Mummies, have you heard the good news of the new grant offered by the government to help support the raising of newborn babies?
As parents, we aim to give nothing but the best to our children, and this can prove to be a huge financial responsibility for the family. Any form of help provided to ease some of our expenses would be greatly welcomed.
Here’s the gist of the baby support grant:
- Parents of Singaporean children born from Oct 1 this year to Sept 30, 2022, can get a one-off $3,000 grant to help them defray the cost of raising a child amid the pandemic.
- The Baby Support Grant will supplement the existing Baby Bonus cash gift – which can go up to $10,000 – and will be deposited into the same bank account that parents have nominated for receiving the cash gift.
- Payments will start from April 1 next year or within one month of enrolment in the Baby Bonus scheme, whichever is later.
Other support put in place to help ease financial burdens are as follows:
Source: The Straits Times
This initiative by the government is offered to support couples who are thinking of delaying marriage and starting their family plans. So if you are holding out on it, know that you would get some form of support.
For mummies who are delivering soon, your baby is coming just in time to benefit from this.
Be Wise With Your Expenses And Finances
Need help to manage the cash you receive so that it won’t be splurged in a hurry on random things?
One way is to make a list of the baby essentials that will be needed instead of the nice-to-have items. Have a budget for these essentials and keep within the budget you’ve set.
When buying these essentials, you can take time to do your shopping and choose quality items that can last for a long time. It’s wiser to pay a little more for something that will see more use.
Some of us like to buy things in bulk because of the cheaper per unit price offered. But we can end up storing the things for months before needing to use it.
Personally, I think instead of forking more in advance to benefit from the slightly cheaper per unit price is not worth it. So I choose to replenish only when needed. Plus, saves me the storage space to keep all the extras, too.
Also, keep in mind that we don’t need to buy too many pieces of cute clothing for our bundle of joy at one particular time. Babies outgrow their clothes very quickly as they grow. Some of my favourite baby onesies were worn only once and it was such a shame to let them go after splurging on them.
You may also want to think about the choices around you, whether something that’s disposable can be replaced with something reusable.
In the long run, using reusables will save us lots of money. Granted, it may involve more work of washing, but it might well be worth the savings.
Plan Wisely And Stay Safe
However you choose to use this grant, do so wisely. If you already have the essentials in place, then you can always put this into a new baby savings account. I opened a kid bank account for my boys when they were babies and all their ang pow money are banked in there for safekeeping every year.
So plan your journey, your finances wisely, and most importantly, remember to stay well and safe at all times.