Help wth planning to start a family 29 November 2009 at 8:55PM edited 21 May 2010 at 10:56PM in Marriage, Relationships & Families 21 replies 2K views

maire1

thinking of ttc, im a teacher,m please share your experience!

Courgette

Similar position, we're ttc too and I'm also a teacher. I don't know about tax credits etc (although I expect you will get them I don't know how much). As a teacher you'll get 6 weeks full pay, something like 13 weeks 90% pay then about another 13 weeks 50% pay + Statutary Maternity Pay followed by 3 months unpaid should you decide to take this - all in all you're entitled to a year off which is very generous. You'll probably find more specific info on your union's website or on TES. If you were successful this month your baby would be due August, lots of teachers try to avoid babies at the end of the school year as the 6 weeks hols can be treated as normal holiday then the mat leave starts on the first day of the Sept term effectively adding on 6 weeks at full pay to your mat leave. You'll also continue to go up the pay scale (not sure about threashold though) while you're off.

I know we have Ofsted and SMT breathing down our necks, but there are a lot of perks to teaching too!

Hope that helps, and good luck

mum26

Hello, I think you would get £15 child allowance a week and £10 child tax credit a week (maybe £20 a week for the first year) but i'm not 100%.

www.entitledto.co.uk is quite a helpful site.

I'm not sure about childcare as I've been a sahm, but remember to check out the different options childminder / nursery etc for what works most effectively for teacher hours / time at home in school breaks etc. Also not sure what tax credit help you'd be entitled to towards childcare sorry.

I think the first year can be the cheapest if you are canny with bargains on nappies etc (cloth or disposies) and don't get sucked into the hype of expensive pushchairs (it is hard, lol!) etc.

Good luck xx

Courgette

I know teachers tend to go with childminders as they can negotiate holiday payment whereas nurseries want paying every week of the year

missma

Hi kinda in same situation, I am 30 my husband 32 (not getting any younger) I work in supported living which is long hours and includes sleep over shifts in work 39 hours plus 16 hours sleeping on average a week. I have applied to go back to nursing post have interview in week after next will still be shift work just not such long hours.... kinda thinking to future but not sure if my heart wants to go back to it.

I feel bit trapped at mo with whole "credit crunch" live in terrace 2 bed never planned on this being long term plan but with house prices in Belfast prob can not afford to move.

I earn about 26k OH 22K hard to know what would be entited too

Dave101t

wait until your 30-32 and have saved up a nice nest egg of around 100k. that will help!
(im 27, married no kids)

Bargain_Rzl

Dave101t wrote: »

wait until your 30-32 and have saved up a nice nest egg of around 100k. that will help!
(im 27, married no kids)

£100k? Seriously? :eek:

People on much lower incomes have been managing to bring up their families perfectly well since the beginning of time :rolleyes:

Also, if you already have a mortgage (as the OP does), saving a huge nest egg is not practical, though paying as much as possible off the mortgage is a sensible strategy (especially if you can manage to overpay by the same amount that you'd lose in income over a couple of years if you took time off to have a baby... because then you could just go back to paying ordinary mortgage payments and you wouldn't feel the pinch at all).

Dave101t

well there is scraping by, and there is living well. but i agree 100k may be optomistic but on a joint income of 61k per year, if no mortgage was involved then 100k is achievable.

im too money focused, i apologise for that! comes from growing up in a single parent household, 4 siblings and not much money!

you could manage very well even if you gave up work, so with a double income of that sizable amount, you certainly wont be suffering.

Bargain_Rzl

Dave101t wrote: »

well there is scraping by, and there is living well. but i agree 100k may be optomistic but on a joint income of 61k per year, if no mortgage was involved then 100k is achievable.

I agree, though the OP did already say that she and her partner are paying off a large mortgage and other debts, therefore completely unrealistic.

ginvzt

Ok, save what you can. Don't push yourself.

We are trying for a baby, although not very successfully (over 2 years now). We have been saving a bit, and in the end this summer we spent a big part of our 'baby fund' on exotic holiday (a week in Seychelles). Don't get over focused - it doesn't help. Of course, it may happen in the first month, but then you still have 8 or so months to save!

A year or a bit longer ago, I have calculated, that if I have £10k in savings, I could take a year of with no much trouble. Mind you, I am planning taking a year off even if I don't have £10k sitting in my saving. I am determined on this! Our total income is very similar to yours, although we have sold our house and we are just renting at the moment. So - no mortgage, but rent to pay. If you were struggling, I am sure you can ask your mortgage company for payment holiday for a few months. (I don't thin that would work with any landlord though!!!)

Don't forget, that once you are at home with the little one, there will always be some savings to be made: no driving to work (in my case 50 miles a day!!!), no lunches to buy (although I usually bring lunch with me, sometimes I do get something from the local shop instead), you can plan your meals better, apply other money saving tips you find on MSE website, which you can't fit in now into your busy life. Also, you will be going out less, less restaurants, nights out, pubs, etc.

I don't know with regards to childcare, but I think where I am it is about £35-40 a day? Although, as we would need childcare from 7:30 to 17:30, I bet we would struggle to find anyone to do those hours once we come to that point and the cost would be extortionate!

honeypop

ginvzt wrote: »

Don't forget, that once you are at home with the little one, there will always be some savings to be made: no driving to work (in my case 50 miles a day!!!), no lunches to buy (although I usually bring lunch with me, sometimes I do get something from the local shop instead), you can plan your meals better, apply other money saving tips you find on MSE website, which you can't fit in now into your busy life. Also, you will be going out less, less restaurants, nights out, pubs, etc.

However being at home more will mean higher costs for gas & electric for extra heating and light in the winter months. Although me and OH could get by with wrapping ourselves up a bit more and sitting in the dark, it's not really fair on our baby, so we have to have the heating on a lot more and switch lights on when the afternoons get dimmer.

ginvzt wrote: »

we would need childcare from 7:30 to 17:30, I bet we would struggle to find anyone to do those hours once we come to that point and the cost would be extortionate!

A lot of childminders will take children from 7am onwards, until 6pm, and in my area for example charge £4 per hour, so £40 per day for what you need, which is cheaper than the local nurseries charge per day for their set hours of 8am-6pm. So you may well be surprised!