income v outgoings

[Kafri]

Hi,
I've just started having a quick look into where I stand while on mat leave. My employer doesn't give much - 6 weeks full pay then SMP up to 39 weeks.

Am I right in thinking SMP is about £130?? I've also been told I'll be entitled to child benefit, is this correct, and how much is that?

Lastly, is there anything else I may be entitled to that I can look into? Dont get me wrong, I'm a hard working girl, and will be going back to work beyond my maternity but I've worked soooo hard over the the last 12 years in my job, and defo worked hard to have this dear little bubs (IVF miracle) - I jut want the opportunity (like every mum out there) to have an enjoyable mat leave and still be able to pay my bills.

DH will be continuing work so, it's just that my SMP is half my normal salary so is a considerable drop. I'm trying to work on the idea that some (if only a small amount) might be offset by the fact that we will swap the couples lifestyle for a parents lifestyle ie, meals out/cinema etc swapped for cash nights in with bubs and nappies/toys etc.

Jut wondering what other mms have done as I can't be the only one with this to arrange.

Thank you, x

just started a similar thread!
will be stalking keeping an eye out on yours for answers as well!

Perhaps re-post this in the money section? Might get a few more responses?

SMP is about £135 per week. Child benefit for one child is around £80 per month. (Think mine is £81.35 from memory.)

Seriously, reconsider posting in Money section.

And many congrats on the IVF baby. What a miracle!

Also watching this as i am in the same position. Currently SMP is £135.00 per week..Don't no how anyone can live off this :-/

You may be entitled to child tax credit but that's income bases so it depends on how much you earn as a couple I believe there is a calculator on the direct gov website. Also when calculating your income the 1st £100 of anything you earn while on maternity leave is not counted therefore you will be effectivly earning £35 a week according to tax credits making your income very low it just depends on what your dp earns really and I can't remember what the upper limit is now it used to be like 40k but they changed it this tax year to something lower so I would go on direct gov am pretty sure that tells you all the benefits you are entitled to. Good luck.

Smp is for 39 weeks the rest is unpaid.

£81.20. Sorry!

And ThunderboltKid is right - SMP might only be for 26 weeks, but your employer may offer a sort of "incentive" based payment - such as the 6 weeks full pay you've been offered. E.g. mine offered to pay me 50% of my pay as well as SMP for 12 weeks if I returned to work for a minimum of 13 weeks following my leave. Read your mat leave docs carefully. You may even have options. (I opted to receive the 50% bonus as a lump sum if and when I return to work there - and that is a big "if"!! Thus the deferred option.)

I had a very big income drop to SMP (something like £800). We got a little bit of tax credits but not much. I would suggest saving as much as you can. Also, remember you won't be spending on work related expenses. Look at your budgets now and see what you're actually spending and then see where you can cut corners.

There are lots of ways making money stretch. We did it, it was hard but we managed.

SMP is 6 weeks at 90% pay (the 6 weeks where you'll be getting full pay), then £135.75 a week until 39 weeks (9 months) then you can have a further 13 weeks at 0 pay to give you 1 year maternity leave.

That's all I will be getting so DH will be doing overtime in advance to give a bit of savings, he'll then be paying most of the bills while i'm off and we'll be cutting down on luxuries. I'm sure we'll manage

just worked this out,
so excluding the 6 weeks at full pay
we will have 540 pcm from smp
then child benefit is 80 pcm
so in total we will have 620 per month?
sorry to be dumb, ive got dyscalculia and takes me a while to get my head around this!

so.. can we claim housing benefit or that sort of thing on top of that? or..?

Bubbless Will that be your only income or will you have an income from DP?

I can't advise on housing benefit etc but if you only have one income then I would have thought there would be other help available for low income families.

Have a look at the direct gov website

Other benefits - Housing, Child Tax Credit etc are means tested on your household income, so that will account for your DH's salary too. It looks at your P60, so accounts for overtime too.

I found that my outgoings reduced considerably on mat leave.

Do you own or rent your house? We went interest only both times I was on ml, and overpaid in between.

In general there is no other help, but as others have said check you working family tax credits.

Thanks for all the help guys, DH works full time in a bank (defo not the sort of salary or bonus' ur all thinking, lol - he's only in customer service in branch) so hs salary isn't anything to write home about! Alo, doesn't have the opportunity of overtime as any extra hours he works earn time off in lieu! Grrr

I'll have a look into working family tax! How do te work t out - will t e based on what I WAS earning as full time or what I will actually b earning once on mat??

Sorry to be so dim! I've never looked into it before as we never wanted to count our chickens where the IVF was concerned.
X

Im just coming to the end of my MAt Leave. SMP £128pw, CB £20pw, we get bot all else (dh income £14.5k, mine was £20k).

We thought it would be a struggle and, while we have had to watch what we spend, we havent got ourselves into debt.

Not driving to work every day saved more than I bargained for, and I swapped Tesco/Asda for Aldi (only going to.Asda for giant yorkshires and their nappies and baby milk). We used to go to a pub quiz and have tea there once a week so that stopped (£40pw), and would go out for dinner once a fortnight or so, thats stopped. We do eat a take away once a week now, which is more than normal.but chinese is cheap.round my way.

We dont have an expensive lifestyle, and it takes very little to keep us happy (corrie amd a few games of cards), plus ithas been worth it to see dd flourish!

Remember you accumulate annual leave and BHs while.on Mat Leave so add them on too
The last month of my leave has been holidays.so full pay

Yeah I have worked my mat leave so I return to work as the kids break up for summer (I work in a school for kids with autism and LD) so last 6 weeks will b full pay :-)

I'm also now a bit concerned about whether SMP is 39 weeks or 26 as some have questioned on the thread. I really thought it was 39 and then I could add up to 52 but 39-52 would be unpaid (hmmm, as if I cud afford that afte 9 months on reduced pay)

Is it just me or is it all a bloody minefield? They don't seem to like making it easy for people.

Its 39 weeks. Deffo.

Oooh, my DH might do the same job as you (TA for students at a school for kids with Autism).

It is deffo 39 week weeks, then 39-52 weeks unpaid

Thanks for that - feel better now!

Yey to your DH Gnocchi - I'm biased but I genuinely have the BEST job in the world! :-) x

okay so another mildly related question, if we dont go back to work after having a child are we eligible for benefits?
its just, my wages wont cover childcare so it makes more sense for me to stay at home.. but when i asked the lady at the job centre thingy she looked at me like id just said id kill my child and take them to work for my lunch, and told me if i have a job i should work.... so complex!

I was thinking this,
I'm going to have to look into my options as there is no way I can afford to go back to work full time and pay full one child care. Going to have to find a happy medium.

You migh be able to get income support but again your partners income is taken into account. You cannot claim jobs seekers, as obv you are not seeking work. Again child care and working family tax credits might be applicable.

Im also about 600 pound down a month for being on mat leave.

DP earns less than I did despite working full time hours. (own business)

I am in minus money before I start the month!

However I have:
Increased the term of my mortgage - saving 56 pounds per month.
Shop at Aldi now, saving about 50-00 a month on shopping.
knocked all takeaways/social things/ hobbies on the head completely - 40-00 a month saved.

Not going out/using car reduced petrol by 50-00 a month

Unfortunately need internet for DP business as he works from home, tied into a year contract with SKY and mobiles so can not reduce any further.

Also have a lot of debt,.

I could ask council tax to be spread over 12 months not ten but im not sure if the difference will be worth it over having two free months a year.

I would recommend you pay off as much debt as you can in the lead up to going off work, thus reducing your monthly outgoings and also leaving you space for emergencies.

I am hoping I will be entitled to some working tax credits.