Tag Archives: buying a house

Should you Own Your Home Before You Have Kids?

by: Francisco J. Colayco

*First published in Good News Pilipinas on Sept. 23, 2013

You could be one of a growing number of Filipinos who believe that owning your own home is first and foremost. This is especially true when you get married or when you are starting a family. Family planning is now practiced by so many. Because of the more difficult economic conditions, having a career or a business may even come before having a family. Before that, of course for the great majority, education is the most important goal.

Or you could be a traditional Filipino who will want to start a family as early as possible. After all, having a child is a wonderful experience and most Filipinos still value the family as its most important wealth. During my time, when life was a lot simpler, we didn’t even think of family planning. Getting married at an earlier age was more normal than it is today. It seemed then that it was automatic to get married, have children and in the process of it all, save for your own home.

But this article is about whether it is true that you should own your own home first before having a baby. There is no rule here. You really need to make a personal family budget forecast. You need to understand that having children increases your expenses. Giving birth, feeding and sending them to school can be really a heavy drain on the budget. Therefore, if having your own home is a major goal and you cannot afford to make that investment at the same time as having children, you need to make a good choice.

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