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Pregnancy

Talk about every stage of pregnancy, from early symptoms to preparing for birth.

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Original poster

Pregnancy savings.... I'm really worrying!

61 replies

Biooilandcarbs · 01/04/2021 10:50

I'm nearly 27 weeks pregnant and now I'm so close to the final trimester I'm starting to worry about EVERYTHING and money being the main thing.

During my pregnancy we've had a lot of house renovations going on plus baby shopping (in 6 months we've decorated and painted 3 rooms, re-floored the downstairs, had carpets and furniture cleaned, new doors throughout the house, had blinds put in, new built-in wardrobes, new bed, mattress, new living room furniture, pram, cot, changer, all the baby accessories, garden furniture set, decking and so on) which has seen our savings absolutely depleted.

Currently have around £2k in savings and we still have about £1k more worth of house stuff to do and finish and I've only got two more pay days until I'm on maternity.

My husband and I have gone through our outgoings and whittled down what we can cancel, what we can cut back on etc however each month will still be quite tight.

I really wanted to have at least £5k saved up and now I'm panicking as it'll be likely that I have about £1k (with around £1k due to me in a bonus at the end of the year).

Can you do maternity leave with minimal savings?

My husband can earn extra working weekends but I don't want him working all the time missing out on precious time with baby and neither does he.

OP posts:

Are your children’s vaccines up to date?

Set a reminder

eensyweensySpider · 01/04/2021 10:57

Do you have a good workplace maternity package OP, or will you be getting statutory mat pay? Congratulations on your pregnancy, not long to go

Megan2018 · 01/04/2021 10:59

Why did you continue to spend money on house things if you knew you were pregnant? We halted all plans like that as soon as we knew and only bought the baby things. We made sure we would have all the bills covered during mat leave with savings. I’m the main earner so we needed to make sure that the combination of mat pay, holiday pay, SMP, child benefit and savings was sufficient. We had to use about £15k of savings to cover the reduction in income just to pay our basic bills.
Mat leave isn’t especially expensive but you need to cover essential outgoings and there’s a fair bit baby will need as they grow (although you can get a lot secondhand). I spent a bit on classes and cafes each week.
I wanted to take the full 52 weeks so a big chunk of that was unpaid. I didn’t want to be pushed back early due to money.

Obviously it’s a bit late for you now but you need to stop spending on the house until later.

Mummyof2Terrors · 01/04/2021 10:59

Mat leave doesn't have to be expensive. I ended up finishing mat leave with more in savings than at the beginning.

One baby class a week, few coffees out. No more than £20 a week really.

UserTwice · 01/04/2021 11:03

What is your maternity package like, and how long did you plan to take off? Worst case scenario, you just need to go back to work a little earlier than planned. (I'm assuming here that you're wanting the savings to make up maternity pay shortfall to cover essential bills)

You say you still have 1K more of house stuff to do - do you really "need" to do this, or can it be put off until later?

Mummyof2Terrors · 01/04/2021 11:06

Also can you do KIT days at your work? I did 10 in the 18 weeks I was off and it really topped me up

Giraffaelina · 01/04/2021 11:12

Depends on your maternity package I guess and how the reduction in income compares to your bills / outgoings really. We had money saved up and stopped all non essential renovations on our home as I was stressing a bit just like you, but due to the pandemic we barely had to touch the savings as my SMP and DHs earnings covered most bills / food shopping. I guess it was financially much easier having eff all to spend money on with everything closed, and I got to extend my mat leave for the full 52 weeks rather than the 9 months originally planned.

merryhouse · 01/04/2021 11:15

How much do you have to do on the house? I mean, if it's along the lines of garden furniture and decking then you could easily leave it another couple of years...

How much do you have to spend to stay where you are? As in: mortgage, council tax, utilities, commuting costs.

Can you cut down on your food spending?

Rosieposy89 · 01/04/2021 11:18

With hindsight, you probably shouldn't have done all the home renovations and I'd put the rest on hold. I was planning house stuff this year but saving for baby instead. I'll only get SMP but we do our finances proportionately so hoping it won't leave me too short. I'm saving like mad now as I want 52 weeks off. Maybe save as much as you can out of your next two pay packets.

Janxyb · 01/04/2021 11:19

Your joint income might drop enough to claim universal credit? We originally earned too much until my pay dropped down to smp and then we were eligible, it definitely helped.

THATbasicSNOWFLAKE · 01/04/2021 11:23

You just need to prioritise what you NEED to do and what you WANT to do. Your baby doesnt care about decor.

Original poster

Biooilandcarbs · 01/04/2021 11:31

Crikey, feeling quite attacked because we've spent money on our home - you'd think i was blowing it on holidays and clothes and outings etc. If you'd seen our house before we moved in you'd understand why we've had to invest as it was absolutely in no state both in damage and hygiene to live in let alone bring a baby up in.

The incoming money we have each month from my maternity pay and husband wages covers all the bills with £500-£1000 pm left over depending on what stage I'm at with mat payments.

I'm going back to work after 10 months on a part time basis.

OP posts:

THATbasicSNOWFLAKE · 01/04/2021 11:33

If you have £500-£1000 pcm after bills i wouldn't say you had much need to worry about affording your mat leave

Themostwonderfultimeoftheyear · 01/04/2021 11:33

£500 to £1000 left after bills is plenty.

Original poster

Biooilandcarbs · 01/04/2021 11:34

The £500-£1000 pm doesn't include food and petrol FYI.

OP posts:

OnlyFoolsnMothers · 01/04/2021 11:36

£500-£1000 is fine, tbh without a break down of your outgoings it’s hard to tell. I guess your concern will be food shopping- plan/ shop at Aldi etc.

UserTwice · 01/04/2021 11:37

So the £500-£1000 has to include food and petrol and (presumably) miscellaneous spending for 2 adults and a baby. At the £1000 end of the scale, that is certainly plenty, so you could also save during that time, so enhance your money when you are at the £500 end?

DowntonCrabby · 01/04/2021 11:38

You’ll manage on as much/little as you have.

I’d put the rest of the work on the house on hold though until after you’re back at work, the baby couldn’t give a shit about new doors and garden furniture.

Create a watertight budget for mat leave and stick to it.

Giraffaelina · 01/04/2021 11:43

Well, in my experience, the first couple of months after DS was born were such a blur with sleep deprivation and exhaustion that even if places were open, I highly doubt we would have got out much so I guess early on in your mat leave, when your income is still close to normal, you'll still be able to save some money and use later on down the line when your pay drops.

Giraffaelina · 01/04/2021 11:51

I really wouldn't worry too much though if I were you, just try and be sensible. The amount you will have left is quite a good amount if you consider that some families seriously fall short when going on mat leave. You may not be able to carry on with day to day spendings as before, or carry on the same lifestyle if you are used to going out a lot for dinner, events etc but I think it's normal to an extent when a baby arrives anyway, and I honestly highly doubt you'll be uncomfortable or struggle with anything if you are sensible. Just draw up a budget, decide what and how much you are going to spend on so you know exactly where you are at each month. We did this before I went on mat leave and it made me feel so much better to see it all clearly on paper :)

Superscientist · 01/04/2021 12:06

If your combined earnings during your maternity leave covers your bills I wouldn't stress too much.
We got our house renovations out of the way before we conceived as we didn't want the stress of doing that with a young infant. I understand you doing the house up before the baby arrives. I would probably hold off anything that is purchase based rather than DIY based until you see how much you will have to live on during maternity leave.
We can live off our combined earnings without dipping into our savings. I'm conscious of what I'm spending. We did a baby music class, within 2 weeks I realised it wasn't for us so stopped going. We are doing a baby sensory class instead and we like that better.
I walk everywhere which keeps me fit and reduces fuel costs. I bought a cup holder for the pram (£8 for a universal one) and take out a thermos of coffee. It means I don't buy coffee on each walk and my walks aren't restricted to places where coffee is available! I have some good Bluetooth headphones which save my sanity, I can listen to music or the radio when walking. I often talk to my mum on my walks and they allow me to do that hands free so I don't have to struggle to push the pram whilst holding the phone.

I have a spreadsheet of everything we have bought for the baby, it helps us keep track of spending and the thought of logging a purchase makes me pause and think about whether it's the right purchase. I focus on the benefit to our lives and have avoid some of the impulse short lived buys.

In terms of prep and savings over the next few months I would look at any debts you can reduce (if you have any), then I would look at your food and cleaning cupboards and stock up on staples buying bigger packets if available (3 kg pasta rather than 1kg) to reduce food costs when you are on mat leave as well as giving you a buffer for when baby comes if you don't make it to the store. We now do a stock up online shop every 2-3 weeks then I do a small shop as needed each week as it gives me somewhere to walk to. It creates more variety in the meals we eat, the week of the big shop we eat vegs that have a shorter life span and the second week hardier/longer lifespan foods.

nitsandwormsdodger · 01/04/2021 12:06

I had no savings either time , lived off mat pay and overdraft which was all paid back when I went back to work at 6 months old

Chelyanne · 01/04/2021 12:17

With our eldest we were young, had no savings and were on much lower joint income. Things were tight but we managed.
We don't have huge amounts of savings now and are a 1 income family with 5 kids and a dog already, still will be more comfortable than the 1st time round.

Chelyanne · 01/04/2021 12:22

£500 - £1k after bills is actually quite a lot when you think about it. You'll do fine.

Thisgirlcando · 01/04/2021 12:27

£500-£1000? That’s more than we have on our full wages with two kids and two dogs to pay for! I wouldn’t consider us to be struggling either at the moment

halfwaythrough2 · 01/04/2021 12:29

Don't stress yourself over this. Many people do it with just statutory maternity pay!

Deffo hold off doing anything else to the house for now unroll you've saved some more maybe.

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