Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Only the apps you allow.

Meet the Other Phone.
Only the apps you allow.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Money matters

Find financial and money-saving discussions including debt and pension chat on our Money forum. If you're looking for ways to make your money to go further, sign up to our Moneysaver emails here.

Original poster

Saving for our first baby!

61 replies

kipperba · 05/09/2023 17:08

Hi all, I'm looking for additional tips on saving in the run up to the arrival of our first baby in December.

we're currently putting aside a lot (4-5k a month depending on my bonus) and used some of this to pay off our student loans and now are putting it into pension and to overpay on our mortgage.

However I'd like to build up our personal savings (currently at 12k) in case one of us loses our jobs or we need a new car. To do this I'd like some tips on small changes I can make to lifestyle to save some pennies!

Our combined salary is 165k, mine is 110k of that. I have stopped getting my hair coloured but will still treat myself to cuts, and I like to get my nails done once a month so won't stop doing that.. We give ourselves £200 each spending money although we rarely use that each month. We eat out or takeaway probably once a fortnight, but if we do that we pay from our shared card.

I know I am very lucky and I should still enjoy myself, which I do! I just want to feel secure during maternity leave.

Thanks!

OP posts:
Hollyppp · 05/09/2023 22:16

Agree with the above, I wouldn’t plan to go back to work at 6 months, you likely will find it hard to leave baby at that age

WeWereInParis · 05/09/2023 22:17

If you're putting £4-5k into pensions and overpaying mortgage, and giving yourselves £400 total spending money a month, even if you half that personal spending it's still not much being added to savings.

I'd reduce the mortgage overpayments (you wouldn't need to stop then completely if you didn't want to) and put more into savings from that, just until you've built up a savings pot that you're more comfortable with.

I agree about the second hand clothes. I didn't buy any baby clothes from shops. I bought a couple of large bags from fb for £10, and then we got given plenty of onesies and vests etc. Babies grow out of clothes so quickly there really isn't time for the clothes to wear out, the bag of second hand ones I bought were in perfect condition.

Childcare will be around £2600 as we don't have any family around to help out.

Are you in London? This seems a lot? We're in Berks and pay less than half that.

10Minutestobedtime · 05/09/2023 22:17

Personally, I'd save to have a longer mat leave and have a bit more of a savings buffer, particularly with such high childcare costs, is that for a nursery or a nanny?

Original poster
kipperba · 05/09/2023 22:18

gillygeey · 05/09/2023 22:16

How long have you been saving for? An income of 165k with £400 for personal spends a month should mean significant savings?

Saving for bloody ages but had to buy someone out of the property we own so used them all! So started again from scratch. We have 12k at the moment because we've put about 40 on student loans and mortgage overpayments in the last few months.

OP posts:
Original poster
kipperba · 05/09/2023 22:19

Hollyppp · 05/09/2023 22:15

dont buy tons of clothes for each size, people will gift a lot of 1 month/ newborn/0-3.
equally with 3-6 month I would buy a few bits and then buy when you get there when you know what you need. With online shopping you can get things so quickly and adapt to the size of your baby (might have a big baby for example).
ebay for maternity clothes but get good brands eg seraphine or jojo maman etc.
buy some good quality nursing bras if you are going to BF, wait til you know how big your boobs will be, again buy online from places like John Lewis.
if people ask what gifts you want, say COOK vouchers so you can stock your freezer with nice foods.
I would also recommend getting a cleaner if you don’t have one or upping their hours so you can focus on the baby and not cleaning the bathroom!
enjoy the snuggles they don’t last long. Currently have my second baby 1 month old sleeping next to me 🥰

Thanks this is lovely advice (and making me consider the "save up to extend mat leave" suggestions even more so I can have more time enjoying the cuddles ♥️)

OP posts:
gillygeey · 05/09/2023 22:20

Ah ok, I personally wouldn't be overpaying student loans or mortgage but saving up for longer off. Appreciate your mortgage fix may be ended. Have you considered you may not want to return f/t?

Original poster
kipperba · 05/09/2023 22:20

10Minutestobedtime · 05/09/2023 22:17

Personally, I'd save to have a longer mat leave and have a bit more of a savings buffer, particularly with such high childcare costs, is that for a nursery or a nanny?

Combination of nursery and nanny (we both work long hours/commutes so nursery hours won't always cover it so we've found a part time nanny share)

OP posts:
Original poster
kipperba · 05/09/2023 22:22

gillygeey · 05/09/2023 22:20

Ah ok, I personally wouldn't be overpaying student loans or mortgage but saving up for longer off. Appreciate your mortgage fix may be ended. Have you considered you may not want to return f/t?

I'm expecting to go back 4 days for the first 6 months then ramp up when the baby is 1...but I should definitely keep in mind that I might decide I don't want to do that either! Thank you

OP posts:
gillygeey · 05/09/2023 22:22

I think this is something my husband and I will come back to reconsidering. We've swung back and forth on it a lot but after writing thAt it felt really short and made me feel a bit sad! So maybe we'll reduce the overpaying on the mortgage for the next couple of months and save up for more time with the baby. Thank you

I personally didn't really feel human again till 6 months! 🥲

gillygeey · 05/09/2023 22:23

sorry that was meant to be a 😁

Original poster
kipperba · 05/09/2023 22:23

WeWereInParis · 05/09/2023 22:17

If you're putting £4-5k into pensions and overpaying mortgage, and giving yourselves £400 total spending money a month, even if you half that personal spending it's still not much being added to savings.

I'd reduce the mortgage overpayments (you wouldn't need to stop then completely if you didn't want to) and put more into savings from that, just until you've built up a savings pot that you're more comfortable with.

I agree about the second hand clothes. I didn't buy any baby clothes from shops. I bought a couple of large bags from fb for £10, and then we got given plenty of onesies and vests etc. Babies grow out of clothes so quickly there really isn't time for the clothes to wear out, the bag of second hand ones I bought were in perfect condition.

Childcare will be around £2600 as we don't have any family around to help out.

Are you in London? This seems a lot? We're in Berks and pay less than half that.

Thank you very much!

Not in London, in Surrey - but we work in London so have long days which nursery hours don't cover.

OP posts:
wwyd2021medicine · 05/09/2023 22:26

Namechangeniamh · 05/09/2023 19:21

I think that with a combined income of 165 grand, you'll be OK.

I know loads of folk on decent incomes who end up in a mess because they waste money or keep up their lifestyle instead of being sensible with pensions/savings etc
Even to the extent of private planes to holiday and can't pay school fees. The list could go on - meals out, designer stuff etc
And no savings!
Good on you OP
You never know what's around the corner

10Minutestobedtime · 05/09/2023 22:28

kipperba · 05/09/2023 22:20

Combination of nursery and nanny (we both work long hours/commutes so nursery hours won't always cover it so we've found a part time nanny share)

Show quote history

Ok, well have you thought about shared parental leave for the other 6 months?

Original poster
kipperba · 05/09/2023 22:29

Thank you @wwyd2021medicine !
Part of why I'm being so cautious is reading lots of threads from families with similar incomes (or similar relative to their outgoings) who are in real trouble. I also grew up with very little and with a mother who spent as much as she earned...I don't want to make the same mistakes for my children (although I know my mum did the best she knew how)

OP posts:
gillygeey · 05/09/2023 22:30

@kipperba can you get your salary under 100k eg overpay pension? That way you can get 30 free hrs & tax free childcare

Original poster
kipperba · 05/09/2023 22:32

@10Minutestobedtime we have - my husband is on a training contract type role for another 18 months or so where any time off is delaying an increase in his earning potential. We should sit down again and compare the impact vs the childcare costs though - thanks for the reminder Smile

OP posts:
CosyNightsOnTheSofa · 05/09/2023 22:34

If you work for a decent company your maternity package will probably be 6 months full pay, I'm pretty sure on 165k you can save enough to cover a few months of living expenses.

Our income is around 90k, I am not counting pennies or sat here with roots down my back and I have 3 young children to pay for! I've taken 3 lots of maternity leave in the last 7 years, we have never been "poor". By all means save each month, but why do you need to scrimp? I honestly don't understand where you are coming from with this post unless you live in Central London or something?

eastiseastwestiswest · 05/09/2023 22:37

I am staggered that you can live on £200 per month each. Do you buy nothing and do nothing?

And you can save 5k a month between you?? Again, mind blown. Why do you imagine that's even necessary?

WeWereInParis · 05/09/2023 22:39

If your baby is due in Dec, and you get three months full pay, that's 6-7 months to save before any drop in income. You could double your savings in that time and still have £2-3k a month to put into the mortgage - if you ditched overpaying the mortgage completely you could triple your savings. And then you'd still have 3 months at half pay.
Those savings should more than cover a couple of extra months of mat leave, especially if you didn't overpay the mortgage during those months (and you obviously wouldn't be adding to savings) and still leave you with savings at the end. Especially since it sounds like you are pretty frugal day to day anyway.

Original poster
kipperba · 05/09/2023 22:41

eastiseastwestiswest · 05/09/2023 22:37

I am staggered that you can live on £200 per month each. Do you buy nothing and do nothing?

And you can save 5k a month between you?? Again, mind blown. Why do you imagine that's even necessary?

Hello! Sorry if I wasn't clear, we do have other costs like food shops, commuting etc that are not included in the 200. That is for personal spends like gym,clothes, hair, nails, games that sort of thing.
We moved out of London and away from a lot of our friends, that definitely means we go out individually a lot less! Also neither of us drink (including when I'm not pregnant) which again definitely keeps nights out cheaper.
I used to buy a lot of clothes but for environmental reasons I really try not to now - I rent clothes for weddings or formal events and otherwise I don't really buy a lot. If there's something I need, it might cost me the full £200, but because I don't usually spend it I normally have lots left over.

OP posts:
Original poster
kipperba · 05/09/2023 22:43

Thanks everyone for sharing your input. Don't worry, we definitely enjoyed lots of spending in our younger years and know we're in a great position now.
We've got some really interesting things to look into from this thread so will get to it :)

OP posts:
Original poster
kipperba · 05/09/2023 22:45

gillygeey · 05/09/2023 22:30

@kipperba can you get your salary under 100k eg overpay pension? That way you can get 30 free hrs & tax free childcare

Wow I didn't know that pension contributions didn't count towards the limit! Not sure how I missed that but I've just been reading about it now and I'm 🤯That's amazing news, I will definitely do that. Thank you!

OP posts:
Tryingtokeepcalmandcarryon · 05/09/2023 22:51

Hugely admire how much you are both able to save! That’s some willpower there! I totally understand why you want to continue to contribute to your pension (I’m assuming via salary sacrifice) to save on the tax and this will bring you down below the 100k threshold when NI allowance is affected and you should also be eligible for free childcare hours and tax free childcare which you should def look at in detail as your childcare costs are really high (the free childcare hours are prob not eligible with the nanny though).

I wouldn’t however be throwing all your savings at overpaying the mortgage. Just my opinion but I think 12k is quite low in a savings pot when you have a 2k mortgage, and you prob need a contingency plan if you are made redundant / need a new car etc. 6 months bill payments in savings is usually recommended.

Having your first baby can change you hugely and best laid out plans often change when your child arrives. You might even want a full year off. I would put the money into a high interest ISA and if you decide next year you don’t need it then you can overpay the mortgage before you renew.

Swipe left for the next trending thread