Why take unpaid time off when you can take paid time off? So if you get pregnant, cancel whatever trips you had planned or events you were going to go to and instead focus on collecting as many of those days up as possible. Together with your short term disability policy that can give you a bit more time to be with your little one even you continue to make a bit more money.
Also, if you’re planning to have a baby, then you’ll want to check if there is any way that you can take days from this year into the next one. Not all companies allow this, but when they do this is a great way to make sure you have more time where you’re still getting paid.
Ask your friends
Maybe you don’t want to ask them for money (though it might not hurt) but you can certainly ask them for time. For example, they might be able to babysit a few hours here and there, which will give you time to work online, for example, or to allow you to back into work if you really have to.
Another thing to ask them for is any second hand gear they no longer need. Lots of people have perfectly good baby gear that’s just gathering dust. So why not ask them if you can use it? That can save you hundreds and even thousands of dollars.
You can even try a bit of crowd funding. This can work. So why not give it a try? The best thing to do is be honest and forthcoming. Also, don’t ask for too much. Research has demonstrated that asking for whatever people can give will generally work a lot better than trying to get a few people to donate big.
Get creative get out there
While you still can, you have to get out there. Ask friends in person and on social media for advice. Often they’ll have really good ideas that you can try out yourself. Perhaps they know how you can approach your local government for help. Or perhaps they can organize some fund raising events to help you.
They can even help you with your online business if that’s the route you decide to go.
Whatever you do, don’t sit still when you don’t need to. Yes, you might want to focus inwards, but the truth is that this will make things more difficult later on. So instead, look to the future by rolling up your sleeves today. You’ll be surprised with what you can get done.
