Solo Adoption - Finance and Telling Work

[cooky175]

Hi

I have minimal outgoings (my mortgage payment is v. low) and have recently sorted my utilities to a cheaper tariff, and got the lovely new that our water rates are going down! No unnecessary expenses (my gym is PAYG) and my car is paid off.

Due to the being the only person in my house, my savings recently took a hit getting the roof fixed, gardens massacred (they were a jungle!) and replacing the washing machine and cooker (they both died the week leading up to Christmas).

I've outlined my expenses and proposed savings for during 'the process' and how I will be able to support a child once hopefully approved and matched. I expect to have topped up the pot to about £2500 by the end of the year. Will having little savings (because of the house things and solo adopter) go against me?

Also, at what point did you tell your employer you were going through the process? We're a close knit team and it's like a small town, everyone seems to know everybody's business! I don't want to tell them until I need to.

I’m not 100% sure about the savings thing - I would say as you have very little outgoings you’ll be fine and you clearly have a plan so you should be okay. Best thing to do is to talk to a social worker.

As for telling work, you probably need to tell your boss quite early on as you may need some time off for the appointments. My work were good at letting me go at certain times for the sw meetings - but as at one point they were weekly/every other week, it’s quite important that your work knows about them... otherwise it’ll be hard to ask for the time off?

Hope this helps.

Work backwards from what you need to cover on adoption leave.

I had slightly more at £3k but I had a fantastic adoption leave package so I only had to cover the last three months which were unpaid.
SWs will want to see you can fund adoption leave, and it doesn't hurt to have a cushion if you can. If your day to day finances are stable and you aren't saddled with huge debt you should be ok.
The reality of being single is that unless you are a high earner or have very low outgoings its very hard to save.
Telling work is tricky, the point at which you are asked to provide references forces your hand a bit. But I would be cautious about it becoming general knowledge until you are well along the way, it can just get very tedious people asking about how its going/ telling you how mad/brave/heroic you are.
My line manager knew, everyone else - I developed a teeth issue and had lots of 'dentists' appointments!

We had about £2k in savings (so less) but found that there was more of a focus on our income after I returned to work part time. Would we still be ok factoring a cost of a child? That wasn’t a problem and although we are still unable to save now I’m back from leave we can pay our bills and have a good quality of life.

I told my supervisor at the start of t he process due to needing time off for the training days but nobody else knew until a few weeks if not days before I went off on leave (I’m sure it was after matching panel). The process took about 2 years from first initial phone call until move in day so I’m glad I waited. Other people found out at references time.

Thanks for your messages.

My last 3 months will be unpaid so I've planned how I would cover that. Got paid today and put some away, felt nice saving for a purpose :)

I've been given provisional training days dates and got those booked off as annual leave so that's one worry out the way. They're near my birthday so they'll just think I'm having a trip away for that :)

I'll inform my line manager at reference time because I'll have to, but thinking of letting the team know at stage 2 progresses. They're a supportive bunch but the would be the total questioning types lol

I had little savings, as a single adopter that didn't seem to matter much. They are more interested in you being able to support yourself through adoption leave and afford to support you both when childcare etc comes into play.

I told work when I started to have to take time off to see the social worker. My manager was adopted so he was really great and supportive

Thanks @sunshineANDsweetpeas . I've read other forums (I know it's all personal experience etc) and someone suggested single adopters needed £15000 in the bank. The last time I had that was when I put the deposit down on my house!

My parents offer childcare is a relief (both recently retired) as I spoke to a Friend about childcare and she said what she was quoted by some local nurseries and I couldn't believe it!

I've checked my diary and I've got a meeting with my manager mid-April (appraisal type thing) and hopefully by then I'll be starting Stage 1 so I've decided to tell him then.

15,000 !! The only time I ever had that kind of money it was a redundancy payment.

I'm a single adopter and had about £2k savings. I was lucky that my social worker was quite relaxed about finances and I didn't get probed too much.

It's worth checking out universal credit, do a benefits check at entitledto or turn2us websites. I was entitled to UC when my employers adoption pay (not very generous, 12 weeks I think) ran out and it got me through the last 3 months of adoption leave when statutory adoption pay ended and I had no other income for 3 months. Now I'm working 3 days a week, reasonable wage and I get 85% of my childcare costs covered by UC and a bit towards living costs. I do rent though and I know UC doesn't work so well for people with a mortgage.

Good luck!

I’ll have a look in to universal credit, my view is any income is good income! Even if it only a small amount it’ll buy a pair of socks for a child ha

You should be eligible for child benefit at least, £80 a month so not much but it all helps.
Many families, particularly single parents end up with a bit of a patchwork of finances.
I have earned income, adoption allowance, tax credits, DLA and child benefits. I don't like being so reliant on non earned income as it can be removed very easily.
I have recently increased my hours now my son is 15, so my tax credits will start to tail off but its more secure income

Update
I’ve got my initial home visit coming up and had an impromptu meeting with my boss so told him what I’m looking to do. I was totally shocked at his supportive attitude (he prefers cats to children) and said I just need to add in the notes section of any holiday request forms that’s it’s for adoption meetings and he’ll authorise them straight away!

That’s great news @cooky175