With the Royal Wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle fresh on everyone’s minds I thought it would be very topical to talk weddings! The big day is special, but the part that comes after you’ve become a married couple is what one should really focus on. If you think weddings are expensive you should consider the happily ever after. Married life can be costly! Together with Angelic Diamonds, retailers of engagement rings, we take a look at the costs that you’ll face after the wedding day once you’re a married couple. From starting a family to moving to a bigger home.
Expanding the Family
The joy of expanding your family unit is an incomparable one, but 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.
Take it all into consideration – nappies, clothing, nursery furniture, toys, and a pram, the cost of a baby can total £3,120 in the first year of their life! Developmental classes such as sensory or swimming classes could leave you £465.50 worse off.
There are different costs depending on how your baby is fed. Expect to spend about £165 to the 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.
School costs overall can be expensive but if your plan is to send your child to a private school the average annual outgoing to expect is £14,102. Nowadays children are asking for their first smartphone earlier on. 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.
Upsizing into a bigger home
Once the big day is over with and you’re a married couple, you might start to think about moving into a bigger home. Whether this is for investment purposes or to accommodate a bigger family, making a house move always incurs fees.
According to Compare My Move, the estimated cost of moving to a new house in 2018 in the UK is £8,885. This cost is based on the average UK property price which is currently at £226, 071 and takes into considerations stamp duty at £2,021, estate agent expenses at £3,391. This overall cost also considers general moving costs, which can add up to £1,236.66.
If you’re selling a house you also need to consider a few hidden costs. One of these is an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) which can cost you between £60 and £120. It can often be worthwhile getting a professional survey of your new property before you buy it to check the condition of it to prevent you from losing out on money. These can cost from £400 to over £1,000 depending on the survey that you choose.
Getting a new car
With a bigger family, the norm is to have a bigger car to accommodate your lot. The thing is the safer, bigger, and roomier the car the more it can cost to run it. 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.
According to What Car? the top ten family used cars sit between £8,000 and £14,000. And, if you were to choose a top new car, you can expect a family-suitable vehicle to cost between £16,995 and £29,495.
If you’re unsure of how much to spend on a new car, MoneyUnder30 advise the following:
- If you’re looking for a cheap car that gets you from A to B, you should budget around 10-15% of your annual income.
- For a safer and reliable vehicle, budget between 20 and 25% of your annual income.
- 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 couple life can be expensive — but it’s so worth it!
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