Starting a family in Kuwait

firstly firetiger, congratulations on your decision to become a dad I'm shortly taking the decision to get married (April 10th, fingers crossed!)

now, your combined salary is great. given that you have placed a range I am guessing that you either do overtime work or get a commission, either way it is not a bad start. I have known people that had a single income of 650KD and managed to start off very decently (single salary - wife didn't work).

more importantly than amount, it is all about understanding. so long as you and the wife are in agreement that the collective money is for both of you as opposed to whoever brings it in, then you should face no problems starting a family. god willing by the time the little one is around you would both probably be earning more.

my advice to you would be this tho; do not skimp on the apartment. a lot of married couples I know believe it is in their best financial interest to find a one bedroom apartment as a young married couple, and then look for a bigger place once their family grows. however, you will find out that the money you save on your rent during those initial years will be much less than the cost of a new 2-bedroom place to rent once u decide to go for it. does that make sense?

once again, many congratulations

@Legacy excellent advice about the apartment. Yes, do find a place you would like to live in now for the future. Rents are rocketing up and having a place now will save you from paying a very high rent later.

Here are some points to consider:
- Public clinics and hospitals are decent. So once your wife becomes pregnant (inshaAllah), she will be taking care of relatively well without you paying a lot of money. 20 KD for a couple of sonars, 2 KD for opening a file are probably all what you need to pay for during the pregnancy. She will be provided with food supplements and tests accordingly. If you have health insurance in the private sector you will have the added advantage of being there with your wife during the visit (in the public sector you will be completely in the dark until after the delivery).

- Legalizing a child is not that difficult (you have an embassy here so issuing a passport is not that big of a problem). All you need is documents proving your marital status, you identities and the like. The whole process should happen within 2 months of child birth.

- Maternity leave is 70 days (30 before child birth and 40 after). So, you might need to arrange for a baby sitter (a good one) before the leave is over. It is difficult to find so you need to start looking early.

- Nurseries are expensive but they are not that good in many cases. A perfect solution is a very good baby sitter.

- Schools are probably the most painful expense. So it would be a good investment to start saving for this from now. If you can keep money aside for the next 6 or 7 years you will have a better choice later on (if you are in Kuwait by then).

Let us know if there is something else you need to know. Good luck and congrats.