Will we manage (we'll have to!) our outgoings...

[owltrousers]

I've just sat down and worked out finances. I'm now on Maternity leave for 9 months and its looking pretty tight but do-able. Keep thinking I must have forgotten something so just wanted to post our outgoings here and what we have left to see if this sounds do-able? Not that I have any choice!

My income (mat leave) - £610 average
DH's income - £1291
Total = £1900

Rent - £805
Water - £50
Elec & Gas - £60
Council tax - £116
Internet - £18
Spotify - £14
Car tax - £21
Food shopping - £240
My phone bill and personal debts - £96
DH's phone bill and personal debts - £187
Total outgoings = £1610 a month

N.b I haven't factored in car insurance here as my very kind FIL paid it off for a whole year for us and I haven't factored in child tax credit as the £80 will be used for fuel for the car each month.

Leaving roughly £280 per month for spending.
What do you reckon?

What about house insurance?

You have to really budget every week but yet it is dooable.

Can you cancel Spotify, lower phone tariffs, reduce TV costs to freeview?

TV licence?

Have you got any savings? It would be worth paying off debt if so.

It'll be tight but it sounds as though you have all your outgoings covered and a little left over for treats/unforeseen costs.
Have you factored TV license?
Any insurances?
Dental bills?
TV packages?

Yeah, nobody 'needs' Spotify :-D Well, except my teenage son it would seem!

How much do you usually spend on food, clothes, eating out, entertainment, household items etc each month? You'll need to add in nappies & baby clothes as a minimum. Do you already have all the baby equipment you need? Are debts likely to be paid off and time soon?

It’s doable but it’s going to be tight, and not leave anything really for emergencies.

Could you cancel Spotify? Change phone contracts? Or perhaps move some debtsaround (onto 0% cards) to save some money?

Also things you may have forgotten; home/contents insurance. Tv licence?

Child benefit?

Sorry, just seen food is already on there.

.it's going to be very tight.

When are you going on maternity leave. Can you save up a bit now before hand to give you a buffer.

Cancel Spotify

There's a useful budget calculator here on Citizens Advice website

Can you restructure the debt to pay less? Or there might be a payment wi doe you could take whilst on maternity?
Depending how much you earn as we are not yet at the end of the tax year you might get a tax rebate/need your code adjusting,

Well we don't have a TV licence so we have spotify instead, this saves us a little bit on buying records and things and we're both really into podcasts so without this we'd basically have no entertainment.

We don't have house insurance.

We already have absolutely everything for the baby, including hundreds of nappies, but when we need to they'll be factored into the weekly food shop.

We both have really old debts that are CCJ's and the like so putting them onto 0% cards isn't an option and wouldn't actually save anything as they're all frozen amounts now anyway. The debts are being paid off in such little amounts it'll take 5+ years until they're gone.

We aren't people that go out a lot, we enjoy nature and walks so luckily that costs nothing :)

Do you mean Child Benefit?

What about costs for the baby - nappies, wipes, formula, medicine, clothes?

How will you afford childcare when you go back to work?

You could reduce your water bill by getting a meter fitted?! We are 2 adults 2 children and pay £26 a month on a meter and my other half loves his baths!! X

But if you paid off the debt now, assuming you have some capital, your cash flow will improve dramatically. You also need house contents insurance even if you rent.

Utilities will increase if you are home more and with additional washing etc.

I do take your point about you not having a tv but using Spotify for entertainment instead. However if things are going to be tight, you could switch to the free version of Spotify. You will have to listen to ads every 15-30 mins but really this is just the same business model as watching itv - you don't pay a licence fee but content is funded by advertising,

Life insurance if you have DC...

@owltrousers I’m so glad to see this post! Being on maternity means our household income reduces by £1000 a month! Was stressing out big time! I really need to sit down and budget everything!!

Yes, I mean child benefit. Like I said we already have a huge stash of baby clothes (up to 12 months) and wipes, nappies etc to last at least 6 months. Anything extra will have to come out of the £280 a month we have left. Its unlikely I'll be returning to work, as the childcare costs will add up to around the same as my wage.

@LIZS We don't have the money to do it, I've now started my maternity leave so the above budget is starting from payday this month.

Thanks @Polyanthus I agree we could switch to the free version, but you also have limits to how many times you can listen to a certain song, for £7 a month each its something we use all day every day so I think its worth it. We can bear this in mind though and if things ever get really tight we can switch to free for a month or so.

Thats useful information @mummy2boys53 thank you I will look into it!

Is your c tax over 10 months? Most councils allow you to pay over 12 months. I know you don't get the 'free' months but it might bring your monthly spend down

Erm - are the babies things included in that £240 grocery bill? Nappies, wipes, cream, bathing products, clothes, toys, formula and bottles (if bottle feeding), dummies (if using), bibs, towels, muslins, otc meds or natural treatments, food when you start weaning... How are the larger items being paid for?

Haircuts for you and dh

Are toiletries and cleaning products inc in grocery budget?

Clothes and shoes
Transport
Utilities especially heating likely to double as you're at home and it's winter.