Maternity leave / Money worries

[BySharpRedFox]

Need advice as a soon to be first time mum.

My partner has just started a new job for less money after suddenly losing his job, this has thrown out our plans so need to work off a tighter budget as I only get statutory maternity pay.

I am trying to work out average cost once baby is here.

I have budgeted for £400 a month on baby.

Once all the bills are paid we will have about £600 spare a month for savings and emergancy.

Is this enough? Some people are saying it's not and we will struggle. Other say it's plenty and they only spend about £200 a month on the baby.

What are you thinking of spending £400 on?

Nappies
Wipes
Formula
Clothes
Creams

The usual stuff, I looked on some mum sites and some people said they spend £200 a month other said alot more.

You can spend far less..

OK that makes me feel alot better
I've been told not to buy any cheap non brand stuff and that I will be spending alot on clothes each month

Second hand clothes are fine. See on fb for people selling job lots. Re nappies it is trial and error and you may get on with cheaper brands. Books and toys also great second hand. Try charity shops. Babies need very little really.

I think we probably spent £50 a month (if that) on our first. I got all baby clothes for free off Facebook (people often give large bags of baby clothes away for free on marketplace). We got aldi nappies and wipes (so cheap compared to others, have to suit your baby though!), baby shampoo and I breastfed so no feeding costs/equipment like sterilisers etc.

There were some initial costs like a mattress for her Moses basket, about £15 I think (again got the basket free off fb, as well as a playmat etc) and a new, clean changing mat (£5 I believe from Ikea, think it's gone up a little since then) and I was gifted a second hand pram and car seat (I knew it hadn't been in an accident and was quite new, had been used as a spare in granny's car by my cousin).

It can be done for an awful lot less. I got a free cot and changing table off fb again when she finally needed it (we originally just changed her on the mat on the floor) and bought a mattress. All these second hand things obviously need cleaning etc but that was what I was willing to do to get it for free.

So yes, can all be done incredibly cheaply if you're willing to compromise - not being able to choose your own clothes and having to disinfect the cot etc for example.

I believe you can get a £500 payment from the government to be able to prepare for a new baby - might be worth seeing if qualify. There is also something called something like rightstart or something like that which gives you tokens for milk and fruit. Worth seeing if you qualify for that too :)

If you struggle please also see if there is a baby bank near you - often have things like nappies and formula if you're struggling at any point.

Good luck and congratulations!

OP, in kindness, £400 is a ridiculous amount to spend on a newborn baby each month.

Nappies and wipes are trial and error but the Lidl/Aldi nappies and formula we’re great and I used those.

Supermarket baby grows/ Vest etc and also secondhand. I had far too many clothes and I sold loads still with their tags on.

A big tub of sudocrem will last you months.

Newborn skin doesn’t need any creams or soaps so don’t waste your money there.

I never bought a single item of clothing for her before she turned 1! We live in an area with lots of young families and there were always people giving away bags of clothes, which I was so grateful for. I think just as an unspoken rule try to hand them on to the next family in need when you're done with them.

Oh and things like sudocrem, we used to always buy the big tub, which does last ages but it started to become too expensive for us. We switched to Sainsbury's own brand nappy cream and found it absolutely fantastic. It's £1.40 for a tube which lasts about a month.

My DD is very fussy about stuff, but she has bought most of her baby’s clothes from Vinted for a fraction of the price new, and it’s almost all like brand new! She also sells the stuff the baby has outgrown. She uses Aldi / Lidl nappies and rates them better than pampers. She is breastfeeding so has no formula costs to contend with.

Great thank you! I have been really freaked out by some people telling me it's costs a fortune. Most of the people I know with kids, their parents paid for a lot when they were on maternity and covered childcare which isn't the same for me so can't really ask them as their situation is different to mine

You really don’t need to spend lots on baby. Why wouldn’t you buy cheap non-brand clothes? They grow out of the so fast and throw up and poo on them, it’s a complete waste to spend lots on clothes. I mainly buy clothes on Vinted or I get bundles from market place. Nappies can be cheap, newborn nappies are under £1 a pack in Asda, you don’t need to buy Pampers. Formula is expensive so budget £20 a week for that. I’d say overall £200 a month will be more than enough if you’re careful and don’t buy brands.

Apart from the good advice above re costs of stuff it might be worth you and your partner doing an online benefits check to see if you qualify for any UC while you are on maternity leave. This has the benefit of opening up help with childcare costs later if you qualify. Turn2us is a good website to use, and you have to use both your and your partner’s income, savings etc as it’s a joint claim