Maternity leave worries (money)

Hi all,

We have a really good package at the uni - I will get full pay for 18 weeks and then on to statutory for the rest.

My worries are that statutory maternity pay is so low!! How do people survive on that money? It wouldn't even cover my monthly house outgoings, let alone anything else?!

I just don't see how people can take the full 9 months or more off on such little pay.

Bloody pregnany hormones, I've been sitting here at my desk in tears for the past 20 minutes thinking about this

It's so depressing isn't it. I totally freaked when i realised we only get the standard smp at work, no enhancement at all. H and i drew up an expenditure list to see where we could cut back, then worked out what we'd need each month to cover the outgoings and spent the next 9months saving like crazy! We're lucky in that H is self employed and worked all hours possible to save the money and buy what was needed for baby but it did mean that our relationship as a couple suffered and I was sole carer for his kids.

Have you looked into tax credits and child benefit etc? all these amounts sure help.

money was the biggest worry for me and H when we started ttc as SMP is so low. To be honest if we hadn't had some savings, I don't know how we would manage. I'm taking 9.5 months off but a lot of that is me using up some accrued leave - with my work I get 8 weeks full pay, 18 weeks half pay plus SMP and then the rest is SMP only. I'm not taking 39 weeks because I'm using most of my accrued leave so I can be paid full pay before I go on to maternity pay and before I return to work.

Is there any leave you can use to ease the burden? Also, you can claim the HIP grant, maybe look into tax credit and the child allowance when baby's here. or is a mortgage holidy an option, if you have a mortgage that is? we haven't had our mortgage long enough to take this option unfortunately.

x

H and I had the same concerns.

We ended up sitting down one Saturday afternoon and writing down all our outgoings (both household and individual debts etc) and then once we knew what the concrete outgoings were we then calculated what would be coming in, what we could save before baby comes and that left us with an idea of where we'd be once baby comes.

I'll be on MA (not SMP) and on top of that there's the child benefit, so it gives me X a month leaving us with a shortfall of Y (when compared to my usual salary).

H then looked at his salary and we worked out that he has enough disposable income each month to cover Y so we know things will be tight but we know exactly where we are with the money IYSWIM?

I think the best thing to do is do this with your H, please don't get upset though. There is ALWAYS a way of working things out lovely xx

It is a worry, I work at a uni too so am also lucky enough to get the 18 weeks full pay.  Best thing to do is to look at where you can start cutting back now, and whack as much as poss into saving - you've got 35(ish) weeks' grace before you go onto the lower rate of pay which is nearly 9 months - even saving £100 a month will help towards that and you'll be surprised when you look hard at your outgoings what can be saved.

Things we've done:

- everything bought online goes through quidco.com so we get a little cashback

- got a joint account (we didn't have one before) for all bills, so we can see exactly what we've got and know what's in our current accounts is for spends

- start shopping online - you are less tempted to buy random things you spot, and if you meal plan you'll find you're spending a lot less each month on food

- checked the Sky package to see what can be cancelled

- accept any baby items, especially 'big' ones eg cots/cribs etc, that you are offered

- shop around for the rest - a lot of independent baby shops will price match so if you find a price online you can always see if your local shop will match it

- look at insurance, utilities etc and see if there are savings when you switch (may have to wait till contracts etc up but worth having a note of when this will be to remind you).

We've got a fair bit saved now and we haven't really compromised much on lifestyle, I know we could save a lot more if we wanted.  Hope that helps a little bit.

it was no where near as bad as I thought it'd be and maternity leave was thrust upon me 12 weeks early last time.

we found that the frivolities disappear mostly so meals out, random spending in town on a saturday, trips to the cinema just disappeared as you don't have the time/ energy for it.

we changed suppliers and i discovered the joy of tesco on line.  I still become a sainsbury's snob every now and then and have to go and get my fix but tesco online has saved us money even just doing that once or twice a month. 

we have a joint account and all of our expenditure is joint - credit cards the works.  So we can see who is spending what.

this time we're going to reduce our mortgage payments because we can which will release a significant amount of cash every month.  We've just taken out mobile phone contracts that give us a better deal than BT on landline calls and have useful mobile internet.  Mr S phoned up t mobile and negotiated a very good deal without trying particularly hard - I was amazed how easy this was.

we have also sorned a car and Mr S is now commuting by motorbike.  It was a big initial outlay but is more reliable than the train and in terms of petrol a lot cheaper than a season ticket.

we are lucky in that we've had to spend very little on baby no 2 the biggest expenditure has been on a new bed for ELeanor thus far the new baby is having her cotbed.  It's mainly disposable things we need like nappies!  If it's a boy it'll need some clothes but we have relatives waiting to spend when they know what it is.  I try and buy second hand stuff where possible and i'm more than happy to have a charity shop rummage. 

Ladies, thank you all. I've calmed down a bit now.

I'm going to read through your messages carefully later when I can give them my full attention, but at a glance, everything you have said makes sense.

I love this place xxxxx

It's difficult isn't it?

Is there any way you can put some of your monthly salary into savings before you're down to SMP? Then you can use that money to top of your SMP. I know some people on here have taken mortgage holidays as well.

I agree with shopping online. Also, if you use Tesco make sure you take advantage of their clubcard. I've been amazed how quickly our clubcard points have racked up and you can then redeem that money against future shopping, or treats if need be. We have a Tesco credit card too, which we put our food shops on, but then pay off instantly, in order to get even more points. Same for Boots advantage card. Stock up when they have points offers on, and then spend the points when money is tight.

Also, freecycle can be a great place for getting baby bits.

Have you thought about trying cloth nappies? They can save a fortune compared to disposables.

It depends really what income you are used to having. SMP is actually pretty much the same as my part time salary so we knew that that was going to be our income from now on, on that basis it didn't make any difference taking the full time off.

I did find that I spent much less whilst on maternity leave than I had expected.  I have no idea how as I was out and about constantly and didn't feel restricted but life just seemed cheaper.

1

We saved both times before i went on maternity leave to top up the SMP, as i had no enhancement the first time round, this time luckily i have a little one.

we also switched utilities, any money on credit cards i moved to a new card on a 0% balance transfer rate.

i also meal plan and do tesco online shopping.

i buy second hand and really take advantage of nct nearly new sales.

also as someone else said you just dont go out as much so naturally spend less money.

i also try to do free activities with the kids, so trips to park, etc rather than lots of soft play etc.

I work for my parents so its not to bad but im having to take the full 6 weeks maternity leave at 90% of my pay then 2 weeks holiday and then im going back full time as we cant afford for me not to, I could really do with out it but theres no way around it for us as im the main earner.

Its so tough isnt it, im dreading going back to work after just 8 weeks off but we shall see how it goes.

Good Luck I hope you get it sorted

SMP still works out at about £500 per month. I know it's probably nowhere near your normal salary, but it's still £500 a month. Plus you'll get Child Benefit (about £86 a month) and you might be entitled to tax credits - check out www.entitledto.co.uk

How about when you're on your 18 weeks full pay save the money you'd usually be spending on commuting or lunchtime spending for the time when you're down to just SMP? Can you overpay your mortgage for a couple of months to give you a break when you need one?

I've been through my DD's this month and cancelled anything I don't need. Magazine subscriptions, gym membership etc. Next month I'll stop CCVs, and I'll reduce my pension payments when I'm off too. All this extra money I will use to top up savings before July comes.

I only get SMP - so 90% for 6 weeks and then SMP for the rest.  I want to take 9 months off so we have been saving like made.

We will also be looking at A's childcare so we can reduce this and the cost, we are pretty good at making sure we have the best deal for utilities anyway.

Life is somehow cheaper when you are not at work, I saved a fortune alst time from having lunch at home for one!!

We will also be looking to sell anything that we finish with as we don't plan on having anymore children now!

It feels like a nightmare doesn't it!

I know I had a major panic when I got my BFP - totally unplanned - about how the hell we were going to afford to live once the baby was here!

You've been given some fab advice here. It's really important to sit down with your H and work out your expenditure as a couple - it's not just your baby after all!

x

Nixxy Noo:

I just don't see how people can take the full 9 months or more off on such little pay.

You just do... It's amazing how little you can survive on if you need to. 

We managed to save enough whilst I was pregnant so that I could be comfortable for a year. 18 weeks at full pay is brilliant. Try to save as much of that as you can.