Pregnant, living in a one bed flat and a low combined income... How do others cope?

[pandoramarie]

Having recently found out I am pregnant (unplanned) I have been having sleepless nights worrying that when the baby arrives we will not have enough money to live. I'm 22 and my partner is 31 and at present we have a combined income of just £40k per year. Although we do not live in the city, we still struggle on this income and don't have much left at the end of each month. We currently rent a small 1 bed flat and had planned to buy together in a years time when my partner is due for a large pay rise (his pay will be doubled). Until that time, we cannot afford to rent anywhere bigger and I'm worried about how we'll manage for at least a year in a tiny flat with a newborn baby while I'm only receiving maternity pay. Has anyone else been in a similar situation? Any advice would be hugely appreciated as I'm feeling totally down about the whole situation at the moment :(

I doubt this thread is genuine or else you are very insensitive to people actually on low incomes op.
You have a high combined income and very low rent you need to get a grip if you are being serious.

The post certainly is genuine and at no point was it my intention to offend anyone. I don't see anyone stating that I have offended them? I simply came here asking for some advice and opinions. Its been really helpful!

You don't have a low income, not by a far stretch. Dh was off work for 6 months with depression and we have two children, one severely disabled and our income including all benefits etc combined was £23k. We managed, so you should be fine.

Money saving expert and making meal plans etc should help. You'll be fine, babies don't cost much at all. It's when they become teens like my eldest they cost a fortune!

Me and my dp are expecting out baby in 25th December I'm currently employed dp works full time low wages £7.60 a hour and we live in a studio flat private rent so your situation is very doable

Sorry un employed I am

You haven't offended me but you have irritated me. I'm a lp on £27k with no benefits and rent of £950pcm (I have lodgers to make ends meet) and I found your post irritating.

Congratulations ! It's totally doable and indeed is many peoples reality, I was a single mum in a one bed flat and it was perfect for me and my ds. Just don't buy all the nursery furniture get a bedside crib and a Moses basket at first, when the baby has grown out of those go to ikea and buy the small cot from there I think they're about £80-90 and you're sorted !

Ignore the professionally offended, but do look at your finances as it seems you have lots to sort out

Definitely look at your finances, though I know how easy it is to feel like the money just drifts away even when you have what most people consider a decent income. That said we can easily live off just dh's wage with nearly double the rent you have and still feel comfortably off. I'm sure you can cut right back if you look into it.

I'd look at your Sky TV and gym memberships definitely (though if you use the gym memberships enough to justify the price they aren't necessarily a waste as exercise is important! If you aren't using it though, get rid) Also do you throw out a lot of food, buy lots of takeaways or eat out a lot? It's surprising how much money people can waste on those things. Also look at you credit cards debts, stop using immediately for new purchases, try to transfer the balance to zero interest cards and get it all paid off asap. On your income with your rent you should easily be able to pay £500 a month off on credit cards. How much debt is on them?

LadyStark Could you get Child Tax Credit? I would have thought so as a single parent on your income. Slightly depends how many children and how much you get from lodgers. But might be worth checking out the tax credit calculator x

Thanks! I've just tipped over the threshold as my childcare costs are very low. I have been getting them since ds was born and very grateful for them! I have got myself through a masters degree mostly thanks to tax credits and now have much better earning potential. Lodger income isn't used for tax credits as its not taxable income (rent a room scheme)

Don't worry! The people feeling offended/ outraged are people who have thought, planned and budgeted very carefully on lower incomes than yours and their minds are boggling that you might struggle on your salary.

I think the main point to take from their posts is that while this may have been a shock for you guys, with a little bit of thought and planning you'll be fine. More than fine!

9 months is ages. Good luck!

Our joint income is higher LaPhar but I wouldn't suggest it wasn't more than enough to raise a family.

But isn't that because you've already thought carefully about it/ have experience?

I think the OP is just having a general "oh shit I'm pregnant aaaagggghhhhhh" panic I mean, maybe OP's friends all earn more than her and/or she doesn't have friends with children so has no perspective.

Doesn't everyone have random panics about things that seem daft afterwards when they're pregnant? I know I did!

Yes random panics are normal, but sleepless nights on 40k knowing that will go up to around 60k within a year, paying rent of just 6k a year isn't normal.

This might sound random, but look at the ikea website. They have flat layouts for all kinds of scenarios and in Scandinavia it's not unusual to live in a small flat with children. It might give you some ideas about how you can move things around to fit everything in.