It is getting harder and harder to own a house, though we are renting.  Working out a fair and reasonable budget should help you out a little.  We pay a little amount on each of our bills each fortnight, so when the bills come in, they are almost paid for already.  Could also put this money into a secure savings account that has a target amount before taking it out again so that it is there just for the bills and other incidentals.  We have to do this now due to the fact our electricity company changed their prepay methods.

Renting is these days just as secure as owning a home, given the current climate and the housing market.

wow! that must be so hard and frustrateing at times for you. it can feel like such a long time to wait, especially when you feel so eager to start a family. i'm not sure if i really have any advice, but i will share my experience with you. i met my hubby young, so we had very little money. my hub who was my boyfriend at the time wanted to wait a while till we had children, he wanted us to have more money first, but its didn't end up happening that way at all lol. after i had my first i loved it so much i had a second and so on. i did always work on and of though. most cash jobs as that suited ourt situation best (hub always had a job) the thing is though for us we were already on the right track, and we were working hard together towards the same goals. if anything haveing a child made as work harder for what we wanted. there was no more "oh we can buy this and just wait a little longer to have another bub" if you get my drift. haveing kids is expensive yes, BUT! you get goverment assistance, no matter what your income, so its proabably a good idea to take advantage of it while its still available, cause who knows whats going to happen in the future. the number one thing though is make sure its a joint decision. you need to make sure you have permission to go ahead and get preg first and that you both have a plan. have you's both crunched the numbers and worked out exactly what you have to do, and how long it will really take to reach your goal? also is there some way your hub can earn some extra cash? maybie he could put his name down at a skill hire place, and take on some extra work and maybie land a better job down the track as a result. its hard to know what sort of advice you actually need, and i may not be the right person for it as we didn't exactly plan our kids so to speak. all the planning came along once our first and second baby came along. we know almost own our home on a small farm and we are doing well for ourselves as a result of the hard work we put in together. another thing to remember is you could spend forever trying to get this and that done before you decide to have a family, and the time really does fly by, and serioulsy there is nothing better in the world than haveing your own children. if money is an issue and you are smart people you will always find a way to get by. there really needs to be a balance and it needs to be fair on both of you.

I've been looking at all your questions and raising an eyebrow at each one. I haven't answered until now because I didn't know how. I have a feeling this needs to be more for Mick than Mel...

It's great that you are wanting to plan everything out so well, even down to the last dollar. But from a bit of life experience with having kids, I can tell you that whatever plans you make, they could all very quickly have to get thrown to the wayside at the last minute, because children and parenting are far from predictable.

Do you really need all the stuff that you are planning for? Many parents have children and cope just fine with no plans at all. I still haven't got a cot for my little fella, and I only just got his pram repaired (it got damaged when he was 2 weeks old) a couple of days ago. He's almost 8 weeks old now. I got a car capsule on hire when I finally got my car going, when he was three weeks old. I get his clothing, mostly second-hand and it's all good, just before he's about to grow out of the size he's in. I planned to have this baby, but I also planned to hold off of getting everything I supposedly needed until I did actually need it.

Babies can be astoundingly expensive if you want all the best stuff with all the bells and whistles, but believe me, they don't care if their cot cost $50 at a second-hand store or $1000 new. So long as they are warm, dry, comfortable, clean, well fed, loved and cuddled, they're happy. The only person you are satisfying with extras is yourself, and you'll be surprised how much you can do without if you need to. I think I've spent no more than $200 on my little one so far, that includes nappys, formula, a couple of toys, a dummy he refuses to have anything to do with, etc. You will also be surprised how much people will give to you when you have a baby as well.

Regarding the house, generally speaking you are best being where you are most comfortable. If you are happy where you are and it isn't costing you more than you can afford, stay there. Owning a house has one advantage - when your kids start throwing cricket balls through the windows you can get them replaced when you can afford it, not when your landlord says you have to. But on the other hand, if things around the house start falling apart through no fault of yours, the landlord has to fix it, not you. If you have a good relationship with and can rent off of family you might be able to have the best of both worlds.

I'm not saying don't plan it out, but relax a little bit. Sometimes things don't go according to plan. Sometimes we lose our babies before they are born. Sometimes we don't get pregnant until years after we wanted a child. Sometimes it never happens at all. And sometimes we end up having to rush our plans because that baby decided that it wanted to exist a lot sooner than we were ready for it! The greatest plan you should be considering is how to improvise for things when your best thought out plan 'a's have to suddenly had to switch to plan 'b', 'c', 'd', and 'omg what do we do now!'

Do a budget of what you both earn & what you spend each month. In the budget, pretend you already have a baby & do an estimate of costs (mainly ongoing costs such as nappies, formulas, creams, wipes, baby food, etc).

Once you have your expenditure for each month, look into the costs of a house - repayments, insurances, rates, repairs, etc. Add that to the expenditure you have worked out & see if you can afford it.

Take your time looking into all aspects of buying a house. Look at the prices in areas you like & see what areas are well priced, & keep a record of prices in the areas to see where prices are rising or falling.

If you do buy, to make sure your house has a good rate of increase in value, look at the following: close to shops, close to transport, close to schools, quiet (cul-de-sacs are good), good development of the area. A house near some, or better if all, of these things will rise in value more than a house that is not. By doing this, if you do find it necessary to sell later on down the track, you will get a better price.

Good luck with everything!

my advice. DONT BUY A HOUSE. unless you both are earning $60+ a year and you are going to work till you have to go on maternity leave and then backt o work at 6 weeks after bubs is born, then you have day care and formular on top of that.

stay with the granny flat. get second hand cars. live cheaply. dont go over board and save as much as you can.

we live in our own house with a catch, it is owned by my in laws. we pay the morgage they pay the rates and get a tax thing so we get things done about the house. we do what we want..

to be honest dont buy a house for a couple of years its not worth it at the moment. I know. only a couple of people no this but my beautiful brand new home has been repossesed and is being auctioned by the bank this mth.we couldnt afford it on 1 wage and he had a great wage anyway thats my oppinion. its up to you what you do but really sit down and work all your $$$$ out first.

 If I had waited until i had enough money for a house, i wouldn't have 5 kids lol. There is always going to be a reason to wait for things to be perfect But that never happens! Children need love not riches. Ok, food and shelter is needed but a baby is never going to complain that it's not five star. I have always provided for my kids, there's always a way even on a limited budget. I'd stay where you are while the baby was young so you could save more easily.