use. It's small, and it's momentum.
- Agree a rule for who can spend what without asking. Money arguments after a baby are usually about surprise, not amount.
Quick answers
Is there a single number I should aim for?
No honest one, because the answer is dominated by your income gap and your childcare costs, both of which are local. Anyone quoting you a universal figure is guessing.
What's the most commonly underestimated cost?
Time off work — both hers and, later, the days you'll take when the baby is ill and nursery won't take them.
Sources
- Health New Zealand / IR — Paid parental leave
- US DOL — Family and Medical Leave Act
- Consumer product recalls (NZ)
3 sources · Reviewed JUL 2026 · Editorial policy
Every figure on this page links to its primary source. If one is out of date, tell us and we'll fix it.
