Making Maternity Pay Last... Any tips?

[heylottie]

Hello all
I am exactly half way through my pregnancy with baby due start of October, yay me.

But am starting to wake up at night, not only to wee, but also thinking about how I can stretch my 6 weeks work maternity pay and the SMP for as long as possible.

I suspect the key is that you maybe spend much less on life than you expect when you have the baby. Or you get into debt. Or you end up going back to work earlier than you would like.

Ideally I would like 6 months off. This is likely to be my only child and I have waited a long time for him/her to come along. My DP earns very little- I am the main breadwinner.

Basically, has anyone got any tips - like stocking up on things now? Or things they wish they had accounted for but hadn't?

Or- even better - will I just not care once the baby is here and all the debt will be worth it???

I have frantically paid off as much debt as possible and also stockpiled stuff as well, whenever I've seen it on special offer - stuff like baby wipes, nappies, washing powder, loo rolls, dishwasher stuff, baked beans, pasta etc. Bought loads of stuff on ebay also and have been gradually collecting non-disposable nappies - even if I only use them at home and mix with disposables when out and about, it ought to save a good bit of money.
Then if you have any holiday owing, then I believe the company will need to pay you for it - I haven't taken any leave so far this year so by the time I come to go on Maternity Leave, I should get another months money as that is what the company will owe me in leave, if that makes sense. stan has some very good points - baby doesn't need that much. And also trixy is right - join all the clubs online and they'll send you vouchers (Pampers, Huggies, Hipp, SMA etc.). Fill the freezer - on top of the £117 a week SMP (or whatever it is now) you'll qualify for £20 a week family allowance (showing my age now) so that's another £80 a month you might not have factored in. Can you raise any money on ebay? Even if not now, you could probably ebay the baby stuff after October as your DC grows out of things? It won't make a vast difference I guess but these are all the things I have in mind. Also maybe start your Christmas shopping so you're all done whilst being paid?
{{{{{{{Hugs to you}}}}}}} - try not to worry too much. Every time I worry about money I think of my Nan managing on £85 a week pension and that has to pay for everything - bills, food, the lot. And then I feel a bit better - if she can do it, bless her, then so can I.

Hmmm we are on a strick budget this time round too, the things I can think of would be...

Breastfeeding - no bottles to buy, teats, milk, electricity for heating the water!! (not saying it's the only way )

Health in Pregnancy Grant - £190 don't waste it! We are putting it towards re-usable nappies. Maybe put it towards a new mattress for baby's bed or the car seat?

Freecycle is AMAZING!! We have got a lovely slide for DD, babypen, and erm...something else that for the life of me I cannot remember right now!! People in this area are always offering baby clothes in fab condition too.

Car Boot Sales - great for picking up the bargains, clothes, equipment (I'd personally avoid the car seats though) etc.

New borns really don't need much in the way of toys and you are bound to get some from friends and relatives

Decide on what you really think you need before you buy it and then wait at least a week before you get it so you don't go by impulse - plan out whether there is a cheaper alternative available.

Round our way there is a children's centre with loads of free play sessions and mums groups. Go to these (if you like them!!) rather than the ones you have to pay for.

Take your own snacks when you go to the park/town/shopping to save on the impulse buys and expensive cafe food.

A baby really doesn't care what it's room looks like for quite a while so long as it is safe! I bought cheap canvasses and painted big bright splodges on to brighten up a magnolia room - also goo as you can change these around to make it more interesting when baby can see further.

E-Bay!!

HTH xxx

Yes I thought about stocking up on Christmas presents in the next couple of months - also any birthdays that are due in the 6 months I am off.

One good thing that I didn't know I had, was loads of Nectar points. In a very 'Virgo make a list' way I think that is Christmas food shopping sorted, which in a bizarre way makes me feel better!

I will start stockpiling baby stuff and also bits and bobs for me in the next few weeks. I do have a secret 'haircut' account which has £100 in it for 'emergancy highlights'. That's vital, right???!!!!

Look for local NCT NNS sales to buy things as well as charity shops. You may also have a secondhand baby goods shop nearby. or borrow.

I bought a small unbreakable flask and take my tea/coffee with me when I go out for baby walks, saves a fortune in coffee shops.

Stock up on shampoos/conditioner, toothpaste- bathroom things don't go off, get them now when they're BOGOF and in the first few months even if you can afford them, they are the things you forget until you're in the shower (finally!)
If you have expensive tastes in for example moisturiser... buy a couple when they're on offer now- its one of the things I feel is a bit frivolous to be spending my maternity pay on

Hi everyone.Loving all the idea's, very helpful. I work for the NHS and have not even thought what mat pay i will get, thought maybe 90% for first 6 weeks, then 50% after? Does anyone know? My money saving tip is to get an asda christmas saving card and put a small amount on each time you go in. I have worked out i will have roughly 300 to 400 pounds by december. Baby due end Nov. I will also be breastfeeding, hoping to save money on weight watchers as well as tinned milk!!!

JetLi, I don't think you get the money for annual leave unless you actually book the days as AL, which you could do prior to starting mat leave. I tried to get them to pay me my AL money, but they weren't having any of it! The only exception is if you resign, then they give you all that they owe you. I am though happy to be wrong for you.

I asked people not to buy Christmas gifts for us as we were not going to be in a position to buy for them. Everyone was understanding.

Heylottie,

How are you hun? Glad to see you're keeping the stats up for the South-West - me too!!

Can you believe I'm 37 weeks tomorrow, being induced at Torbay on 5th June (39+2) due to being diagnosed with gestational diabetes at 28 weeks (bummer...).

Like you, I'm the main breadwinner aswell. Although I am very lucky with my salary and have managed to save enough to cover my Mat leave, although saying that, we can only afford for me to take 4 months off which is gutting... But previous to the saving it was 3 months so 1 month extra. But it does mean, because we've saved, we don't have to use my mat pay, so I could always take an extra month or two off - but work is not in a good situation right now and I think I would be better to get back to work and make sure that I've still got a job - you will understand what it's like down here for work...

We have about 600 nappies already - in sizes newborn through to size 4 and hundreds of baby wipes. Everytime we see any offers on baby bits and bobs, we buy them within our weekly shopping budget and cut down on something else (the GD almost helped because I could no longer buy chocolate...).

I would suggest going onto Asda (Newton Abbot), Sainsburys and Tescos websites weekly to see what offers they've got on - even with the fuel costs, you can save a considerable amount of money.

Hope all this helps honey and Good Luck!!

xxx

can anyone tell me how when SMP kicks in? I get 6 moths full pay then wanted to know what help i can expect when this time is up. i want to take ayear off but do not have any savings

Hi Scratchet,

If you have worked for the NHS for 12 months+ & you return within 15 months of commencing mat leave for at least 3 months, you get 8 weeks full pay, then 18 weeks 1/2 pay plus SMP (£123.06 atm) then 13 weeks just SMP (£123.06). You can then take 3 months unpaid but still acrue A/L, pension etc. I have had advice from friends to add up this total amount (and include child benefit £17.45 I think/week) and divide it by the time you want to take off and then stick to that budget.....

yentil - smp is included in each months salary once you are on maternity leave. from what you say you will get 26weeks at full pay (includes SMP at 90% for 6wks then the $118 for rest), then you will get 13weeks at £118 approx. no money available between 39weeks and 52weeks though you can still take a full year off.

I can't wait for my next NCT nearly new sale. I managed to pick up quite a lot of stuff, and I wished I'd known about them before I bought the pram as they had some really lovely ones there. I've been made redundant so I've got to budget, fortunately I'm not a big spender .

I picked up some cloth nappies at the nearly new sale as I don't want to keep getting nappies from the supermarket, and they apparently work out cheaper. Going to try the birth to potty ones, some are so cute looking too. Also looking on usednappies.co.uk

I had 2 weeks 90% then SMP only and it wasn't too horrific. I found that not being in the city buying lunch/clothes/overpriced cosmetics etc meant I had no desire for these things. I wish I had saved a percentage of my monthly salary throughout pregnancy to help out, though, so maybe transfer to an online savings account etc, and pay off all your debts now if you have any.

I would say take the max leave on SMP that you can and then go back, claim working tax credit to help with childcare costs.

Don't buy loads of cute baby clothes, I made this mistake and so many went unworn. I found that I used a baby carrier much more than a buggy/enormous travel system and only used the moses basket, er, once

sorry I mean 6 weeks 90%. blah!

NCT second hand sales are a god send, anything you could every need at a fraction of the price so I would recommend getting on the NCT web site and looking for one in your area. 2nd my local NCT run a "bumps & babies" group which I started attending when I was pregnant and talking to the other mothers who are already doing it gives you a great idea what you really need, I was very frugal re baby stuff.

On that note friends, family, people I have talked to/met once where so generous when my DD was born that I ended up knee deep in beautiful clothes etc so don't buy any of these. Stick to the basics, vests, babygros etc.

I did save but I also worked on paying off debts, I overpaid my community charge, electricity and gas every month I was working to limit out goings for when I wasn't etc and all of these things helped wonderfully.

Note of warning on the reuseable nappies, I went down this road ( some local councils will give you a grant towards them) and although they are great for me now that my DD as 8 months, when she was first born I couldn't use them as she didn't weigh enough to in effect flatten the bum out so when you lay her down only her feet, shoulders and head touched the mattress ( if you do pilates / yoga think shoulder bridge ) meaning that her back was permanantly arched.

Martin Lewis's money saving tips web site is also great and I use this to get vouchers to have an indulgent lunch out once a week with other mothers, someone somewhere is always doing a buy one get one free on lunch etc. Also when the baby sales finish in the shops they are invariably still available on line at rock bottom prices and always worth a look, I just last week got £100 worth on maternity gear from Mamas & Papas for £30 by doing this.

Hope some of that proves to be useful, stop worrying about it, it will work out and can be done. Try to get as much sleep as you can now

I'm also only entitled to SMP which is pathetic compared to my usual salary, however, I had a baby shower when I was 24 weeks and got loads of stuff from it. All your friends and family will want to buy you stuff when the babies here and it's a good way to ask for specifics (you can get listed like when you get married) and then that wat you will not waste money buying things that others want to get you.

Also regarding bouncing vibrating chairs etc- I have been advised to wait until your baby is here and then buy things like that as they may prefer one to another (one of my friend wasted £180 on a vibrating rocking cradle which her baby hated and favoured an argos £15 bouncing chair)

NCT nearly new sales are great check out their web site

Also what we're dong is every time we don't go out (when we usually would have) we put the money is a savings account

I have also had a word with my gym and they will freeze my membership for free for a couple of months (Just threaten to leave always works) until I have time to go again.

As for stock piling nappies etc make sure you don't get too many new bourn first size as your baby may grow out in a few weeks (this happened to my friend)

hope this helps

Havn't read all the replies, but I am now into 8th month of mat leave (I appreciate that I am very lucky) and SMP stops next month. I am not going back to work until September, so we have been "eeking" things out (neither of us is particullary well paid to start with, but I have fab flexi working).

1 - Stockplie groceries you KNOW you will need - loo roll, baked beans. Not baby stuff, until you know baby likes/fits/isn't sensitive to it.

2 - Ebay, Freecycle, Gumtree, MN For Sale/Wanted ads, MCT nearly new sales...

3 - Charity shops for clothes - I have a trip out to a local wealthy village, mooch round the charity shops and treat myslef to a cup of tea. On the bus. V cheap day out, and have bought most of DS's baby clothes that way.

4 - Don't skimp on a pram. We did, bought a second (5th?) hand travel system, it fell apart within a few months and we had to but a new one, new. Don't bother with a "Travel system". I used the ability to move DS in his car seat onto chassis for about 4 months. Then he got too heavy.

5 - We do lots of activities for free, through the SureStart Centre and HV does baby massage classes for first time mums. £2 for a course of 4!

6 - Mortgage holiday.

7 - Hide away credit cards.

8 - Use local baths for "Water Babies" (or whatever) rather than pricey private ones.

9 - I walked for miles and miles when DS was tiny - got me out, got me fit, kept him occupied.

10 - Check your council website for toy libraries.

11 - Many churches run Baby and Toddler groups for anywhere between 50p-£2 a session. NCT does local coffee mornings. I went to everything going when I DS was first born, and made lots of friends. Now we tend to go to each other's houses.

12 - Where we are all the buses have low floors, so I take the bus instead of the car if I am going into town. Saves petrol and parking money. And the hassle of getting DS in and out of the car.

13 - Library for books, DVDs etc. Ours does Storytime and Singsong sessions once a week. And don;t forget your Bookstart books!

14 - Join Lovefilm or something similar, and have all the DVDs you ever wanted delivered to your door.

15 - Eat a lot of pasta! Shop at Aldi/Lidl, or shop on line and don't get temepted by displays of spenny things in the shops. Also much easier than taking a baby supermarket shopping!

16 - Sell stuff the baby grows out of on Ebay, especially if you are sure it will be your only DC.

17 - Check all your direct debits etc and make sure there is nothing eroneous there. We got a few £100 back because we had been overpaying our gas bill.

18 - Befriend someone with a DC a few months younger than yours. Preferably the same sex!

19 - And someone with a teenage sister training to be a nursery nurse!

20 - My baby loves "Grobags" - but supermarket ones are far cheaper than branded ones.

21- There's nowt wrong with supermarked own label food. In fact we were already on that, and have downgraded to "Smartprice". Which is OK apart from peas and tuna!

HTH!

Good luck

One last thing - you will probably still care about potential debt, but apart from the baby, not a lot else!

I second the comment about not setting foot in Mothercare (unless someone else is paying) !

scratchet - remember that you are also entitled to accrue annual leave while youre on maty leave, and will have to use this years entitlement before you go off. I'm due in October and am planning ot use whats left of this years entitlement to start leave a couple of weeks earlier, and then when I'm due back Sept 2010 I'll have 33 days to use by April 2011 - hurray!