Now that the news of having twins has sunk in, it's time to
get a bit more serious. The third installment of my Twin Tips series will help
you plan your budget if you're expecting twins and don't have George Clooney or
Beyonce money. So read below for some tips on how to prepare financially for
your twins' arrival.
Review your health insurance coverage.
When it comes to prenatal care, twin pregnancies mean more
checkups and more tests. Normally, checkups and 2D ultrasounds are covered
while 3D ultrasounds and your Congenital Anomaly Scan are not. Knowing what's
covered and what's not will help you prepare for your out-of-pocket costs.
Prepare additional delivery money.
It's never too early to plan for your delivery expenses. The
moment you plan to conceive, you can ask your hospital of choice if they have
maternity packages and use those rates as your target amount. But once you find
out you're having twins (somewhere around your 6th to 10th week of pregnancy),
you will have around 7 months to double up on your savings. Keep in mind that
every twin birth is different. You may have a normal or a C-section delivery,
your twins may go home right away or they may have to stay in the NICU if they
were born a bit early. The NICU can cost around P10,000 and more per baby per
day so it's best to be prepared. Examine your current expenses and cut back on optional items in order to save more.
Focus on the essentials.
It's really tempting to buy all those cute matchy-matchy
outfits for your twins. But trust me, all those fancy stuff will only be used a
couple of times. Spend your money on must-haves like car seats that meet safety
standards and sturdy cribs. Stock up on items that your twins will be using on
a daily basis such as cotton side-tie tops, basic onesies, pajamas, swaddles,
booties, mittens and hats. And of course, don't forget to budget for diapers!
During your twins' first few months, you'll probably go through 120-140 diapers
on a weekly basis which can translate to around P1,000 in diaper expenses for a
week.
Save for college.
College tuition continues to rise every year. So the earlier
you start saving for your twins' college tuition fees, the better. There are
lots of options available such as life insurance plans with investment
components or mutual funds. Joey and I started preparing for the twins'
college tuition fees by investing in mutual funds. For us, this is the most
convenient way to go because we only need to add money to our chosen mutual
fund every month while a professional
fund manager makes the investment decisions for us in order to yield the best
return. As they say, a peso invested today is worth much more than a peso
invested in the future. You can already start saving for your twins' college
education even if they haven't been born yet in order to make paying for 2
tuition fees simultaneously more manageable.
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