She's pregnant!

Sitting at the table at a coffee joint yesterday, I had my wife on my right, and a new friend of mine on the left.  In passing I made a comment as a joke.

"Truth is, she could be pregnant and I wouldn't know, she probably is and just isn't telling me." I laughed.

She got a huge grin on her face and looked at both of us.

"....well, actually."  She said. "I am!"

I choked on my coffee.

I then went into a stare for the next 20 minutes as I processed it.  I'm gonna be a dad!

I'm not allowed to tell anyone yet.  So, surely random strangers on an internet forum don't count. Right? :)

So, truth be told, it's perfect timing. It's exactly at the point where I was planning.  4 years ago, I was single, but seeing Nicky, and set myself some goals that I planned on acheiving.

1. Married, House, Kids.

2. 250'000 pa.

3. My own Television show.

It's taken me 4 years to get this far, but since writing that list, I have kept it in my mind and worked on it daily.   I organised a proposal, saved up for a ring, stayed in my position and found out what it would take to get my first property.

This is the video of my proposal.
http://www.youtube.com/user/benanaman#p/u/14/AaolWgjdmZQ

I move in in one weeks time to my first house, which is a duplex and works as an investment property aswell.  I'm about to make a video as the keys get handed over. The reason that I made it a duplex was because I knew that if Nicky was to get pregnant, I'd very quickly lose a second income. I'd go from double income no kids, to single income with kids! Higher expenses, lower income. With the duplex that I have set up, the money that I will be making from the other side of my house is pretty close to replacing her income, so we should be able to continue with the dink lifestyle, even though Nicky is also a full-time mum.

*cracks knuckles*  It's all comin' together.

It's just so satisfying to finally tick off the first goal.  Married, tick, house, tick, kids. TICK! Goal One, complete.

The timing is perfect. Onto phase two.  Figuring out how to make 250'000 per year. I believe the vehicle will be through property.  Looking to get two investment properties this year, following steves model.

Just a rant. :)

Benjamin Csikos

I have an unquenchable desire to be noticed. Hello world.

www.youtube.com/benanaman
benanaman@hotmail.com

Enormous and heartfelt congratulations to both you and your wife.  Such a very special time of your lives.  The kids are the best and most important investment you will ever make.  Coming from a Mum of three who eight months ago had her last baby and is sadly letting go of the baby years ever so slowly.

Now you can't leverage your super to do that, can you?

Put happy and well adjusted family, time to spend with the kids above point number 2.  Kids need your time, no one ever says they regret spending too much time with their kids.  As modern and affluent parents it is too easy to keep working, keeping earning the bucks and keep buying stuff for the kids to make us feel better.  They don't need stuff, they need you.  It is terrific that your wife will be a full time mum.  I am (basically) and I count our blessings every day - we are so very fortunate to be able to do that, many simply can't. 

Things I reccommend:  Steve Biddulphs book, "Raising Boys", Dr Spocks book on Child health and parenting, breastfeeding, a sling (like the way people carry their babies in third world countries) and a cradle that rocks and can go next to your bed for the first 6 months.

Good luck
S

Congrats - And I agree with SHales - except for the Dr.Spock book bit - while he now disagrees with his earlier 'opinions' , the anti-discipline approach  and the 'let them find their own way' bit is why we have all these stupid laws now in Aust, and why so many kids today are literally doing whatever they want, whenever they want, and the parents (who get blamed for their terrible behaviour from all and sundry inc the police) can't do a thing to stop them!
Woops - bit carried away there - better stop before I get wound up.
Family - enjoy the special journey Benjamin!

Cheers

A common misconception - have you read any spock?  I refer to his discipline techniques a bit and find it useful food for thought.  Dr spock died in 1998 at 94 years of age - you must be better connected than me if you have his current opnion.  ;)
S

Looks like he did indeed 'live long and prosper....'  Whoops - wrong Dr. Spock there I was quoting from Shales!   ;-)

Q:  How many members of the USS Enterprise does it take to change a  
light bulb?


A: Six: Scotty to get on the intercom when the light goes out and say
        "I canna do it, Cap'n! These bulbs are stoon dead",
        Spock to tell Kirk he is proceeding illogically,
        McCoy to say "They're dead, Jim!" and
        "Dammit Jim-I'm a doctor not an electrician!!",
        Kirk to screw it in,
        and two red-shirt security men to die in the process.

Benjamin Csikos

I have an unquenchable desire to be noticed. Hello world.

www.youtube.com/benanaman
benanaman@hotmail.com

When I was a teenager I worked in a video shop for a couple of lesbians (that's beside the point but it adds to the colour of the story) who were a bit obsessed by Star Trek.  They went to Star Trek conventions and could speak Klingon.  Other than that they were pretty normal....

wow thats amazing!!!!!  as SHales said - investing in your children and wife will be the most satisfying investment you could ever make :D  not to say its always rosey ... but its what life is about!

im a stay at home mum to 2, with another 1 on the way.  i did work for my first year as a mother and i must say - being in the centre of the home is an amazing privieledge :)

i wont recommend any books to you (although ive read a few shockers, a few that made me roll my eyes with every page turn, and a few goodies) and you will for the next 2 years be given parenting advice whether you want it or not ... but i will say to just trust your paternal instincts.  with all the advice from every angle you will be given, your instincts will prove your greatest ally.

i like ur plan with the duplex.  but also keep in mind that with your wife stopping work to become a mum you may be eligible for family tax benefits A and B.  plus also the baby bonus money for a temporary boost.  so they will also help with your budgeting.  depending on how your IP is structured.  i was getting FTB A and also B (was over a couple of hundred a fortnight) with our first IP in joint names .... but now that we have another we get nothing

all the best for the next 18 years :)  teeheee

****************************************************
xxx K

Im just a housewife and mummy that likes to dabble in property investment!

My new blog to record my journey:
http://propertyinvestorhousewife.blogspot.com

He hehe how funny I went on holidays this week and just happened to pick up a Star Trek book from 1977 in a second hand shop! Nerd Alert! My parents firmly believed in the good guidance from the Trek world Original series only for me though!

BC - Those red Shirts are a dime a dozen! Also you will soon stop smiling when your wife starts dropping her breakfast lunch and dinner - everywhere! Cross your fingers for no morning sickness!

V8ghia those young hoons are everywhere (hsv r8 right here)!

All you mums at home you rock! I've got a 3 yr old and a 10mth old and have still managed to stay home and do the townhouse development on the side. (Yes I have a husband, yes he helps out....yes he works 6 days a week, yes property will be our retirement plan!) My 3 yr old now understands when we are going to "the building site" as he wasn't even walking when we started.

I'd recommend "Yummy Mummys Survival guide" which I bought because it made reference to Sarah Beeny (Property Ladder on pay tv)

Enjoy! 

D

Work Smart, Not Hard.

ha!  I thought you were a guy, Dwolfe.

My bad. :)

Benjamin Csikos

I have an unquenchable desire to be noticed. Hello world.

www.youtube.com/benanaman
benanaman@hotmail.com

Hahaha! Don't worry most people do! I do like building sites, beer and V8's! All part of the fun that is a forum for the invisible.

D

Work Smart, Not Hard.

So Karen, who should I talk to about getting these family tax benefits? This sounds good... this sounds very good!

Benjamin Csikos

I have an unquenchable desire to be noticed. Hello world.

www.youtube.com/benanaman
benanaman@hotmail.com

We get our FTB A and B retrospectively when we lodge a tax return.  Your accountant should be able to tell you what to do.  Alternatively you can call the Family Assistance Office and register on the phone.  They might send you a form.  If you want to get the money fortnightly, you have to estimate your earnings.  Underestimate and they may overpay you and you may have to pay it back - which I hate the thought of, which is why I claim retrospectively.  It often means I get a $4K refund cheque. 

Also, I agree with what Karen says, parenting advice comes thick and fast.  Some of it's good, some not so good, some hilariously wrong - trust your instincts, and your wifes - they are the best guide you have.

Yes, SAHM's rock!  We should have a property investing SAHM's club!  I also run our business, which includes operating a liveweight cattle scale at a saleyard.  I've got an employee there now, but when we took the contract on last year, 1 week after I had Harry, I was piling all three kids - newborn included, in the car at 6.30 am to weigh cattle for an hour or so about 3 times a week.  I had toys and a baby rocker and colouring pens and paper in the scale office, and a box of food.  The kids loved it and would get up at 6.00 and ask me "Are we going to the scales this morning" - even my 2 year old daughter would say it.  I would weigh cattle (just operating a computer really) while breastfeeding and umpiring fights between the 4 year old and the 2 year old.  Man I'm glad I've got an employee in there now!  Now I've just got to run the office which is at home, and which I descend upon when I get babies to sleep. 

S

Well,   there's certainly power in unity.  And you said a SAHM property investing club?  Now there's an idea.

Try this idea on for size.  Let's just say we all got the idea that we wanted to buy a dual occupancy house (much easier to get cashflow positive that way). Get it built from scratch by a builder in a good area that has potential for growth.

What if we all got together, found a street that was newly developed, all picked a block each, and then went to the builder with our designs and said "Hey... we want the whole street, and we want 5 houses built side by side. Give us a bulk deal."  Everyone is separately owning their own block, but because we happened to stroll in all at the same time and save building costs... we all get it cheaper.

Does anyone else like this idea? Start a syndicate?

Benjamin Csikos

I have an unquenchable desire to be noticed. Hello world.

www.youtube.com/benanaman
benanaman@hotmail.com

Ahh Ben.......Stay a home mums........we'd let your wife in.....lol! Just kidding, you have a LOT of enthusiasm don't lose it!

I think I'd rather be the builder then I can make the money.

D

Work Smart, Not Hard.

Can you build?

Benjamin Csikos

I have an unquenchable desire to be noticed. Hello world.

www.youtube.com/benanaman
benanaman@hotmail.com

Anyone can build! All you need is money and a phone. Probably a permit and some land would be useful..... I should clarify, I would  like to be the developer and oversee the builder.

lol

D

Work Smart, Not Hard.

Doesn't really sound that hard, does it.

So... why are we all just sitting here?

Benjamin Csikos

I have an unquenchable desire to be noticed. Hello world.

www.youtube.com/benanaman
benanaman@hotmail.com

I'm not.

D

Work Smart, Not Hard.

Mmm.  Admire your enthusiasm, Ben.  I was more talking about sharing stories about chatting to an RE on the phone while wiping a three year olds bum.  Juggling your latest excel spreadsheet with playdough.  Retrieving the property section of the newspaper, and because your toddler wants to copy everything you do, handing them the cars section so they can pour over that (or eat it if they are 12 months or younger) while you sip a home made cappucinno and try to feel like a real property investor.  Turning to propertyinvesting.com for intelligent conversation with like minded individuals - cause you just need a little break from "when people die do their legs go with them?" "Why?".  Explaining to your bank manager that you ARE skilled. 

Sharing stories about the unique challenges and opportunities presented to MONEY MUMMIES.

We could just start with our own thread, not a subdivision, or a street of new buildings.

S

I've heard this is a good guide of what to expect when raising children...

1. Women: Put on a dressing gown and stick a bean bag down the front. Leave it there for nine months. After nine months take out 10% of the beans. Men: go to the chemist, tip the contents of your wallet on the counter and invite the pharmacist to help himself, then go to the supermarket and arrange to have your salary paid directly to their head office. Go home pick up the paper and read it for the last time.

2. Before you go ahead and have children find a couple who are already parents and berate them about their methods of discipline, lack of patience, appallingly low tolerance levels and how they have allowed their children to run riot. Suggest ways in which they might improve their child's sleeping habits, toilet training, table manners, and overall behaviour. Enjoy it - it will be the last time you have all the answers.
3. To discover how the nights will feel walk around the living room from 5pm to 10pm carrying a wet bag weighing about 5-10kilos. At 10pm put the bag down, set the alarm clock for midnight and go to sleep. Get up at 12pm and walk around with the bag again until 1am. Set the alarm for 3am. As you can't get back to sleep get up at 2am and make a drink. Go to bed at 2 45am. Get up again at 3am when the alarm goes off. Sing songs in the dark until 4am. Set the alarm for 5am. Get up at 5am and make the breakfast. Keep this up for 5 years. Look cheerful.
4. Can you stand the mess children make? To find out smear marmite on the sofa and jam on the curtains. Hide a fish finger behind the stereo and leave it there throughout the Summer. Stick your fingers in the flower bed - then wipe them clean on the wall paper. Cover the stairs with crayons. How does that look?
5. Dressing small children is not as easy as it seems. First buy an octopus and a string bag. Attempt to put the octopus in the bag, so that none of its arms stick out. Time allowed for this - all morning.
6. Take an egg carton, Using a pair of scissors and a pot of paint turn it into an alligator. Now take a toilet roll tube. Using only Copydex and a piece of foil make a Christmas cracker. Last take a milk container, ping-pong ball and an empty packet of Cocoa Pops then make an exact replica of the Eiffel Tower. Congratulations you have just qualified for a place on the Playgroup Committee.
7. Forget the Peugeot 205 and buy a carolla. And don't think you can leave it on the driveway spotless and shining, family cars don't look like that. Take a choc-ice and put it in the glove compartment and leave it there. Get a 20c piece, stick it in the cassette player. Take a family sized pack of chocolate biscuits, mash them down the back seat. Take a garden rake - run it along both sides of the car. There - perfect.
8. Get ready to go out. Wait outside the loo for half an hour. Go out the front door. Come back in again, go out, come back in again, go out again. Walk down the front path. Walk back up it. Walk down it again. Walk very slowly down the road for five minutes. Stop to inspect every cigarette end, piece of chewing gum, dirty tissue and dead insect on the way. Retrace your steps. Scream that you have had just about as much as you can stand until the neighbours come out to stare at you. Give up and go back home again. Do it all over again. You are now just about ready to take a small child for a walk.
9. Go to your local supermarket. Take with you the nearest thing you can find to a pre-school child - a fully grown goat is ideal. If you intend to have more than one child then take more than one goat. Buy your groceries without letting the goats out of' your sight. Pay for everything the goats eat or destroy. Until you can easily accomplish this, do not even consider having children.
10. Hollow out a melon, make a small hole in the side, suspend it from the ceiling and swing it from side to side. Now take a bowl of soggy Weet-bix and try to spoon it into the swaying melon whilst pretending to be an aeroplane. Continue until half the Weetabix has gone, tip the rest in your lap making sure that a lot of it ends up on the floor. You are now ready to feed a 12 month old baby.
11. Learn the names of every character from the wiggles, Postman Pat, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. When you find yourself singing "wake up jeff" at work, you finally qualify as a parent.

Benjamin Csikos

I have an unquenchable desire to be noticed. Hello world.

www.youtube.com/benanaman
benanaman@hotmail.com