Maternity pay worry

[Kitcat159]

I just found out I'm pregnant (about 6 weeks. 1st docs appt on Friday)
I'm looking into maternity pay and I'm really worried about how this is going to Work!
With my pay being reduced so much we will struggle to pay the rent and bills, let along get everything we need for a new baby.
I heard there is a maternity grant if it's your first baby but you are only eligible if you are on benefits.
I'm worried I'm gonna lose my home etc.

Anyone got any words of reassurance for a 1st time mum with anxiety please??

Kit
X

Babies need very little.

Can you give some figures? What are your current incomings and outgoings?

Kitcat, I'm in a similar position even though we have good incomes - I have saved as much money as I can and I can afford to have 3 months off at the moment. We will also consider taking a mortgage holiday (2 months) to make it a bit easier. Is that something you could do?

I've bought a lot of stuff second hand and I've made an Amazon baby wishlist. If anyone kindly asks what we want for baby I send them to that so we recieve practical, useful gifts that we know we need and want!

Good advice from Nick above - additionally you need to save, save, save as hard as you can over the next few months so that you have a bit of money to cover your maternity leave. Sort your outgoings to reduce them as much as you can (consolidate debt etc)

Congratulations on your pregnancy!

Do you know if your employer offers enhanced maternity pay, or will you just get SMP?
Do you and your partner both have relatively low incomes?

Depending on the finances, you might be entitled to Child Tax Credits and/or Housing Benefit during your maternity leave (and during his parental leave if he takes any).

To work out whether you will be entitled to any benefits, you could use an online calculator like entitledto.co.uk, or visit/contact Citizens Advice and ask them to work it out for you. You will need to provide info about your finances including salary and rent.

Good old MSE has loads of useful tips:
www.moneysavingexpert.com/family/baby-checklist

Babies don't have to cost a fortune. You can get baby stuff like cots, prams, highchairs etc really cheap on Gumtree and eBay. Supermarkets do pretty cheap clothing for babies. You can also ask relatives to buy you baby stuff instead of xmas/birthday presents. And you've got another 7 ish months to save before you leave work.
You'll also find that as you don't go out as much you spend less money in general.

You will be fine

Luckily, you’ve got a few month to prepare. So you can save, maybe do some overtime.
You could also consider moving to a cheaper property and need to make sure you have the best deals on utilities and don’t spend much on frivolities like fancy tv packages or going out. It might be a case of saving a fiver here, a tenner there but these things really add up and can make a real difference.

Save, save, save as much as you can.
You'll child benefit which everyone gets (around £80 a month)
Cancel gym memberships as u won't bw needing them.
When it comes to baby stuff..Get everything on Buy and sells like me i got an immaculate Silvercross travel system with isofix for £100 on my local but and sell page.
I got a cot bed, wardrobe and drawer set off internet for £300 including mattrass.

Shop around, it can be done on the cheap

No, unless you're on benefits you won't qualify for the Surestart grant. Your pay will be reduced, but you should look into what sort of enhanced maternity packages your employer offers. For instance, mine (had I qualified, I didn't on a fixed term contract) offered 5 months full salary plus the other 4 months at SMP. If you get SMP, you'll at least get 6 weeks full salary, plus the SMP amount up to 39 weeks. If you make enough now that your salary will be significantly reduced, you just need to save now. I don't qualify for SMP (only maternity allowance because of the way my contract was structured), so I don't even get 6 weeks of full salary to start. But I started saving from the very first month I was pregnant and now have a significant savings which will easily carry me through a year of mat leave along with my husband's salary. Babies really don't cost much at all until you go back to work and start paying for childcare, so it's to your advantage for you or your partner to work out how to be at home. If you can save up to allow one of you to do that for as long as possible, you'll be fine.