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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:

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DollyParton2 · 01/04/2021 12:30

I disagree with people having a go about house renovations. The nesting instinct when you have a baby isn’t a myth- for me it was such a reality! You spend so much time at home anyway on mat leave and just want your home to be as clean and lovely as it can be. I think you’ll be fine OP- you’ve got the vast bulk of the big baby buys done already too.

PerveenMistry · 01/04/2021 12:34

Why did you continue all of that discretionary spending when you knew you were pregnant?

Is this a prank?

titchy · 01/04/2021 12:35

You can't on the one hand say you feel attacked for buying new doors, built in wardrobes and blinds. And then post saying you're worried about money

£500 to feed you all and buy petrol doesn't leave you much wiggle room, although if you can do without convenience food, make everything from scratch it's doable. Will there be a period where you have no income? And what about childcare when you go back? Will you need to pay a deposit to secure a nursery place?

Summersun12 · 01/04/2021 12:52

You will be suprised how littlw you spend on materity and its good if you partner can take on overtime.

I went back part time after my first and quickly learned that if you have 2 part time jobs during the 8 weeks before qualifying week then you receive 2lots of smp.

I did this with second and third. Its useful to know for mums who return part time and can pick up extra work during subsequent pregnancies.

Ugzbugz · 01/04/2021 13:03

I would also try ans factor in nursery fees etc unless you have free childcare as that is very expensive.

Also remember to claim for child benefit unless one of you earn to much.

I didn't spend hardly anything as was breast feeding which is obviously free although I was always starving and honestly don't buy loads if clothes, have a few basics as they grow so quick and never wear half of it!

Biooilandcarbs · 01/04/2021 13:05

This reply has been deleted

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Original poster

Biooilandcarbs · 01/04/2021 13:06

@titchy please refer to my reply to @PerveenMistry - I'm ever so sorry this hasn't suited you....

OP posts:

Original poster

Biooilandcarbs · 01/04/2021 13:08

@titchy oh and the house didn't have a single door in it! I don't just go changing doors for a good giggle

OP posts:

zigzagzog12 · 01/04/2021 13:15

You sound like you have enough money to keep you going. Babies don't cost much in the first year anyway

THATbasicSNOWFLAKE · 01/04/2021 13:18

Tbf op you could have said in your initial post you had needed to spend to make your home safe etc, you just made it sound like you were doing it up because you fancied it

KenAddams · 01/04/2021 13:20

500 - 1000 which one is more likely to be? Of course u will manage though no matter which end of the scale it is because you will just need to, u don't need to have savings at the minute just live within your means

Chelyanne · 01/04/2021 13:23

I certainly don't blame you for spending on your house to get it up to a livable standard, tbh I think that is a very sensible use of your savings. I really do think you are worrying over nothing about your monthly living costs though. There are so many ways you can stretch your budget so that you can still enjoy some of lifes luxuries.

Original poster

Biooilandcarbs · 01/04/2021 13:23

@KenAddams what is it with the women on here? Real names hidden so people think it's OK to talk down at others. There are nicer ways to put and ask questions. The way some people are speaking in here is as if I'm talking about doing something awful.

As I said it'll be between £500-£1000 and this is because my maternity pay structure changes after a few months.

OP posts:

MissBPotter · 01/04/2021 13:27

Why are you going on mat leave so early? Is it possible to push it back? I went at 37 weeks last time and using annual leave to begin mat leave on my due date this time. Otherwise it sounds like you’ll be ok op. I am also doing a lot of renovations before baby arrives, I think it is sensible if you can afford it as it is much easier before baby than after.

MissBPotter · 01/04/2021 13:31

Oh sorry ignore me I thought you said two more days! Not two more pay days

KenAddams · 01/04/2021 13:34

@biooilandcarbs sorry if u thought I was having a go I didn't mean for it to come across that way 😂

candlemasbells · 01/04/2021 13:35

Work until 39 weeks. I worked first time until 41 weeks when I went into labour and second time I planned to stop at 39 weeks because I was struggling but I had dd before then!
I wouldn't worry about the state of the house. I had no carpets and bare plaster when DS was born. I did get it sorted by the time he was crawling

bennibooboo · 01/04/2021 13:37

Yea OP that's a very early mat leave to be honest. I went at 29weeks but that was only because I had over 5k saved, my dh was a high earner and we had no mortgage ( and I planned on staying at home after!) in your position I wouldn't have gone so early)

Italiandreams · 01/04/2021 14:00

Actually wouldn’t be enough for us as I earn substantially more than my husband, his wages don’t cover bills so we do need quite a lot is savings. However, everyone has different circumstances, work out monthly outgoings and what you will bring in between you and then you will know. Maternity isn’t particularly expensive but depends on the drop in outgoings.

soughsigh · 01/04/2021 14:16

You've done what you needed to get done to the house (hopefully!) and have come out with some savings. You've not said what petrol costs are, but hopefully you have enough to get through. Mat leave doesn't need to be expensive (other than your loss of earnings), all of the lockdown mums this year have proven that baby classes aren't essential. Hopefully the cheap ones like rhyme time at the library or church playgroups reopen for you soon, plus you can join the peanut app for free to try and find some mum friends to have playdates with.

Make a budget and see what you have to work with (e.g. strict £60 each week for food shop and £40 for petrol), a lot of people do maternity for a lot less (I am pregnant and one women in my maternity group is worrying about negative income on mat leave).

kirinm · 01/04/2021 14:32

@PerveenMistry

Why did you continue all of that discretionary spending when you knew you were pregnant?

Is this a prank?

When I was pregnant we spent about £15,000 on house renovations. Because they NEEDED to be done then. You have no idea what has needed to be done so why on earth would this be a 'prank'?

kirinm · 01/04/2021 14:35

OP I had £8000 saved up for maternity leave. Received statutory minimum and then nothing for the last 3 months.

DP could cover the bills so my maternity leave 'pay' and savings were what I could use. We were pretty strict and I went back to work with £3k still in savings. My SMP payments were around £600 ish a month - I effectively got a tax rebate every month.

Starlive23 · 01/04/2021 14:48

OK so firstly, its really easy to panic so try to take a back step and relax a little. You've got the house to a liveable standard, got baby stuff and you still have a little savings and money left after outgoings. Just see how you go! Sounds like you have all the big stuff sorted, and if you need to cut back a bit then you can.

Its so easy to panic but honestly you are in a good financial position (much better than mine was!!) and I was absolutely fine. I found you really don't spend as much money on mat leave as you might think.

Good luck OP and again just try to think of all the stuff you HAVE got sorted, rather than panicking about what you haven't. You will be so sleep deprived you won't even be thinking about money soon!

kirinm · 01/04/2021 15:05

Also assuming you're on SMP, you'll get 90% of your first month's salary and you probably won't be doing much in the first few weeks so most if not all of that you could save.

Devonfirsttimemum93 · 01/04/2021 15:33

I’m only going to have saved about £1k by the time I go on Mat leave, I only receive stat pay too and we’ve been doing house renovations along the way too. You’ll make do!

£500-£1000 sounds like an awful lot of money to me for food and petrol - I don’t think I spend that a month now on two people, and you’ll presumably use less fuel when on Mat leave (assuming you commute to work usually). Work out a budget for food and try and cut costs where you can ☺️ I think I normally spend around £60-70 a week on a food shop for two people including lunches (including an OH with a ridiculous appetite!) it’s definitely do-able, and technically we could spend more but similar to you we are doing a few renovations so just worth being sensible!

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