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The INDEPENDENT, May 5, 2011
Having a baby? Get finances in order Learn how to safely preserve food
by Jason Alderman (www.
practicalmoneyskills.com)
I wouldn’t trade the experi-
ence of raising my two kids for
anything, but I must admit that
when my wife and I started
planning our family, we had no
idea how expensive it would
be. According to a Department
of Agriculture report, a typical
middle-income family will
spend over $280,000 in infla-
tion-adjusted dollars to raise a
child born in 2009 until age 18
– and that doesn’t include pre-
natal care or college costs.
Take it from one who knows,
you’ll want to have “the money
talk” well before the baby is
born and you’re bleary-eyed
from lack of sleep. Here are a
few budgeting tips:
Create a health budget. Be-
fore the baby is born, find out
what benefits your insurance
will cover taking into account
monthly premiums, deductibles
and copayments. For example,
are prenatal exams, baby
check-ups and immunizations
covered? Ask what your share
of delivery costs will be. If com-
plications arise, such as need-
ing a Caesarian delivery or pre-
mature baby incubation, costs
could skyrocket.
Parental leave. Learn your
employer’s policies, since
some require up to a year’s
employment before certain
benefits like paid leave, short-
term disability and unpaid leave
kick in. In addition, the federal
Family and Medical Leave Act
allows up to 12 weeks of un-
paid leave for births or adop-
tions, so check with your bene-
fits department to see if you’re
eligible.
Know what things cost. We
were amazed how many
“things” our babies needed.
Must-haves include a car seat
(required by law), crib and bed-
ding, stroller, diapers, baby for-
mula, medical and grooming
supplies, clothing and home
baby-proofing. Add in things
like a baby bathtub, baby mon-
itor and safety gates and we’re
talking thousands of dollars be-
fore the kid is even crawling.
Practical Money Skills for Life,
a free personal financial man-
agement program run by Visa
Inc., contains a handy calcula-
tor that can help estimate baby-
related expenses (www.practi-
calmoneyskills.com).
Anticipate lost wages. When
budgeting for living costs, fac-
tor in lost earnings that typical-
ly occur when a parent either
temporarily leaves the work-
place or chooses a job more
open to flex hours or part-time
work. Down the road, you’ll
also need to weigh the cost of
child care versus returning to
work.
Investigate tax advantages.
Ask whether your employer of-
fers health care and dependent
care flexible spending accounts
(FSAs). These accounts let you
pay for eligible out-of-pocket
medical and child care expens-
es on a pre-tax basis – that is,
before federal, state and Social
Security taxes have been de-
ducted. This lowers your tax-
able income, and therefore,
your taxes.
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You could save hundreds or
thousands of dollars on ex-
penses you’d have to pay for
anyway. And remember, you’re
typically allowed to change
benefit coverage after having a
baby, so you could probably
add FSAs midyear.
Depending on your income,
number of eligible dependents
and other factors, the depend-
ent care tax credit for federal
income taxes may be prefer-
able, although Dependent Care
FSAs usually provide the
greater tax advantage for most
people, especially at higher in-
comes. IRS Form 2441 at
www.irs.gov can help you cal-
culate whether the tax credit is
preferable. Or, ask your tax ad-
visor which method is best for
you.
Raising a family is one of
life’s most rewarding experi-
ences. Just be sure you plan
carefully for the financial
bumps in the road.
Free chat about
Heart failure
Heart Failure: Important
Things to Know and Do, is the
topic of a 90-minute free pres-
entation to be held Thursday,
May 12, at 6:00 p.m.
Being told that you or your
loved one has heart failure can
be frightening. This presenta-
tion will include the basics of
what heart failure is and what
kinds of treatment options are
recommended.
Pamela Michalowski, RN,
BSN, will be the speaker at this
talk at the Tuality Healthcare
Education Center, 334 SE 8th
Ave., Hillsboro. Those who
plan to attend are asked to call
503-681-1700.
Fast Service
503-805-2663
O.M.M.P. card required
Visit us online at www.goweed.org
503-901-1705
“The most important part of
safe and healthy food preser-
vation is to obtain current, test-
ed instructions and to follow
them.” Jeanne Brandt of OSU
Extension Service reminds
consumers. As the food preser-
vation season nears, she en-
courages people to review their
instruction books to make cer-
tain they are up-to-date and
from a reliable source.
To help Oregonians access
the most recent information re-
lated to all methods of food
preservation, OSU Extension
Service has placed all of their
food preservation manuals on-
line, along with links to other
approved references. http://ex-
tension.oregonstate.edu/fch/fo
od-preservation
For consumers who desire
hands-on instruction, OSU is
offering a 4-part series of class-
es on Wednesday evenings in
May. Topics are: Basic food
preservation and jams/jellies;
Canning fruits and pie fillings;
Pressure canning meats and
vegetables; Tomatoes and
tomato products. Preregistra-
tion is required. Classes are
$40 each or $150 for the se-
ries. They will be held at the
OSU Food Innovation Center,
1207 NW Naito Parkway, Port-
land. For more information and
to register, see http://fic.ore-
gonstate.edu/ or call 503-872-
6680.
Columbia County
Mental Health
800-294-5211
-----------------
Suicide Hotline
1-800-
784-2433
or
1-800-273-
TALK(8255)
Domestic Abuse
Hotline
503-397-6161
or
866-397-6161
-----------------
Military Helpline
888-HLP-4-VET
(888-457-4838)