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Find financial and money saving discussions including debt and pension chat on our Money forum.

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Find financial and money saving discussions including debt and pension chat on our Money forum.

Money matters

How to cut costs over maternity leave

47 replies

puddle · 03/01/2006 11:28

I want to have another baby this year and am trying to persuade DP that we can do it without getting into debt. One of the main issues is the cost of my maternity leave. As the main income earner in our house the loss of my earnings for a period makes a big dent in our finances - I will want to take six months off and then have an option to do some reduced hours for next six.

I am looking at ways of maximising our income and minimising spending over the first year of a potential new baby's life - the only thing I have thought of so far is to change our mortgage to interest only for a short period of time.

Any other ideas?

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Enid · 03/01/2006 11:29

dont

I am currently trying to maximise my maternity leave by looking at this. Unfortunately our only option is to take dd2 out of her expensive pre-prep which I really don't want to do.

I presume you have factored in lack of childcare expenses?

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Enid · 03/01/2006 11:30

when I say dont I mean 'don't talk about it' not dont have another baby!!

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Bozza · 03/01/2006 11:34

How old are your children?

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Tinker · 03/01/2006 11:35

Any chance of saving income now to help cover the cost? How much paid maternity leave do you get? Higher tax credits?

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puddle · 03/01/2006 11:35

Yes I have Enid. Doesn't your dd get the vouchers now (your children are the same age as mine...)I'm planning on moving dd in sept to a mornings only pre-school which will be completely covered by the grant.

I wish I could just get pregnant accidentally and not have to think about it too much - the logistics and expense scare me when I sit down and look at themn properly.

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puddle · 03/01/2006 11:37

I have a ds nearly six and a dd three bozza.

Maternity pay is for three months. zero chance of saving very much money at the moment.

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Enid · 03/01/2006 11:37

yes she does this term but it is still £700 a term WITH the vouchers - and thats a short private term so I have to pay for childminding out of termtime

arrrrrrrrgh

we were blithe about it at the beginning now I am panicking that I will be washing my hair with washing up liquid and eating beans every night.

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Enid · 03/01/2006 11:38

I only get 6 weeks 90% of salary then £106 a week after that

cheers!

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Enid · 03/01/2006 11:39

my only relief is that 2 months of mat leave will be over the summer holidays so I wont have any school fees to pay then

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hana · 03/01/2006 11:39

cloth nappies?
interest free credit cards ( if you have outstanding balances)
menu planning
there is another thread I think about cutting back generally here today somewhere else

would love a 3rd but dh says we can't afford one, now or as it grows up. I am v v sad

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puddle · 03/01/2006 11:41

Six weeks!

There's no way I could contemplate another if I didn't get a decent mat leave period.

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tracyk · 03/01/2006 11:41

Have a look at moneysavingexpert.com - or watch his prog on ITV at 2.30 Make me rich.

He advises - cut home/car/health insurance, land phones, mobile phones, Sky costs, water/gas/leccy. Nappy costs by using reusables or own brands. Change mortgage. Move credit card balances around.

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puddle · 03/01/2006 11:43

Hana my dp agrees with yours. The only way of persuading him is showing how I can balance the books. Strange that a third child seems like such a luxury.

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Enid · 03/01/2006 11:44

hmmm but I have heard that a lot of the moving money around thing is a red herring with hidden costs and all the extra work etc.

we have a great morgage with first direct that I really don't want to change

We have oil delivered to our house for heating etc and it costs a fortune no way of cutting it.

Leccy bills are tiny and dh pays those.

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Enid · 03/01/2006 11:45

also puddle there is the new car thing that dh is totally hung up on - affording one, not choosing one!

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tracyk · 03/01/2006 11:47

There is a budget spreadsheet on his website that he uses on his programme. It adds in everything that you spend during the year on an ad hoc basis. It's sposed to make you think about the level of spending that you may not have thought about. I have printed it off but have yet to fill it out.

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puddle · 03/01/2006 11:48

Changing mortagage makes sense if you have no redemption fees to pay. We have changed ours in the summer and saved £200 a month, did the same two years ago with a similar saving.

We can't get a better dela on our utilities (regularly review them all).

Enid - dam,n you for reminding me about the car issue - ours WILL die on us this year at some point. Will have to factor that in too.

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tracyk · 03/01/2006 11:51

Up your income?
Do extra work before pg and stash away?
Sell things on ebay?
sell crafty type things?
any online earning to be got?
what about potting up seeds and selling them from front doorstep in spring/summer? plants/flowers/veggies?

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puddle · 03/01/2006 11:51

Good point Tracey about seeing what I can sell.

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Bozza · 03/01/2006 11:52

But if it is going to die anyway it is not really an extra expense, is it? How do you normally pay for new cars? We put £100/month in an ISA.

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Enid · 03/01/2006 11:53

selling stuff on ebay is great, would recommend

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munz · 03/01/2006 11:55

my leave is the same as enids (SMP) we've cut back by a few things so far - reusable nappies, changed elec/gas providers, changed BB and telephone providers, cancelled mobile contracts, cut sky to basic package. and we will be doing menu plans properly/cooking from scratch more to help save food money. also I save £60 straight away by not having as much petrol. not much but it all helps.

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oliveoil · 03/01/2006 11:57

I raided the childrens' bank accounts to tide me over as I wanted more than the extra 6 months 'paid' (HA!) basic maternity.

I have no shame in this, I see it as for their benefit.

Do you have any piggy's to raid?

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tracyk · 03/01/2006 12:13

Are you signed up for justdial.co.uk for 3p daytime calls - no matter how long? and 1899 for free evening and weekend calls?
Are you entitled to the £100 per week SMP once your company money finishes?
Car boot sales for income?
Can you get p/t work at Tescos in the evenings/weekends. I heard they pay £10 per hour on a Sunday.

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LittleHollyBerry · 03/01/2006 12:29

What about a mortgage holiday? We're with Nationwide and they let you take up to 6 months off paying the mortgage once you've been with them 3 years (unfortunately we've only been with them 2 years so I've just started back part time - dd 7 months). I know you still have to pay it all back, but it can help short term. We're planning to have one anyway to do repairs to the house and have a holiday. I use reusable nappies, make own food and have cheap utility providers. Also changed insurance companies for life and house insurance, it all helps.

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