Maternity financial worry

[Lphil93]

Is anyone else completely petrified of trying to survive on just SMP. Are there benefits to be claimed as well?

You can claim child benefits too. I it's £82 a month or something. That's all I'm entitled to

@Spudnick I think that's all I'm entitled to as well? But how the hell are we meant to survive off smp and child benefit?

Tell me about it, and now I am in a situation where I received my last pay check have to wait 24 working days for maternity decision, and then can apply for benefit which I may well not get, but that will take another 5 weeks.

My outgoings are not small and after doing my accounts I actually don't have enough money to cover the bills each month.

Yep it's not a lot. Most people try to save as much as possible whilst pregnant to attempt to cover the shortfall.
Remember you won't be travelling to work, buying lunch/ coffees, or going on nights out so outgoings do tend to go down quite a lot.
Plus when you return to work you might not take home much more after childcare costs so you have to get used to living on a much smaller income.

@firstimer91 it's so scary! My outgoings are quite high too and I'm just completely baffled how we're meant to do bills and bring up a child on £140 a week🤔

Babies are very cheap. You can get pretty much everything you need second hand, nappies aren't expensive and if you breastfeed it's free. The child benefit easily covers the additional cost.
It's when they get older...!

@Lphil93

I know, and as another poster said above people try and save whilst pregnant.

My story is I was told by two doctors I would have difficulty getting pregnant. I then became pregnant in 3 months, my husband is foreign so we had loans of over 10k for the whole visa process and marriage etc. So I have spent my pregnancy managing to pay 8k of those off. No room for saving there!

I am planning to try and take 3 months off, however I may have to just go back to work, problem there is I have no one to look after little one, and 99% of nurseries and childminders don't take babies before 3 months. And I don't like the thought of leaving my 6 week old.

I really am losing sleep over the whole situation. It's extremely frustrating.

We've done a spreadsheet of all our current incoming vs outgoings and cutting out what can be when I'm on the period of SMP (luckily, it's only the last 3 months for me and I can top up with KIT days)

Things we've been able to cut down
Dog walker - not needed whilst I'm at home all day, this is a huge saving of £250-300 a month
Bus fares - £70 a month as no commuting
Credit card - we pay quite a bit more than the min payment at the moment but will cut this down to min payment for the 3 months
TV subscription - we have Netflix and Prime now, that's all we need
Savings - we put £200 a month away at the moment for a big holiday later this year, this will stop once holiday is paid - again, a big chunk

I've also stopped gym memberships and changed my gas/electricity supplier - which is another £70 a month

Get everything down on paper and go through with a fine tooth comb. It's surprising what you can cut out. These are just examples of mine. Also, if you can, save a bit each month whilst you're still working, that will help top up, as well as spacing out your KIT days, which you get paid in full for.

Please don't get nasty at me, but didn't you consider the financial implications before thinking about having children?

But surely you're not surviving solely off SMP and child benefit? There will be a financial contribution from the father (it's not clear if you're together or not) and even if the pregnancy was unplanned you'll have had a good few months to figure out the finances, how long you can afford to take off work, save money etc

I saved during pregnancy and the first part of paid maternity so i have enough in savings to live on for my SMP months.

Like another poster said, did you not think about finances before getting pregnant? I know its not always possible but that was why I waited 2 years until i would be eligible for my company's enhanced pay

You can claim child benefit and housing benefit perhaps. Are you a single parent? Maybe look for addition support on the Gingerbread website.

I also waited until I was entitled to the company's (NHS) full maternity pay so that my months on SMP were minimal.

I know some of these posts about did you not think before becoming pregnant may not be directed at me.

But you never know peoples situation, I have problematic ovaries and allmost died at 16 and had to have an ovary removed as it had cut itself off and damaged a major artery etc.

I was then told by doctors it would one take me a good few years of trying to get pregnant and two I would go through the menopause early and should be prepared from 30 onwards.

At 26 I decided to come off the pill as financially within the next year or so I would have been fine, I'm a planner and all of my finance would be paid off or up to date etc.

Me and OH had got new jobs in London and things were looking up, 3 months later I got pregnant, I was sharing a house as had just moved to London, so we have had the cost of moving, and neither of us have been in our jobs more than the qualifying (I am 5 weeks short) so just MA, if and when I get the decision.

Maybe I should have waited one more year to come off the pill. But when both of you desperately want a family long term and you realise waiting may have implications where you are no longer able to, then no I didn't think of the finance in first plan, (maybe second)

I realise now I have to grin and bear it and I will find a way, however sharing worries and tips is useful and what is not is people judging.

• rant over

I think some people genuinely don’t realise that having a baby is their sole financial responsibility so for the benefit of those people, it’s important to actually say that. So for each one of you indignant that something unforeseeable happened to your finances, there are many who just figured you have a baby and ‘it all works out’ because you’d get benefits and the man is supposed to support you without realising how important their own salary was to keeping heads above water.

On a more practical note, there is so so so much beautiful, barely used baby items going into landfill. You can get gorgeous clothes, prams, everything you need second hand. And a lot of the things people would have you believe you need, you don’t.

Buy a reusable coffee cup and take coffee (and lunch!) from home to avoid dripping money in cafes, it really adds up when you’re out and about going walking and stuff.

Plan your meals on your phone at some point each week. Even with a difficult baby you have good chunks of time stuck under them to do this. It will save money to do a strict meal plan.

Use reusable nappies and wipes, you can also get them second hand to avoid the initial expensive outlay. Breastfeeding if you can would also save money.

Don’t do any paid activities with baby, totally unnecessary.

You will save a lot by not being able to go out to dinner/drinks etc compared to the past.

Good luck!

Ok - firstly are you part of a couple - if so you will have his wages and your smp and child benefit.
If you are going to be a lone parent then there will be other benefits to top up your income - either tax credits or Universal credit depending on your area.

I saved beforehand to cover the drop in wages plus extra so that I wouldn't have to worry about taking time off and could do lots of things whist off. I have little travel costs to work so spent more being off.

Saving before hand also meant I was used to a set amount vanishing as once I returned there were childcare costs to be paid.

Surely you will have your husbands salary and won’t be living off £140pw

Will your entire income be SMP? Do you have a dp or dh?

Could you cut back now and save as much of the difference between your salary and smp as you can do?

Are you able to cut back on anything? Change expensive phone contract to a cheap payg sim. Change supermarkets or buy own brand in place of brand. Check your utilities are on the lowest rates. Scrap certain "extras" eg RAC breakdown cover. Can you change mortgage to interest only dor 1 year.

OP I live with my DH so we have his wage too

As long as you as a family can cover th mortgage and bills life with a little baby is quite cheap.
You don't go out to eat/drink you don't spend money on lunches at work and you don't spent commuting money! Babies don't need major entertainment so free or very cheap baby groups or visits to other mums houses is enough for them! (As long as you're getting some adult interaction)