<prompt> Human: Hey PF, Im not sure if this is appropriate to post on this sub, but it deals with finances and Ive posted here before on my main account. Sorry if this is long.I am a 20 year old soon to be father! Its scary, exciting, and terrifying. I realize Im not in the best financial shape, but this news was unexpected and I figured I had more young adult time than I did. So needless to say Im not as prepared for this financially as I would have liked. However, I do pretty well for myself and plan to make the most of this situation. She plans to keep it. I know the decision was up to her, and she made it. I was indifferent. I dont like the idea of abortion, but we are young and planned on waiting for a good while. On the other hand, my mom raised me young 18 and I turned out fine and she is well off herself. So either way, whatever she chose, I knew things would be okay. Im stressing a bit about finances because things arent as great as they should be given how fortunate I have been.I work for General Motors as a temp. Temp being defined as; Union membership, 40 hours a week, no benefits, 401k, PSP, or other perks such as GM discounts. I have been here for almost 2 years, managed to live at home for most of that time and bank up quite a bit of money that I used to purchase a newer car, 2009 Traverse. I paid half cash and rest was in a loan. I have 4,800 left owed on it. Payments are 330. I chose the 2 year financing. My girlfriend helps out with bills, more than I think she should given our income disparities. I make 18.60, she makes 8.10 an hour.Bills for living are as follows monthly:Rent me - 470Utilities her - 60Internet her - 40Food mostly her, I help a little - 250My own bills are:Car insurance - 129Car payment - 329Gas - 250Misc - 150My debts: Car payment - 4,800Credit Card - 1,700I will be working a lot of overtime starting this week, and will be working 50 hours shifts 2-3 weeks out of the month until fall. I plan to have the car and credit card paid off by the end of summer. Its doable. Shouldnt be a problem.My mom thinks its a good idea to get a house if Im having a child. I wasnt convinced until she ran some numbers with me and it seems to make more sense and would definitely be a better environment to raise a kid in. I can get a house for 100 cheaper than my current rent. Even if the upkeep ends up costing more, Ill have a house and not have to worry about a baby keeping up the neighbors all night. To me, it seems soon, scary, a lot of responsibility, but also the logical next step if I can afford it. Even if things are tight for a few years I expect a 5hour raise next year So thats where Im at right now, searching for a house, pregnant girlfriend, fatherhood, and trying to be financially stable when this baby arrives. Medical costs are 90 covered on her insurance. I think if Im frugal and can control spending and putting it where it needs to go I can be debt free by September at the latest, really going to work at this and begin saving towards my little human. I appreciate any insightadvicetips, as I am in dire need of help. Im trying to do the right thing and if feel like this all falls on my shoulders and Im the one responsible for how this goes. Oh, also, I plan on canceling various memberships I have such as gym, amazon prime, video game subscriptions, etc. Thanks in advance, Ill reply to everyone who comments.  <response>: Congratulations on the baby and stepping into the next chapter of your life. First, I want to echo the other comments here-- it sounds like youre doing a great job getting ahead of this. Regardless of age youve got a mature mindset about it. Keep your eye on the ball, and Im sure youll handle it like a pro.I just had my first child 6 months ago and bought my first house 2 weeks ago, so Ill pass along some my experience. Im ranging way off the PF topic here.The total cost of prenatal care before insurance was in the range of 2k. This is for stuff like periodic prenatal checkups, prenatal vitamins boosted folic acid is important early in pregnancy, a couple ultrasounds to ensure the baby was forming normally, required blood tests, etc. Our insurance covered much of this.The actual delivery in a hospital was about 8k natural birth, no epidural. As somebody else mentioned, cesarean or other minor complications can easily push you into the 15k range.My son was born with pneumonia-like symptoms and had to be under special hospital care for his first week. The total cost of care and treatment for this unexpected event was about 35k. Again, thankfully, the insurance covered much of this. Although such events are not the norm, they do happen even when the pregnancy and delivery were perfectly healthy. You cant plan for everything, especially with child birth, and having some savings will give you peace of mind.I live in a metro area with above-average cost of living, and here it would not make sense to pay for child care in order to work a non-career job paying 8.10hr. The cost of child care would exceed the additional take-home pay. Obviously YMMV.My wife breastfeeds and we use cloth diapers. As somebody said, breastfeeding saves a fortune and in most cases it has health benefits for mothers and babies. Cloth diapering requires an upfront investments to purchase everything you need, but youll save money over the long-term. I find them more difficult to use than disposables, so it takes some practice. Youll also need to wash a load of them about every-other day, so it only makes sense if you have a WD in your home.Things will be a whirlwind after the baby comes, and you guys wont be getting much sleep for many months, but make sure you remember to be there for your partner. A lot of women go through a period of postpartum depression due to massive hormonal shifts, and its important that she can lean on you. its not always easy when youre sleep deprived, but its great relationship-building.Buying a house.. As somebody else mentioned, if you cant put 20 down youll be forced to pay a significant extra percentage toward PMI, which is insurance to protect the bank. In many loan programs these days, PMI does not go away even after you eventually reach 20 equity in the house! When doing your budget analysis, dont forget to factor in other required costs such as property tax, homeowners insurance, possibly HOA dues, expected maintenance and upkeep, and a reserve fund for unexpected costly emergencies such as the hot water heater dying.Its good sense to pay off your debts in order to eliminate those monthly obligations, especially if the interest rates are high, but Id put heavy emphasis on building up a savings nest egg. Stuff happens, and knowing that youve got a little safety net there will make your days much more stress-free.Fatherhood is awesome. When your baby smiles at you, all of the extra work and effort pails in comparison. 