MSE Parents Club Part 4

ladybirdintheuk

elle_gee wrote: »

Am I the only one who thought Sami was suggesting Caz got new pants then?

No, I did too

elle_gee

SusanC wrote: »

We have a "child" account (just a basic current account at Halifax) which gets any money we receive because of Alice (e.g. CB, CTC, surestart maternity grant). We then use that account to pay for anything child related and I do calculations to work out what % of food/electricity costs are due to Alice and transfer those amounts to our main joint account. We also have some kind of websaver which we put any surplus in so they get a better interest rate than the current account. If we didn't have enough income to cover our other costs then we would use it (as some others have mentioned they do) but as we don't need to, we have it ringfenced as "child" money. I'm sure we'll be spending more than we get later on (since they give you extra when they're little and also if they go to university they still cost but you don't get CB and CTC anymore) so I reckon it'll more or less all get used in the end. (Of course I have spreadsheet with little graphs of the cashflow for different numbers of children.)

Yay, that's what I mean!

The money I've "loss" through being on SMP was my extra spends anyway - the £500ish I get from work now still covers my share of the bills and my phone and petrol etc (it's OH's house and so he pays the mortgage ), so the money we get for Rhys is just extra so I want to spend it on the things he needs, not just general stuff.

Am sure I'll feel differently at the end of my mat leave and I'm thinking about whether I can go back to work or not!

SusanC_2

BrunoM wrote: »

I am trickling a tenner a month into Elijah's CTF - but also looking at what other more flexible/controllable/better savings vehicle we might sort out for his future to put real money into when we can.

We have a pension for Alice. We figure it will give her pension a good start as money put in earlier makes a bigger difference than money put in closer to retirement and also if she has one already set up she is more likely to pay into a pension sooner than if she had to set it up herself.

BrunoM wrote: »

ETA: SusanC, I remember the Flumps well!

:j

elle_gee

BrunoM wrote: »

I think it's really a nice idea Elle, but to MFD's and others' points,
a) the money really isn't "the child's", its yours to do what you think is best FOR the child (which I might add includes feeding and clothing yourself, and staying sane...etc)
b) this is MSE after all - saving money at the feeble savings rates of today, while not paying off any regular debt that you might have, is not really great clear those overdrafts and credit cards before worrying too much about savings.

I see your point.. but I don't have any debts now - I paid them all off just after I had Rhys The overdraft on the household account is slowly going through being more careful with what we actually buy each month.

Don't get be wrong, we have debts in the household, but they're OH's from before we met and all incorporated into a DMP so his wages are all accounted for.

And I've vowed I'm not buying any more clothes until I've sold some old ones on eBay!

tiamai_d

Elle, might I suggest that when you get DLA for Rhys, you put it in a savings account (until you need it), and that way as he gets bigger and you start thinking about things like trikes and sensory toys and special play equipment he would like, you have a little stash aside for it?

We did that for a while with Christophers DLA (till I left work for good and had to use it) and it paid for a car seat we wouldn't have afforded otherwise (not special needs, just perfect for him but almost £200 at the time!), a regular trike when he was little and at Christmas there the rest was used to get special peddals on his big boy bike.

BrunoM

SusanC wrote: »

We have a pension for Alice. We figure it will give her pension a good start as money put in earlier makes a bigger difference than money put in closer to retirement and also if she has one already set up she is more likely to pay into a pension sooner than if she had to set it up herself.


:j

Hmmm Susan that may just be genius! I must think on that.

elle_gee wrote: »

I see your point.. but I don't have any debts now - I paid them all off just after I had Rhys The overdraft on the household account is slowly going through being more careful with what we actually buy each month.

Don't get be wrong, we have debts in the household, but they're OH's from before we met and all incorporated into a DMP so his wages are all accounted for.

And I've vowed I'm not buying any more clothes until I've sold some old ones on eBay!

Well, if it works for you Elle, do whatever you want maybe I'm just jealous, I kinda feel like including various credits into our regular savings means there's some chance of getting a house deposit together over time, and I am sure that's to Elijah's benefit but if your situation means putting it all into a baby funding account then great!:beer:

elle_gee

BrunoM wrote: »

Well, if it works for you Elle, do whatever you want maybe I'm just jealous, I kinda feel like including various credits into our regular savings means there's some chance of getting a house deposit together over time, and I am sure that's to Elijah's benefit but if your situation means putting it all into a baby funding account then great!:beer:

Sorry, didn't mean for it to sound like that...

BrunoM

elle_gee wrote: »

Sorry, didn't mean for it to sound like that...

No, hold on, I didn't mean for it to sound like that (if "that" was implying criticism)! No problem whatever in keeping it separate, just if it was me I wouldn't and my instinctive reaction was "why would you", but I begin to see where you and Susan are coming from.

tiamai_d

elle_gee wrote: »

Sorry, didn't mean for it to sound like that...

BrunoM wrote: »

No, hold on, I didn't mean for it to sound like that (if "that" was implying criticism)! No problem whatever in keeping it separate, just if it was me I wouldn't and my instinctive reaction was "why would you", but I begin to see where you and Susan are coming from.

awww cute! *gossips* :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

I'm bored, someone entertain me.

money_maker_3

susan, I have a pension for Jasmine too, and will set up Dylans when I go back to work. They can take it over once they start working, and pay in whatever amount they want. I have started at £10 a month, but if the time comes when I can afford a bit more, I will as it is their retirement fund, and lets be honest, state pnsion will not exist at that stage !!