To wonder what you do when you earn too much to qualify for any benefits

[stangel]

But outgoings don’t add up?

Giving serious thought to having a child: monthly income is £2400. Bit mortgage and nursery fees wipe out £2000 of that leaving £400 for bills, food and petrol.

It doesn’t add up, does it?

Well, I don’t think that poster is being truthful. I mean, you could manage on that if you owned your home outright and/or family and friends provided childcare or if a lot is paid through maintenance. Anyway, it is looking as if it isn’t possible

Does your company offer enhanced maternity or would it be statutory? How old are you? Would you have the time to pay down your mortgage for a year or two to make it more affordable?

I don’t think I have a couple of years - time isn’t on my side!

and I can only dream of a single penny in tax credits to towards it.....

Could you move somewhere cheaper? Downsize while the baby is young and needs childcare?

Moving somewhere cheaper is a possibility in the future but would jeopardise my maternity pay

Practice living on what you think you'll end up with for 3 months to see what you can really do without. By putting that money aside you will effectively be reducing future expenses if you save for them now. Have you looked into remortgaging?

You intend to have a baby without a dad?

I'm In this position currently. I would only qualify for £20 a month towards children care costs. It's sucks but is actually doable, shop around on child care dont just go nursery route. As long as they are Ofsted registered you can use childcare vouchers/tax free child care.

I hate these threads. So many variations can make a massive difference. 45k isn't a massive amount in the general scheme of things even if it's higher than the average. Living on 13k if you don't have to is madness. All the "I can do it on.....k" and "this is a stealth post" is both childish and unnecessary.

People with committed expenses can't just stop paying them, moving house costs thousands (not to mention months and stress), you can't just change jobs at the drop of a hat...

Anyway, back in the real world - check you are on the cheapest deals for all your outgoings, cut back on luxuries if you have any and don't spend unnecessarily. Or do what most people do and have a baby anyway and sort the rest as it happens.

If you have only looked at nursery, then I would very much encourage you - especially as a lone parent - to look at childminders instead. Even in London CM rates are usually less than nursery, and often much much more flexible for people in your situation.

You can also look at the salary sacrifice childcare, as PPs have mentioned.

And compressed hours/going part-time to 4 days. Play around with the figures to see if working a 4-day week is actually financially better - it often is.

Don't forget that a lot of your outgoings that you currently spend on you won't when you have a baby. Discretionary spending is very low when you have no free time to spend money in anyway!

What deal is your mortgage on? Can you extend the term/overpay by a lot now to bring the LTV down, or have a cushion to draw down? etc.

There are loads of ways to make it work.

You've almost certainly got at least a year to save up/pay down mortgage etc.

Pregnant for 9 months, even if you got pregnant on first cycle!

PerfectlyPetty my nursery bill is indeed 2k per month for my 3 year old and 21 month old. Lots and lots of people have nursery bills this high

Not in my experience 🤷🏻‍♀️

It’s very rare for a family to be able to afford £2k a month in my experience and most two parent families I know adjust their hours to lower their bill to a more reasonable amount.

And for all those mentioning them, aren’t childcare vouchers now closed to new entrants?

Tax free childcare is the only option I believe.

She’s correct petty, a nursery place for one child here is about £1000 so obviously double that for two children.

a 2K per month nursery bill actually now only cost £1600 per month with tax free childcare.

how much is childcare, have you taken 20% off for tax benefit, did you account for child benefit?

Could you negotiate compressed hours at work or wfh one day a week to save on childcare?

How much is mortgage, could you remortgage to reduce monthly payments?

Do you pay into a pension, could you stop doing that until childcare costs reduce?

Will the father be offering any support
Financially or for childcare? Or the fathers
Or your parents be able to assist with any childcare?

So your £1,000 childcare bill becomes £800 with tax free childcare. Better already.

And you'll get Child Benefit of £80-ish a month. So you've got an extra £280 to play with.

With your £400 already you now have £640 per month.

Food can be as cheap as you make it. Clothes ditto.

You'll be all right, but you'll feel poor. But all parents do!

So nursery would be £800 if you did a 4 day week
£640 after 20% paid by government
£560 after using child benefit towards it

Now look at reducing expenditure; mortgage and other costs. What mortgage interest rate are you on and what’s your term? Can you extend the term?

Where are you in the country?
We have a combined income of £35,000 and we manage fine. We only get child benefit. I chose to only work 4 days a week to spend more time with my son. We're careful with our budget, only have 1 car (made a big difference to our outgoings but probably not relevant if you will be a single parent), don't go on foreign holidays every year, I buy a lot of second hand clothes for myself.
We're very lucky though as we don't need to pay for child care as MIL does it and won't accept any money.
Look for some local childminders! I have several friends who use childminders and find them much cheaper than nursery. I'm midlands based and people pay roughly £700-800 a month for childminders. Nursery can easily be over £1000 for 7 days a week. Have you looked at any local nurseries to see what the fees will be?
How much is your mortgage? Can you move to a cheaper area? Or closer to work to save on petrol/car?
If you really want a child you will make do. I don't think anyone is ever prepared financially for them but you make do. There are people a lot worse off that have children and are fine. Also there are people in a better position than you who struggle. It's all subjective.

*Name changer you manage on £1020 a month with no help at all?

How?*

We are not struggling. I bought our house a long time ago and paid off the mortgage before starting a family. We live in a cheap part of the country. I work hard to keep the bills down. We eat a healthy but cheap diet. We don't buy things we don't need. We don't have a car, we don't need one. We have cheap and creative hobbies. I found cheap childcare (£300 a month for the last 7 years). I don't have any debts, I have savings.

We don't need benefits so I don't claim them, I prefer to be self-sufficient and we already have a good life without them, it's better the money goes to people that really need it.

@NameChanger22 you’re an idiot not to claim if you earn that little. You must also either own your home outright or live somewhere with really low rent. You couldn’t even rent a studio where I live on that without housing benefit.

Also on your numbers you presumably currently have £1400 for bills food and fuel. That’s huge for one person, can you save any?

Mobile contract - £10
Tv sub and licence - get rid
Broadband - 20
Council tax - spread over 12 months - how much?
Power - comparison shop and reduce use - £60?
Food - drop a brand, bulk buy where you can - £150 a month?
Fuel - sorry, no joy - how much?
Savings for emergencies - £100
Insurances - £100

What are your numbers I bet we can make it work

Sorry I meant 5 days a week at nursery!