To be panicking about money whilst on maternity leave?

[CobaltRose]

Hi everyone. I'm 21 and ten weeks pregnant, and am already panicking about how we're going to manage financially once I go on maternity leave! This pregnancy was very much unplanned (contraceptive failure), before people start harping on about being responsible....

Anyway... This'll be long as I tend to waffle!

Currently, I live with my fiancé in a privately rented 1 bed flat. He is only contracted to work 12 hours a week but has NEVER only worked 12 hours in the whole four years he's worked there. He works, on average, 40 hours a week. Sometimes more. He earns around £1200 a month (sometimes more depending on how many hours he's worked) which is enough to cover our rent and utility bills. He normally has around £150-£200 left over once everything has been paid, which he puts into a savings account. I understand we're lucky in that respect, as some people don't have anything left over at the end of the month!

Now, as for me, I only work part time as I'm currently a full time student. I only work ten hours a week and am paid £71.25 a week. I only have to pay for our broadband (£24 a month) and food (around £50 a week). As I'm currently still a student I am in receipt of maintenance loans (£2300 every three months). I have been saving this up, but gave my parents £1000 as my dad was made redundant and they were really struggling with money. This was in early January before I moved in with my partner and before I discovered I was pregnant.

However, since discovering that I was pregnant I have decided to defer my studies for a year. I'm still planning on completing my first year (which will finish end of April) so will receive another loan payment in April, but that will be it until I return to my studies next year. I currently have around £2500 in my account, which was from selling my car. So, once I receive my next loan payment I will have just under 5k in my account.

On top of this I'll still be working part time, so will continue to get £71.25 a week in wages. However, I am terrified of how our financial situation will change once I go on maternity leave!

I'm not due until late October, and am planning on working for as long as I possibly can, so am not planning to go on maternity leave until September. Because I don't earn enough to qualify for SMP, I'd have to be in receipt of MA, which will only be around £64 a week for 29 weeks and £27 for 14 weeks! Better than nothing, but still not a lot. Because of this I'm not planning on taking the full year off, as I think we really wouldn't be able to afford it. Thankfully we've got grandparents who are able and willing to look after baby on the weekend, so I am seriously considering returning to work after six months, much as I'd like to take the full year off. I'm also considering taking a part time job during the week as well as the weekend, as my fiancé has one day off during the week where he could look after baby.

That's all well and good once I'm ready to go back to work, but I'm really concerned about how we'll manage financially in the months that I'm not working.

Am I being unreasonable for thinking that we could probably manage on OH's salary and the money I have saved up in my account for the few months that I'm on maternity leave? I know we'd get child benefit once baby is born too, but it's only £20 a week. I go from thinking 'Yeah, we'll be fine! We wouldn't be able to afford luxuries but we'll all be fed and warm which is the main thing!' to 'Aaaargh! How on earth will we survive!' I know we'd probably be entitled to some kind of benefit but I don't really want to go on them if we could manage without.

Perhaps I'm just being too anxious. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks

I suppose we might be entitled to universal credit, but I've read that they strongly encourage you to look for work, or to look for better work/more hours if you already work... as my partner is only contracted to work 12 hours a week he would probably be asked to look for better work, even though he always works 40+ hours. I've heard of people being sanctioned for not attending appointments due to work, which would make us even worse off.
This has not been my DS1's experience. He has been working since October. He contacts universal credit folk by phone or email to keep them informed about his situation. I thought that by now they would be encouraging him to find better work but they seem happy with what he's doing. If your DP is working 40 hours, he can hardly be expected to do more.

You sound like a very responsible couple. Good luck to you, OP.

Also do factor in not paying for travel for work, if applicable.
So you currently earn £71 a week,
That'll drop to £64 (via mat leave). So minus £7,
£7 worse off.
You'll receive £20 a week child benefit (£13 net gain). You may also be entitled to other things. But presuming you're not, your income will be £77 a week.
Food of £50 a week, £6 a week (averaged from monthly) on broadband still leaves you with circa £20.

This will easily cover a weeks formula (between £5-£15 depending on how much they drink) nappies are cheap in Aldi and rated well. Do they still do healthy start vouchers? Do check, as they can be used as money off for formula or fresh milk + veg until your baby is 3 (or 5? Something like that.)

Your biggest "problem" is upfront expenses but if you shop wisely and buy everything you can secondhand you can likely get everything you need for £400-£500 (and I'm talking pram, steriliser,
Cot + mattress) which you could use your savings on. Obviously buy the mattress new but cots can be pricey, so get that second hand. You may even get it free! You can get a whole travel system for less than £150 brand new on eBay or mothercare. Sterilisers particularly cold water ones are cheap as chips, if you can't get a steriliser then a big tub with a lid and some sterilising tabs will do,

Clothes aren't a huge expense, you can get a bag full of clothes on buy and sell sites on fb for £5-£20, that'll do your baby for each stage.

Ongoing expenses (week to week) will be mostly formula, wipes, nappies and the odd baby group (cheap as chips - £2 a session last time I went). Max £25 a week presuming you do 2 sessions a week at a baby group. The baby stage is the cheapest

You could probably do all of this without even touching your boyfriends savings, but after week 29 you may need to use them. Even then though, just using up the savings he's putting in each month (rather than using savings already put in there) would bring you up to the same you were on for the first 29 weeks.

Honestly, you just make it work. So many people have babies in less than ideal situations and where there's a will there's a way.

It's easy to panic though! As for pp having a go at OP for worrying when she's better off (on paper) op is likely worried due to the additional cost (that's what I got from her post anyway).
Good luck and congrats xx

I'm in my second year of university, due in May. I had to quit my job due to pelvic pain and a lack of understanding on their part, so currently won't receive any MA. My partner has a job situation that sounds much like your partner, contracted for much less hours than he actually works.
It is tough, but if you've already got into the habit of saving, you'll make it through. My partner has learned to control his money a much better from me being pregnant, simply because he knows there's no way we'll manage the summer months without an income or source of savings. I've already started planning for the next student loan (rent for 5 months over summer, bills, travel etc.) and am setting in place a budget.
You are clearly aware of the struggles of finance and having a baby, and that's brilliant. It means you're two steps ahead. And at 10 weeks you have more than enough time to put money away. Is there an amount you and your partner could take out and store away per month? Like £10-£20 per week? Not a lot, but good 'rainy day' money. In one of those tin money box's that you can't open?
Also, when buying for baby just keep an eye out for deals. Charity shops are great too, always loved them but I am now a charity shop queen. Supermarkets like ASDA do 7 piece sets for clothes too at a reasonable price. At first, I wanted everything top-range but held off due to money and now I'm glad I did. Cheap stuff is just as good as expensive.
Good luck!

@Merry is absolutely right but I would add to consider bf as a way to cut down expenses (steriliser, bottles, powder etc) if you find it works for you. Not so sure on washables as even though they are cheaper to buy than the numbers of disposables you'll use they are an outlay up front and still have to power the washer (and dryer if weather is crap) but some councils still offer grants for the initial nappy bundle. Facebook groups are your best bet for loads of baby stuff too. Could you increase your hours during your pregnancy to hit the 16hr threshold in the qualifying weeks?

Would also encourage BF, but formula is (cost wise) worst case scenario.
Breastfeeding would save heaps, though!

Thanks everyone. There are a couple of problems with increasing hours at my current job. First of all, like I've said, getting there would be an issue. Furthermore, even if I did drive, they just don't have the hours available. I have asked them before for extra hours and they've said they just aren't available (it's a tiny family run business, and I'm one of a handful of part time staff).

I'm now seriously considering getting another job closer to home, but am so terrified of the impact my pregnancy will have on any job prospects. I know that, technically, I can't be fired or refused a job offer for being pregnant, but (correct me if I'm wrong), you can be dismissed for any reason during a probationary period, can't you? I'll be several months pregnant by then, so it'll be hard to hide it!

Am I missing something? You have £5k in savings but earn £3.7k per year. This is before maternity allowance and child benefit.

It seems, therefore, that you’ll be better off pregnant than you normally are. Am I missing something?

They can't dismiss you for being pregnant as that's legally protected.
But they can just not hire you against someone else, unless they're stupid enough to admit it to you you'd have nowhere to go with that.

@Merryoldgoat, I'm factoring in the fact that I won't be working for several months, so that 3.7k won't be coming in. I'm also factoring in the additional expenses that come with a baby.

I'm now seriously considering getting another job closer to home, but am so terrified of the impact my pregnancy will have on any job prospects. I know that, technically, I can't be fired or refused a job offer for being pregnant, but (correct me if I'm wrong), you can be dismissed for any reason during a probationary period, can't you?

You’re wrong. You can be fired for any non-discriminatory reason within the first 24 months of employment. Probation has no bearing on it.

Money saving expert site has loads of suggestions on how to reduce outgoings and save money. You should really have started when you found out you were pregnant given things are so tight. You have time to cut out all unnecessary spending, change energy providers etc and get as much as you can second hand.

Babies cost next to nothing. Don’t fall for all the shit the baby companies try to flog you.

No, I understand that, but if you use the savings as income you can allocate the same as your current income from savings leaving you with £1300 for stuff you may need. Plus you’ll then have MA and CB for ongoing expenses for the baby.

Also, I found I spent much less cash during mat leave - I took home around £2300 from my job during my first pregnancy and only had statutory SMP and was very worried but it ended up being fine.

If you currently manage ok I think you’ll be fine.

Can you look for temp jobs close to home once you finish studying? If they are only employing you fora short term you won't need to worry about any possible discrimination because you are pregnant (yes, I know this is not legal, but not to say it doens't happen!).

@Merryoldgoat, that's reassuring, thank you. We manage absolutely fine right now. Obviously don't live in luxury but we're doing fine. Thank you for the advice and reassurance, I feel a little better now!

Babies needn't cost that much.Try breastfeeding,cheap and convenient if you can but bear in mind may still need bottles etc if you go to work early.Check out eBay,local newsagents for sale postcards(got my cot from one of those and sold it and pushchair on once I didn't need them.
Nappies,see if your local authority do vouchers for reusable you can mix in with disposables.Clothes wise you just need babygros and vests for the first 3months then scour the charity shops as babies grow out of things so quickly that most of it is nearly new.
My DD was mostly dressed in second hand as I was trying initially to find anything that wasn't pink or lilac and quickly realised that the quality was good too.
October's a few months off so you have time to prepare and enjoy your pregnancy.

Don't buy new baby stuff except car seat and mattress. Everything else (furniture, pram/buggy, clothes, toys) can be got 2nd hand. It's all going to get pooped on anyway!

OH needs to step up and get a full time job!

Also lots of people give away baby stuff on Freecycle/Freegle. Definitely start keeping your eyes open.

A full time job with a better salary that is.

@Vangoghsear, he works 40+ hours a week. He's only contracted to work 12 but has never worked 12 in the four years he's worked there. The fewest number of hours he did was 35. Some weeks he works 60 hours. He can't do much more than he already is!

@Vangoghsear, sorry, cross posted. I won't disagree with that

Step up and get a better paid job?
You do realise that there's not a single person out there who doesn't want more money? If you think he could just walk into a better job for more money don't you think he would? Vangoghsear

Sounding a bit privileged there - not everyone on a low income is there by choice...

Sounds like you're really sensible and on it with money. It's a shame your partner can't find a job that will pay him for the hours he works? Sounds outrageous to be doing that much unpaid overtime to be honest! Good luck OP xx

@MerryShitmas, LOVE the name by the way I agree. I'd love it if my OH was raking it in, but to expect him to leave his job and waltz into a better paid one is slightly unreasonable. I'm just glad he has a full time job! There's no guarantee he'll even find a better job.