How to pay for it?

We refinanced our home since rates were so good and took out 15k in equity at the same time. We had savings which we obviously don't want to use all of. My dad is giving us 5k and then will loan us any extra if needed. Also our family is having a beef and beer benefit for us to help defray some of the costs (we are very lucky) and they belive the will raise another 5k. My company reimburses 5k after the adoption is final so that is nice. You may want to also check with your church if involved many times they help out with some financial costs too. Our friends that adopted last year ended with 9with using the 10k tax credit) with a refund of almost 10k, so it iall depends on your tax liability and other deductions, etc... Check with an accountant and hopefully they can give you a good idea of what you will get back. Best wishes, Kris

We saved for a year before starting to search for our son. Some of the things we did: 1. Cut a few 'fun' things out of the budget, like SCUBA trips, though we still went on vacation and had fun. 2. Asked friends and family to contribute to our 'baby fund' in lieu of gifts at Christmas and birthdays. We had people giving gifts to the fund 'just because' too. 3. Sold some extra stuff on eBay. 4. Had two garage sales, and told everyone who came to our sale that we were raising money to adopt a child. We found people didn't haggle on prices and some even gave us 'donations' so we could become parents. We got the full $10K rebate the first year, and also a refund from DH's employer of $2K once we finalized. This is all now part of Ryan's college fund. :-) HTH, Regina, AMom to Ryan Joshua Thomas