How much did you save?

[Lenny1987]

Hi all

I'm new to mumsnet, having just started ttc for the first time. I was just wondering how much everybody saved in preparation for maternity leave and having their first child. I want to make sure we have enough money for all the necessities a small child needs and to keep us going for around 9 months of maternity with only one salary. Also, did you find your monthly outgoings increased dramatically once you had a child, or just a change on what you spend on?

I think that will depend on what your budget is normally.
If you are taking leave from work and your partner is still earning, is there enough money coming in, to cover your basic needs is the main question. If you are down to your last penny with both your incomes normally, then your saving will need to be greater as you partner will not be able to take up the loss of your salary.
What seems to me to be a good idea is to try to save the equivalent of your salary from now on - if you can manage, then you know you will be ok and you will also have a nice pot of savings put by. If you can only save 1/2 your salary, then that will give you an idea of how you might manage.
IME your spending goes down once you have your baby, as you are too knackered and it's too complicated to go out (arranging sitters, sorting feeding) as you can do when you are child free. you don't have expenses associated with work such as commute or even the little bits that add up - maybe buying lunches or coffees out.
How much you spend on things for the baby is a 'how long is a piece of string' question - you can spend ridiculous amounts, or you needn't spend much at all - people give you gifts, you can buy all sorts 2nd hand, and you only really need a fraction of what the people selling baby things would have you believe.
In terms of costs, the baby needn't cost you anything for the first few months - if you are able to breastfeed, then it is only really nappies, the cost of which is more than covered by child benefit. If you choose to formula feed, the costs aren't great either (taking child benefit into account).

We didn’t really have time to save as found out pregnant before trying but what as had alway planned to give up work we stated living of one salary and saved the other one.

And as I was the bigger earner we planned, budget and cut out so much with out really missing anything. In the time till stopped working saved about 10k and cleared about 5k worth of debt.

Watching with interest - as I'm in the same boat.
From a starting point I've worked out the value of my maternity package + holiday pay + keeping in touch days - I've then subtracted this from my yearly salary & am trying to save the difference (hope that makes sense!) We've saved £10k so far, but we live in London, so outgoings are high.
I think we'd budget an additional £1500 for all baby bits - but think this could be done cheaper! In an ideal world I'd also like to save to pay for a cleaner every couple of weeks, as we don't have any family or friends nearby I want to give myself as much support as possible.
Hope this is helpful! X

Ultimately, can you live off one salary going forward?

This is all really helpful, thank you! We were thinking about saving my salary going forwards, and have built up £1500 previously that could be used for initial expenses, so the figures mentioned are reassuring.
I think its also a bit of me feeling a bit weird about not having a proper income myself. I havr always been financially independent and have always until recently earned more than my husband. I worry a bit about having to ask for it, even though he would never got give it to me and would fully understand that we are a team. I just want to make sure we have enough behind us to ensire that we are ok.

So, with all other changes in your life, this might well be the time to change the way you think about money.
you shouldn't be having to 'ask him for money' - you should (IMO) have your salaries going into one, family account. All expenses go out of it. Then (if you are able) savings come out of it, and then equal "spending money" for you both comes out of it. Once the little one is here, a lot of your (as in both of you) money will go on childcare - if you return to work, or there will only be one income coming in if one of you decides to be a SAHP, however both parents are contributing equally, so one parents shouldn't be having to ask every time they need to spend any money.

Don't you have a shared account? 'Asking' doesn't sound nice. Are you not entitled to maternity pay? If you're employed and have been for a while, you should get statutory maternity pay. In addition to that, many employers offer enhanced maternity packages so you won't lose the whole salary.

We do have a joint account but we also have our own accounts. Everything that is shared is paid for out of the joint account but we keep the rest of our own salaries.

I will be entitled to maternity pay but its not anywhere near the amount I currently earn so would need/ want much more than this.

I set aside enough to cover the drop in salary plus extra each month so that I was able to enjoy maternity leave and go out and about. It gets very boring at times as everyone else seems to be at work.

I saved a couple of thousand and then my car broke so had to use it on that . My partners salary and my maternity pay plus child benefit covered all out outgoings so was fine .