Spending money on maternity leave

[Pregnantgrumpygal]

So I’ve just found out I’m pregnant and I’m trying to reassure myself about finances.
After you paid the bills and food shopping, how much money did you need for spends each week. By spends I mean things like trips out, treats, baby classes, extra Petrol if travelling places.
My maternity pay will cover all my bills as they are now (though they might go up when baby comes), and leave me £150 extra a month. I want to work out how much I need to save so I’m not confined to the house with no money for months on end!
I won’t save much money by not working because I work so close to where I live it’s hardly any petrol money and I take food with me so working doesn’t cost me much really.

Do you have a partner? Is so I would try to live on just one salary as far as possible and save the rest. Fact is nobody can ever save too much, so put as much away as you possibly can. Many things for a baby are fine secondhand, they don't need much. Mum and baby groups are normally only a pound or so for the session, things like baby yoga or swimming are more.

I do have a partner, but we can’t pay the bills on one wage unfortunately. We save a lot anyway, but that’s security for the future rather than specifically to spend on mat leave. I wanted to start a separate fund for that as my own money. My DP wouldn’t ever see me short, and it’s joint money to a point, but he worries about not putting into savings each month so I want him to still be able to keep doing that if possible even if it’s not as much IYSWIM.
I’m probably overthinking this...

You possibly are over thinking. Obviously its important to know you can pay all your bills with your mat pay, but i dont think you can budget for things like eating out and stuff all through mat leave. Some months you will be out more than others, make use of the baby groups which are free or very cheap, and enjoy lots of free stuff like going to the park. As long as you can pay for essentials the rest will vary, and you've got ages yet! Don't stress

Thank you for your honesty I am definitely over thinking this. I just had this massive moment of realisation at lunch time that omg I’m pregnant how the hell am I going to do this! It’s easier to worry about money than the other million things that could go wrong!
I’ve done a few sums and I can easily manage to save the money I’m going to need and a bit extra too. Not including DP’s savings. It will be fine

Hi OP, that's me just on mat leave now and my maternity pay will be going towards my half of the bills - we could just afford to live on one wage (earn almost equal) but I'm more comfortable doing it this way. I've managed to save enough for approx £150 a month spending money (coffee/ groups etc) for the duration of my leave and it'll be fiiiiine. I don't live in an overly expensive area and of course if we needed extra there would be what's left from DH's wages - but it's a strange position to be in and I was worried about it before! I would have saved a lot more but we've spent a lot in the last year on the house and we're not wanting to touch our safety net savings account.

I second Twitchett22 - I will be making the most of free groups and getting out and about for walks in the park or visiting people at their houses.

Thanks GWeather I was just panicking about how much I’m going to be spending before baby even gets here, as well as trying to save to top up my maternity leave. If I take nine months off and a bit of annual leave either side I should be fine with the savings I’m making now. I have three weddings to attend this year too! And a new house we are trying to do up, which is now going on hold. My head is so full with trying to work out how I would afford it all! But I do live quite cheaply really, so I’ll be fine!

Depending on your income, you may be entitled to child benefit too.

You are thinking about this the wrong way. When you are on maternity leave you will be looking after your joint child, any savings for maternity leave and personal spending money needs to be shared jointly. By the second part I mean you both should have individual x amount to spend each month seperate to providing for the baby’s needs.

I am 4 months into mat leave and don't spend that much really. I do a few baby groups that I've had to pay for (baby sensory and baby massage, both £70 each for a 6-week block) and if you want to do swimming lessons these can be really pricey but most other things are very affordable. Lots of the baby groups around my area are either free or around £2 per session. There might be a Facebook group set up for mums in your area with a list of what's on and the prices.

We don't tend to eat out in expensive places because we're never sure how DD will be and sometimes we need to make a hasty exit if she's in a bad mood and playing up, cheap and casual cafes are good! They are really too little for proper 'day trips' as babies anyway so short trips to the park or the shops is more appropriate I've found. I wasn't much of a spender before mat leave so haven't needed to change up my habits much, tbh.

Thanks everyone. I would like to do swimming lessons because I never learnt to swim til I was an adult and It’s important to us to do that. But I know all of these things are extras, paying the bills is the most important. I think I’ll probably spend most days spending very little with trips to see people or going to the park etc. It should balance out hopefully
making I know you’re right, and my DP would agree I’m sure. I haven’t spoken to him about this yet, I just know he worries about putting money in savings each month because his industry isn’t the most secure for jobs, so it’s important for him to have money to fall back on if the worst should happen again and when he worries I worry. That money would be for both of us if we needed it.

I didn't spend much on maternity leave as not much going out, and no travel costs into work etc.
Childcare is worth budgeting for if you plan to go back to work. 3 days of nursery per week is twice our mortgage each month

We need to really discuss childcare arrangements. Nurseries won’t work for us because we both work 12 hour shifts, both days and nights. I’m hoping we can arrange our shifts so we can make it work, while hopefully relying on family one day a week, and still actually spending time together sometimes too! I might have to drop hours at work which is something we need to discuss. There’s so much to consider!

My DH and I earn roughly equal amounts and my company offers only the most basic maternity package so essentially our income was more or less cut in half when I was on ML. I found I managed to go out to baby classes, pay for coffees and stuff and still buy things for myself and baby without having to constantly dip into savings. I'm not saying we didn't have to tighten the belt a little bit but I definitely found I spent less than when I was working.

I set a budget of £200 per month after all bills, phone, supermarket shop and petrol. Baby classes are up to about £6 each (other than swimming) so most my budget went on coffee and cake! I didn't need all that each month and actually saved £1500 on mat leave, despite it only being statutory.

Wow these messages are really reassuring. Thanks everyone

In my first mat leave I saved a grand for a bit extra each month, didn't spend any of it and just got smp, aiming to save the same again for 2nd mat leave in a few months, may need to dip into it this time as obviously have a toddler to cater for too, but generally if you're careful you won't spend much

So Im 5 months in and maybe abit different to previous comments I've done a few classes which run between £30-60 for 4-6 weeks. I might then have lunch out prior, in the early days we just ate out as its the only thing we could manage to do and the only way we ate properly as the baby slept in the ambient noise (you might not have this issue though!). Don't underestimate night feed internet purchases or ' baby NEEDS this' internet trawling buys at 2 in the morning . There are normally free groups but I think it depends on what type of person you are as to whether you would get anything from them. To be honest, in the early days going for a walk might be enough to keep you occupied. Just be sensible really, and dont worry too much, we did save in anticipation and still havnt dipped into it yet. Congrats and enjoy! Xx