*Thank you to Capital One for sponsoring this post. As always all thoughts and opinions are our own.
There’s so many things to prep for before the baby comes and my mind has been going a mile a minute. Everything from thinking of who will watch Henry while we’re on baby watch (kind of crazy I know) to setting up school savings funds for this little one, to nursery details, it feels like a lot to get done. This last week or so we really got our booties into gear and starting making a list of the major things we want to get done before the baby comes. We divided it up into three categories: home (work on the nursery, purge any unnecessary items so the space is clutter free, etc.), finances (I’m embarrassed to say I have looked up preschools already and we’re planning for different savings accounts and school funds, hospital bills, etc.), and finally transportation.
We’re a one car family over here. After we both took the plunge into working full-time from home, it just made sense for us. We are pretty sure we will still keep one car, but we’ve been thinking about upgrading to an SUV. We currently have a Toyota (my first car was a Toyota as well) and they’ve always felt so reliable. However, it’s a basic sedan and not a lot of storage for all the baby gadgets and trips we hope to take with the little one, so we began our hunt for an SUV. Plus, they say an SUV is safer. As a petite person, I’ve always been a bit nervous to drive a larger car. A few summers ago we had the opportunity to test drive the Jaguar F-Pace and I fell in love with the car. Of course going from a Toyota to a Jaguar is a big jump, but I loved being up higher and I felt more protected on the road. Not saying we have a Jaguar in mind, just an SUV.
We’re both not fans of car dealerships (I don’t really know anyone who is) and all the stress that comes along with buying a car, negotiating, the whole song and dance.So, if we can do any work and research on the back end beforehand to make the process easier, we’re all about it. If you’ve been following along with us for a while, you might remember this post about Auto Navigator by Capital One. Since then, Capital One has enhanced the Auto Navigator tool and it’s been a breeze to search for various SUVs in our area within a specific budget and see what we pre-qualify for, without impacting our credit score.I’m all about simplifying things, especially something as big as buying a car.The tool is super transparent and you can print out a summary with your financing options to walk into the dealership with. It definitely has given us a bit of confidence so that we feel prepared when we do decide to speak with a sales associate.
We’ve also spent some time exploring Capital One’s Auto Learning Center, where we’ve read articles on the latest research and findings to help us stay informed throughout the car buying process.
It feels like we’re getting closer to checking this big task off our list before the baby comes and it feels so good! I’ve never been a fan of a mom van (no offense to anyone who has one, it’s probably super practical and our nephews have a pretty cool DVD set up with their family car), but we’re thinking an SUV is the right next step as we prepare for all of our adventures as a family of three (well, four including Henry).
What about you guys? Did you upgrade to a bigger vehicle when starting a family? Any tips for us? Please share!
What a wise decision!! We upgraded to a volvo SUV and love it. The new ones are so family friendly and one of the safest cars out there. For reference, when I was a kid my mom had a volvo and we were t-boned in a car accident and walked away without even a bruise. We totally trust volvos so much that now I’m grown and have one 🙂
Single mom of 3 and I am firmly in the SUV camp. I have never been a mini van person either. Although the redone Chrysler Pacifica made think about it for a second.
Hello and congratulations! I’ve been following you guys for about a year and found out I was pregnant around the same time as you ! 🥰 thank you sharing all these important steps, I love that I’m not feeling alone in this journey !
As soon as we found out I was pregnant we upgraded my sedan for a compact SUV. After long research we bought the new Subaru Forester 2019 (Sport edition because we want to still feel young). Can’t be more satisfied ! It is such a safe and reliable car in any weather and road condition. Roomy enough for long trips and two car seats but still compact when parking in the city. Reasonable price from the local dealership and excellent MpG.
Good luck with everything ♥️
I had a Volvo XC90 when I just had two children- then we had a Honda Odyssey with three. Now with four little ones and three dogs, I am firmly Chevy Suburban. But it is HUGE- so a nice Mid sized SUV is great. Although, I cannot day enough about how awesome magic remote opening doors on minivans are- so useful when you’re carrying car seats and all the things. But an SUV is much cuter 😜 Congratulations!
Laughing at all these Volvo’s. We got a Volvo XC60 when we had our first baby. I’m short and don’t love giant suv’s. The crossover size is perfect for us. Volvo’s are one of the safest cars on the road and there’s plenty of room in the back for a rear facing car seat. Those things take up a deceptive amount of space. Also in a hot climate I like that the Volvo’s rear ac vents are up on the sides of the car and not on the back of the center console. Rear facing car seats block the airflow from the ac vent when it’s coming from the center console. Also the rear seat splits in a way that allows you to lower it in parts so we’ve been able to lower part of it to fit large items without having to move the car seat (moving car seats is THE WORST). We just lower the seat back that isn’t behind the baby. All these conveniences add up when you have kids. Congratulations!