Smp anyone else wondering how they will cope?

[Sarahmarie2505]

ok so I will b on smp which will be about a 500-600 drop in wages a month ! Oh dear I've only just realised !maybe I better go back earlier ??

Yeah, me too. I'm due DC2 in December, so most of my current salary goes on childcare as it is. How to work this one out? We'll actually be better off while I'm on mat leave as we won't be paying out for child care!
I thought you meant how to cope in general with a baby? I guess you just do! Now I'm worried how I'll cope with a toddler to care for as well as a babe-in-arms.

i'm bricking it a bit myself, dh laid off in Feb and he's starting out as self-employed, we've saved a lot in prep for mat leave but it's going to be a squeeze! we'll make it, but i can't help but worry.

I'm going to be about £1200 worse off a month and completely crapping myself about it. We've got some savings but right now i can only be on mat leave for 6 months and that means we use all of our savings, so no back up when i go back to work.

What also annoys me is when i'm asked how long i'm taking off and i say around 6 months, people who already have kids say 'oh you'll want to take more than that off' Well i do want to, but i really can't afford to!!

I really don't know how other people do it, but i am glad i'm not alone on wondering how we're going to cope!

It's ridiculous! Thing is I'm quite lucky as I'm going to go back and work evenings so hubby will have them which cuts the worry of childcare costs! But the bad thing is is I dnt seenmy 6 and 4 yr old as when I collect them from school it's straight to work
For me which really hurts :(

I am on the same boat.
Lost £1500 per month with DS1 and stayed 10 months at home because I could not find the right childcare. Was lucky to have lots of second hand baby equipment and clothing so I did not really spend any money on that. All the money went towards nappies really. I don't know how but atthe time I was not too worried.
This time I got made redundant and at 31 weeks I have already started freaking out. Wanted originally to take a whole year off as I reckon it is my last baby (old bird) but will certainly consider trying to find new job earlier, who knows how long it will take to get back on the rat race ? On the other hand, it is so hard to leave baby early.
Dilemna... Wish there was a straight forward answer out there

Yes! I'll be down to a quarter of my normal monthly take home. It's terrifying. DH is self-employed, will have just been in a business a year before the baby is due. My salary mostly supports us right now - rent, bills, food etc - and DH keeps saying he will be earning a lot more but it's scary.

I'm hoping to save enough to see us through to me having at least 6 months off, if not maybe 9. Who know. I am surrounded by women at work who's husbands earn 80K a year and they're taking a year off

It is scary, we have made it a bit less scary by doing a few things. Firstly mortgage was up so got a new deal on that saving us about £300 a month, we also had 2 cars but sold one which gave us a little bit of cash plus with all the expense of it will save us about another £150 a month. Finally we have some loans that we are paying off it Luckily they finish in November so we will be quite a bit better off once they are paid. We do have savings but don't want to dip too far in those. Other than that I am going to have to be a lot more careful with money.

I'm in my last couple of months of a year off, so down to no income at all!!

It's hard but we saved as much as possible whilst I was pregnant, cut right back on food shopping and did a lot of ebaying! It's really rough but worth it! I realise now how much money we wasted!

It's so hard , even though we are both minimal wage we bring in 45,000 together last year according to our p60's we jus don't have anything left! I've manages to save a little bit but by no means enough to see through 9 months ! We aren't entitled to tax credit obv cause of our income is way too much ! But with 3 of them it's gonna b a squeeze ! I also have no annual leave to take b4 I take leave at 35 weeks as I've had to use quite a bit up for half term for the older two which means I will be 41 weeks when my maternity kicks in but I've been told I can tag it on the end ? Not sure how that works? It's such a shame that when we should all b looking forward to having our little ones we are all worried about money! I'm really hoping breastfeeding will b better this time then it's just nappies to by! Tries a breast feeding councillor last time and she was crap baby still wasn't getting anything !

Oh yes I forgot Ebaying we had an eBay frenzy of stuff and managed to make several hundred pounds which helped pay for some of the baby stuff

I feel very lucky that as I only earn minimum wage after travel to and from work I'm only about £50-£80 worse off a month... Although with CB, CTC and WTC between DH and I we'll actually be better off! No idea how we'd manage down some of the figures you ladies are, really hope you all work it out!

Just to say that even if you are on smp, you can still get your child care vouchers... So that's about £240 a month "given" to you for free (ie. not deducted from smp) and to be spent towards chilcare.

I don't know about your employer but I work for the NHS and I get the option of spreading all my maternity pay over the duration of my mat leave. That way I don't get the sudden shock of just SMp for the last 3 month

don't forget to factor in the following -

additional Child benefit
higher child/working tax credits due to income decrease (you can also reduce your stated income by £100pw of mat leave on your claim, increasing your payment)

also as having babies kills my spending on clothes, wine and any kind of social life there is some saving there!

Hello ! Are you saying that childcare voucher is NOT deducted from smp ? I thought it was a salary sacrifice. Can you clarify please ? That would be very interesting, indeed. Thank you

Dp will hopefully have a job, earning about £16k pa. The rest will be scrimping and whatever we're entitled to.

I'm a temp, mainly in childcare. Not really much point going back to work!

Here's the link about child care vouchers from hmrc and if you go to the employment board there's lots more info

www.hmrc.gov.uk/employers/sml-salary-sacrifice.pdf

www.hmrc.gov.uk/employers/sml-salary-sacrifice.pdf

I started doing party plan last year when on mat leave to earn a bit, as I am self employed, didn't affect my mat pay but gave us some extra pennies plus I have a whole new kitchen full of equipment that has cost me next to nothing!!!

I'm doing it on my own, and it was a total shock, falling pregnant, so yes, I am quite worried about the financial side. Luckily, I had set up my own business last year so my accountant managed to get me SMP, which I didn't think I would get, and I have sorted a couple of contracts for the next three and a half months.
But longer term it's really worrying, as I want to be the best mum I can be, and not have to put my child into nursery until he or she is at least 2, or even later, but equally I need to pay my mortgage/bills and put food on the table. I'm not getting any contribution from the dad.
I am sure it will work out - it has to!
EdgarAllenPimms, I too am spending so much less than normal without the booze, taxis, festivals and clothes!
I don't think I would be entitled to tax credits or child benefit with my own ltd company would i, even though my actual salary I draw from it isn't particularly high...

Polly Everyone is entitled to Child Benefit regardless of circumstance, not sure about Tax Credits though...

Polly your entitled to child benefit (back paid for 3 months if baby already here) it will then be capped at £60k income and staggered from £50k per annum.

We don't get tax credits so not sure how they work but think there is a website called entitled to (or similar) and you can put in all your numbers and it will let you know what you can get

hpbp
Yes, if you are already claiming childcare vouchers before maternity, you get SMP and vouchers (tho if you do KIT days, they will deduct this to pay for some vouchers).
You can't deduct from SMP, so salary sacrificed vouchers and pension payments are ontop.

Thanks blondiedollface and Pootle78. Still got 3.5 mths to go - will have to find out how I get that!

We wouldn't be able to cover the bills on SMP, so I was back at work when my baby was 19 days old!