Tips for saving for Mat leave

[SherbertLemons]

I'm 7 weeks pregnant and have just done some pretty scary calculations of how much money I need to save (ideally) over the next seven months in preparation for may leave.

How much pcm / how are you all putting money aside / limiting your spending etc to save for mat leave.

I thought we could all share ideas and get some tips from each other

I just tried to throw as much money as I could afford each month into savings. I only get SMP and knew I would struggle otherwise. It took us a year to conceive, in which time I’d already started saving, then when I got pregnant I would start putting more in. I found lockdowns helped with this as I wasn’t spending on meals out or new clothes (apart from maternity clothes obviously). Some months I’d put £100 in there, other months over £200, it was whatever I could afford at the time. I’m now 4m into maternity leave and just about to start dipping into my savings to top up my wage, it’s tough but doable.

We're saving as much as possible. Cutting back on luxuries has helped and christmas will be much smaller this year too!

Are you on your own? Do you have a partner who will also need to save?

As well as saving what we could (different for everyone) We worked out how much money I would receive over the whole of Mat leave, based on 3 months full pay, 3 months 90%, 3 months 50%, 3 months statutory. Then divided that by 12, and "paid" ourselves that figure every month.

So say we worked out overall it was £600 a month (can't remember), the first three months i got £2000, but put £1400 away and just gave us the £600. And then put less away as my pay dropped. Once my pay dropped significantly we had a buffer to continue to pay ourselves.

It meant we had less money from the start, but didn't have a face any dramatic cuts in the last 6 months, and it made it easier to budget throughout the year.

Beware of buying 'bits and pieces' for baby - its soneasy to spend hundreds on clothes and equipment that you won't end up using. Only buy the basics . A few sleepsuits will see you through the first few weeks when you probably won't want to faff around with soecial outfkts for example. Many baby items can also be bought in great condition secondhand. Our first stroller was a phil and teds that i managed to get for £20 on eBay. You can always buy a few special things new (and of course items that aren't recommended for buying secondhand - mattresses and car seats).

Why are you saving, it should be both of you.

And if you have a partner or husband then you need to totally rethink your overall finances, so the baby’s father pays his fair share.

Agree with pp that baby’s don’t need most of the stuff people buy

The biggest saving we made was getting rid of a car. We had one each when we were both working full time. We knew I would return part time after maternity leave so we knew it was a long term decision going down to one. We haven't looked back so far and it's been 3 years. Obviously that depends on a lot of factors as we have good public transport links etc.

If you are planning to return to work, factor in any childcare costs you will need when you go back as those costs will hit longer than maternity leave.

I agree completely with PP that if there is a partner then this is a joint discussion where you both need to contribute.

Definitely try to buy what you can second hand - a pack of 5 vests might "only" be a tenner, but they all add up. We are trying to sell bundles of 30 or so baby vests for a fiver on a local FB group - all pristine.

We bought second hand prams, steriliser, gro-bags etc. The only things which are really important to buy new are cot mattress and car seat (we've had a couple of "spare" car seats second hand but they have been from trusted friends or family members who we know wouldn't give them to us if they had been in accidents). You can get cots/cot beds cheap secondhand and just buy a new mattress.

Toys from the charity shop are also good, as are books (not that baby will need many to start with).

Try and minimise the coffees and cakes out when baby is born too - those also add up scarily quickly, meeting other mums (though obvs meeting other mums is important too so is a balance).

The idea here above of working out what you will get over 12 months and dividing it by 12 is a good one. Also, if you can work that out now and try to live off that amount now (or less) to get used to it, that should help with any shock factor as well as allowing you to put more into savings.

This calculator is pretty good to work out what you’ll have per month after tax and NI (you can add child benefit and any occupational maternity pay) which might help to work out how much to save to cover however long you’re able to have off. maternity.money/maternity-pay-calculator You can also think about KIT days towards the end of mat leave and adding holidays to the end so you have more paid time off.

We saved a lot pre pregnancy as it took over 4 years to conceive this pregnancy (now 35 weeks). As well as our regular monthly savings we pay council tax over 10 months so saved the 2 months “free” that we get. We’ve cut a lot of our subscriptions and bought a lot of baby stuff second hand on marketplace or eBay, plus taken anything we were offered by friends and family. Going to use reusable nappies and wipes which will save money compared to disposables, bought them all on offer or using discount codes and will sell them after. If I can breastfeed I will which will be cheaper than using formula. We’ll be doing scaled down Christmas presents. We didn’t eat out at all for about 4 months because I was so sick at the start of pregnancy so that helped! I was given maternity clothes for my birthday. Paid off debt that we’re able to or arranged so it will be paid off whilst I’ll still be getting a decent amount of mat pay. Paused my gym membership. I’ve also found out what free mum and baby activities there are in the area.

Yes definitely agree with not over buying, a newborn only needs some sleep suits, vests, nappies, somewhere safe to sleep and a car seat if you are intending on driving anywhere. The only thing there that needs to be brand new is the mattress and the car seat, we saved a fortune by buying second hand. Any maybe formula/bottles etc if you aren't/can't BF.

And yes also to the WE are saving, its not only the mothers job to provide for her child!

My workplace have been amazing, they asked how much I needed to live off per month (to pay bills) and then did all the calculations on what i could get depending on the date I go on leave - that way I can get as much as I can/need.

I wanted to go on leave at Christmas (due 22nd Feb) but if I work 2 weeks extra and then take 1 week using my holidays up my money per month is like £95 extra per month on leave!

Ask if your workplace can either explain to you how it works so you can work it out, or if they can work it out for you.

Our baby won't be getting anything from new except the mattress, everything else coming second hand from trusted sources, including some re-usable nappies which will really cut down the cost of disposables.
We've also started over-paying our mortgage a little in the run up to me going on mat leave so if we need to ask for a months mortgage holiday when I go onto statutory pay then there will be a little wiggle room.

Also just check your partners entitlement on any updated policies- a lot of companies have updated these in the last year or two. Mine gets four months full pay, which we were pretty surprised about. So he'll be taking that. Some of my friends partners have even more generous ones as they're tending to match the mat leave for shared parental leave.

But yes to what PPs have said - we are getting a lot of stuff donated second hand to us, buying very little, and also doing reusable nappies, clothes, wipes etc which is all saving a lot ( and also good for environment). Trying to cut back on takeaways and meals or drinks out. Maternity clothes have been an expense but have focused on clothes which double up for nursing so I'll get more wear out of them

I'm 8 weeks and have mostly started by cutting down on costs. Christmas gifts are going to be mostly homemade, eating out is a rarity, and my subscriptions have been reduced. I'm going 2nd hand for most baby stuff and will be taking family up on their offers to buy things. So it'll be easier later as my monthly outgoings will be lower, and I will have saved the difference in the mean time.

I'm half employed, half self employed, and I think I'm going to need to re-start a little bit (e.g. half a day a week) of self employed work to make it all add up. I'm not with the father and while I will get some child support, it's unclear how much it will be (I'm trying to work out if his issues are genuine atm...) so I'm planning for a minimal amount just in case.