How did you manage on maternity pay? Advice please.

[AliceRR]

I’m due to go on mat leave early next year.

I get 3 month full pay, 3 month half pay, 3 month statutory and final three months (if I take a year) would be unpaid. I also have about 20 days hol to take before I go on leave and would have around 30 days leave to take at the end of my mat leave as our financial and holiday year ends one April (and I’d be back at work early 2020). Hol would be full pay. Also get up to 10 Keep In Touch days which attract full pay on top of mat pay.

I am also lucky to have just got a pay increase of about 20% which means that I will have a bit more than I would have.

Overall seems not too bad but interested in others experiences and advice as currently DH and I pay 50:50 for all household expenses etc and I hope to keep that up while off. Our expenses are quite modest as mortgage is low but we may move and then of course everything will be different and financially more difficult.

Did you find you spent more or less than you had bugeted for?

I’m just trying to plan in terms of savings (now I’ve had a pay rise I’d like to save more) but also accounting for money to spend on baby (first baby so will need everything).

While on leave I obviously won’t be spending on things like travel expenses to work (£100 per month) and money I spend on buying on lunches every day (easily £100 per month) but there will be other expenses I don’t have an idea about such as baby food and nappies and groups I might attend with baby??

Also wondering if it is optimistic to think I can take a full year mat leave plus holiday but would like to as it’s precious time with baby!

We didn't save at all as we were buying a house when I was pregnant. I only took 6 months leave as we couldn't really afford any more. I get 3 months full pay then statutory. Going to take 6 months again with DC2, we might be able to afford for DH to take a month or so shared parental leave too.

DH and I have always had completely joint finances since we first moved in together - it wouldn't work any other way for us.

I’m incredibly lucky where I work - I get full pay for 6 months and the rest would be the usual SMP however when on maternity leave my pension contributions stop which were a heck of a lot of money and I still get my car allowance which is v.generous so financially I am sorted. Feel so lucky as some people only get SMP.

I’ve only just started looking at things to work out what I might need .....

It’s your dh’s baby too. You shouldn’t be beating the costs individually OP. Perhaps it’s time to revise your joint finances? DH and I used to earn similar amount and put 40% each of what we earnt into a “bills” account. All worked well. Once the children came along, we changed this, and now pool everything we earn, and have an “allowance” for our individual spending.

Presumably if you are paying 50/50 to household bills, you should both be paying 50/50 to baby related expenses, future childcare etc.

@Didsomeonesaybunny Your mar pay sounds good too. I get three month full and three half but they do still paying pension. I was saying to DH last night we are lucky as SMP is not much but we’d manage if we had to

@BikeRunSki We will be doing it together. I’m the one who plans and realistically am probably the one who will choose things but DH is shopping with me. We went to a local silver cross outlet shop (score!) at the weekend together and we plan to do the John Lewis nursery appointment next week together and then we have a mamas & papas event nearly next month to look st what we need etc. We will probably buy the pram from the silver cross shop as it does seem to be cheaper and I love silver cross silver prams . I just have more spare cash (while finances are separate and we have not agreed joint yet - I think I’ve touched on this a bit above) than him so it would probably be a case of spend less or pay that bit extra out of my own money for some bits that I want to get whether they are things he thinks we don’t need or I’m just spending more than he would! I mean we might both be really frugal and split it all.

Sounds sensible AliceRR (great name 😊). There are just so many posts on MN by sensible, intelligent women who are completely taken for a ride by their partners once children come along. Enjoy your shopping, and good luck with the rest of your pregnancy.

I don't think anyone has mentioned this yet and if they have I apologize but a really good thing to remember is that you could save money by not working! Working is actually pretty expensive

Commuting costs (petrol in your case?)
Buying lunches
Keeping up a smart wardrobe/hair and make up etc

My sister has just started maternity leave (twins) and is expecting my lovely nephews any day now. In her last few weeks at work she totted up all that she spent on work related costs and was really surprised by how much she spent

DH and I disagree on how stat pay works. Gov website says SMP for up to 39 weeks and first 6 week’s are at 90% and then 90% or £146/pw whichever is lower. My work pays 3 month full and then 3 month half.

I think that means I get 3 month full pay, 3 month half pay and then statutory for only 3 months. I’m not even 100% sure I’d get the 6 week’s at 90% given I’d have had enhanced pay earlier on.

DH thinks I would get SMP for the full six months including the 6 months at 90% because the 39 week entitlement would start after my firm mat pay ends.

can anyone say how it works?

H and I pay 50:50 for all household expenses etc and I hope to keep that up while off.

I am all for separate finances and 50/50 - but not when you then have a baby. It doesn;t work. Why should yo utake a massive financial hit for a JOINT baby? Doesn't make any sense.

Reduce the payments into the joint pot over ML in line with your reduced salary.

Or if you want to make a point about how separate everything is, after 6 months, charge him 50% of the cost of full time nursery (which you are saving him the cost of).

SMP starts straight away, and is the first 39 weeks. Your enhanced pay probably includes any SMP but check your policy. You won't be paid after 39 weeks.

@AliceRR You are correct your DH is not. SMP starts the day you go on maternity leave. If your firm pays an enhanced rate that includes SMP. So you are right in saying you got 3 months full, 3 months half then remaining 3 months stat pay

I think you need to be careful and make sure you understand 'why' he has nothing left.

My stbxh will be constantly overdrawn leaving me to be the responsible for any large expenses and anything that could possibly be seen as household. What if you want to go part time?

@Toomanycats99 I think it’s ongoing credit card debt which would have been paid off if not for doing work to the house and putting it on his credit card. I think that’s oaid off now do it should be ok going forwards but we’ll see. He’s not generally a spender. He is quite frugal but maybe has got used to paying for things on credit card. Realistically if I went part time I think it would be four days a week instead of 5 days due to the type of work it is but I just don’t know yet. He loves the idea of being a SAHD though!

@AliceRR

Sorry - hope I didn't come across as harsh. It's just having been there where I feel under pressure to cut back on everything and then realised that actually although I earn more he spends far more on himself than I do (and mostly unable to account for what he spends it on!) it's a sore point. E.g. signing up a new phone contract at an extra 40 a month when he's £1k overdrawn!

So I wouldn’t get 6 weeks at 90% at start of SMO either? @Toomanycats99 No it’s fine. I completely get where you’re coming from.

I'm self-employed, so knew I'd only get MA, which was about £500 a month, so I saved enough to fill in the gap before I finished work. We had to continue to split 50/50 because DH doesn't earn enough to pay for everything. I don't doubt that he would have if he could. I found that life was MUCH cheaper on maternity leave. I no longer went out drinking, I was still losing the baby weight so only needed cheap clothes that would do temporarily, I didn't need anywhere near as much petrol as I wasn't driving to work, I was at home so I could make a sandwich rather than buy lunch out, and the baby didn't cost anything beyond nappies and wipes as I'd bought everything she needed, and accepted every hand-me-down offered, while I was still working. I probably spent approx 1/3 less each month.

Alice no. You are correct not your DH.

There are 2 options - SMP as described OR enhanced pay which is when you receive what your company has described

These threads make me so sad, sorry OP. You are a partnership, and have chosen to have a baby together.

Why oh why are you talking about scrimping and saving yourself to survive your maternity leave?

Shared family money is the only fair thing. Doesn't necessarily mean one 'pot' but equal leftover money after all the bills (including all baby related expenses) are paid.

If I have to rely on DH then I will. I think I’ve said this but it’s not a case that DH won’t support me, it’s that he doesn’t have spare money either so I need to try to be responsible with my money given I know I’ll earn less while on mat leave.

Whether we split money or not I’m getting to grips with how we will cope with less money coming in