how much money saved before TTC?

[thelmafitzgerald]

I am sure this topic has been discussed before, but during my research I couldn't find any hard figure that could help me, so here I am!

DH and I would like to start TTC in 2/3 years. We are really excited about starting a family together and really can't wait!! However, we are also financially cautious and want to make sure we plan this well so that we can enjoy the maternity leave and the following months and years in the best possible way without too many financial worries.

At the moment we both work ft in stable jobs and own our flat. Our combined savings are around £32k at the moment. My company offers an good maternity packaged with 16 weeks at full pay and then SMP for the remaining months up to a year of maternity leave.

At the moment I have no idea how long I will decide to stay at home after having a baby, but for the sake of my planning I am assuming the "worst case scenario" which would be one year. Afterwards I want to go back to work, whether it is pt or ft.

How much do you think we should have saved before we start TTC in order to face maternity leave and the first few years with a small child (especially childcare costs!) without serious financial worries?

PS: I know that I can't plan everything and that life sometimes happens outside of our control. However I want to try my best to ensure that DH and I can put ourselves in the best possible financial situation to face the arrival of a baby.

Trying doesn't hurt, does it?

No one? Please mumsnetters help me figure this out!

Didn't want to read and run - I'm massively in awe of your forward-thinking though!! We started TTC early this year - we had absolutely no idea how long it would take but in the end it was only 4 months - we're very lucky.

I have to say though, I have absolutely no savings at all. DH has some but I've never asked how much, and never thought about what he wants to use it for! My mat policy is a shocker (4 weeks at full pay) and I don't know whether I want to go back to work (I don't get paid much and my long commute is £400 per month.)

In comparison to your post, I feel hugely unprepared! I'd love (hate?) to see how other MNers planned their finances before having kids...TBH I'd be surprised if they were as prepared/well-financed as you but that might be wishful thinking on my part!!

Best of luck with it all OP, I have a sneaking suspicion you'll be grand!

skylucy thank you very much for stopping by and leaving a comment! I am also really curious about the general consensus on msn about this topic.

On a different note, congratulations on your pregnancy! You and your DH must be over the moon

skylucy thank you very much for stopping by and leaving a comment! I am also really curious about the general consensus on msn about this topic.

On a different note, congratulations on your pregnancy! You and your DH must be over the moon

I think you are probably already more prepared than most! In fact you are possibly already better off than a lot of families will ever be!

I am currently 14 weeks pregnant. We do not own our own house and have a similar amount to you in savings, but are planning to buy in the next few months so that will be the savings gone! We don't have a big income but live comfortably within our means, we both grew up in households that needed to budget and so are both careful with money even though we don't need to be as much anymore. I am going to be a sahm and I'm not worried about money, we will be fine!

I read on msn all the times people that say they wish they saved when they were young and childfree because once you have DC it gets more complicated. That is perhaps why I am so concerned about saving before having a baby!

I reckon I may be way too concerned

DS is now two and he was unplanned. OH had some savings about £5k and I had none. I just had lots of debt on overdrafts and credit cards. We both earn a good joint income of £94k however live in London. I had 13months off work. I paid all my credit cards off before he was born but then built them both back up again. I saved about £2500 before my full pay stopped at 2months. We did what we wanted when we wanted.
I think with £32k in savings already you will be fine!!

I saved the difference between my salary and maternity pay so there was no drop in pay plus a few hundred extra each month as maternity leave is very boring if stuck in the house each time.

We also set aside enough to cover all the things we needed for the children in the first few years.

It's a huge financial commitment, there's no way I'd do it unprepared.

It's a fairly easy calculation - what's the difference between your salary and what you'll be earning on mat leave? If you don't want to do anything differently, you need to have that saved. Then you need to think about childcare costs and whether you want to have a buffer for those.