1NEETO

Keep the car. You will take a big loss if you trade it so soon after buying it. As for child expenses and all that, first of all you don't need to buy a home, it's perfectly fine to rent, in fact it's better to rent now than to rush and buy a home you can't probably afford. Child expenses is not all that bad. You just have to sacrifice a few things like going out a bit less, less mods for your car, less beer etc. As for private schools, unless your local public schools are complete ****, your kid will be fine. Most of your kid's education happens at home anyway. Funny how many parents blame the public schools for their child's ****ty education, yet they have no problem keeping the kid glued to the tv while at home.

My kid is now 12 years old. He's going to public school and he's doing fine. He has better spelling than most people here that's for sure. When he was born all I had was a '92 eagle talon and I wasn't going to get rid of it. I wrestle with the car seat for years and got used to it, it's not that bad, especially after they grow out if the rear facing configuration.

Keep the car you and your family will be fine. Maybe you can try and save some money for a cheap sedan. But to trade the G will be a bad idea.

FireSquirrel540

Thanks very much for the advice. The thing is, it's my first kid and I really don't know what to expect. When I ask around it seems like just as many people say it won't be a big deal financially compared to those who say the opposite. me and her make decent money, I'm a firefighter and she works for the government. I don't think we'll be scraping by but we will definitely be cutting back on a lot of things we took for granted before. The reason for the longer commute is because I live in maryland and she lives and works in Pennsilvania. With the budget crisis she can't transfer out of her office to one in my state so easily so for now we have to pick a middle point to live in so both of our work commutes are equal. unfortuantely for me this means I''ll be moving farther away from where I work. Not looking forward to putting alot of miles on my G but hopefully it will be temporary until she can transfer to an office in maryland.

pricojorge

iTrader: (3)

should have gone with the sedan !

Vasher

I have great public schools around me. Third ranked in the nation is close (by test scores/academic program), but "great" compared to what? I have friends with children in the public schools around me. One is in a highly regarded magnet program. This child is doing the same level work in an accelerated 4'th grade program as my child is doing in the 1'st grade. Most kids in 1'st grade are reading "The Cat in the Hat", my son just turned in a four page book report in Charles Darwin's biography. Public schools, in general, prepare students for mediocrity at best.


I don't think this is off topic, Fireman's having a baby!

By the way, congrats on the new addition, Fireman.

icfp1980

I went through this same situation last year. First off, big congrats! It will change your life for the better, IMO. I also have a coupe with now a two month old baby girl. It took me some time but I ended up keeping the G and buying a cheap but reliable everyday car. 2000 Rodeo with 102k clean everything for a little over 3k. It saved me from selling my G and with the rodeo I have my family car. Lol. So if u can save up a couple grand go that route. Best of luck!

samg37

If you are tight with the money y did you even get the g never rely on one car... that's just my opinion

Ibanez540r

iTrader: (1)

Just don't let the financial "Scare" of a kid scare you to much. My first is 2 1/2 with my second on the way. All I remember prior to, is everyone talking about how expensive kids are, expensive, expensive, scare, scare, etc. Looking back, it's not bad. Initially to furnish the nursery etc. can get a little pricey, but moust people get a lot of help with a shower. The other big factor is, we had friends and family for babysitting most of the time. If you are paying daycare, then that changes things a bit.

..I also had my Accord Coupe up until, well, a month or so ago. It did have a pretty damn big back seat for a coupe, but the coupe thing is also not as bad as most play it off. At least not for me because I liked my car. I will say it started to get annoying after 2 years - but that may have been an excuse to get the G

Basically, don't do anything drastic. Sounds like you guys are doing OK. Keep your car, and make adjustments as needed. I think you'll find everything to be smoother then expected.

NOW - the worst part - DEALING WITH A PREGNANT B****!!!! OMG, it's the worst! ..I forgot being 2 1/2 years ago, but now with the second on the way, I don't think I could deal with her being pregnant again. They get all kids of crazy

Gobbler Man

Most important thing to knowing if you can afford something is knowing your actual budget. Start there first. Planning your budget is pretty simple if you keep your statements. You can get your monthly bills, general food cost, gas cost, etc. Take into account the sharing of expenses.

You will need to estimate a gas budget based off your per month miles now and the addition of the commute. Dont forget to add some extra money in for the rising gas prices. Also, include any additional travel not in the regular commute (ie, traveling to old neighborhood to visit friends).

Once you have this baseline, you will know what the budget looks like with the addition of the commute. If you are too low based on this, then you cant afford it and will need to look at other options.

If you can afford it on these calculations, then you will need to estimate how the infant will impact the budget. This gets harder. You can google this and try to find a reasonable number. The baby will impact your budget, but can vary. Some examples to think about...increase to insurance, doctor bills, baby sitting, etc.

The bottom line though is "loss of value" really cant come into this equation. If you cant balance your budget with the car, commute, and baby, you will have to eat the loss. What will happen at the end of the month if you are $200 in the negative?

kchu221

iTrader: (4)

congrats on your new baby! goodlcuk with the choice you make!

turbo600hp

big congrats to the baby. it is wonderful thing. I have two young daughers. 2 and 4. when my first one was born, i was driving Acura RSX-S. i kept that car until she turned one. It got smaller back seat than G but i was able to put my car seat there. Yea it was pain in the rear to get baby out especially when it was raining. but ilove my car. after about a year, my wife decided to get SUV, so i sold my RSX, took over her TSX. when my 2nd one turned 1, i sold TSX, get 09 G coupe. just about last month, i traded it for 11 coupe. Kids sits in the back fine even with booster seat.
you will defintely lost at least 4k if you sell back to dealer. keep those aftermarket stuff if you decide to sell, they are not going to increase the value. how it might help if you sell your car to private party.

Having kids will defintely change your life. but as long as both of you have stable job, it will not have too much burden financially. it all depends on what you want to give to the baby. Diapers and formulas are expensive, but it is one year. as long as keeping this car is not becoming burden of your life or potential fight with your gf, then keep it. However remember, family always goes first. it is just damn car. you can always get better one later on, but you can't replace your family

FireSquirrel540

Like I said, I bought the G about a week before finding out she was pregant. I had always really wanted a nice car and after busting my hump and saving a good wad of cash I was in a perfect position to get it. At that point I was babyless with a nice looking bank account and with very little bills to pay, so why not?

Regardless we are both very excited, I crunched some numbers the other day and despite all of the changes we are going to have to make we are still in the positives, we'll be able to save money just at a slower rate than before.

Anyway thank you all very much for the well wishes and helpful advice

samg37

good to hear.. because when i was buying the G i looked at it from all the sides.. like what if this happens and that happen.. so my suggestion was to plan ahead of time.. but since you are doing ok.. thats good to hear and enjoy with the G!