How much did you save before going on Maternity Leave?

Glamazon

like you I was only entitled to SMP so I worked out how much extra I needed to top it each month so I could pay the bills & eat. I saved £3200 & started dipping into it in November (when 6 weeks @ 90% finished). I've got £900 left to pay bills in March & April - I go back to work end of May but am due £1k back in holiday.

For me dropping to SMP was a quarter of my wage so I needed alot to top it up. I bought majority of baby things second hand or got from freecycle

rach83

Glamazon wrote: »

For me dropping to SMP was a quarter of my wage so I needed alot to top it up. I bought majority of baby things second hand or got from freecycle

Ouch, I am not use to earning a massive amount SMP for me is going to be just under half of what I am use to. I will miss my full time salary but having time will be nice. I am 26 now and I have been working flat out since I was 16.

sweetdaisy

I saved £6,000 before going on Maternity Leave with our first as I am the main breadwinner and lost around £4,500 from my 'usual' pay by taking 9 months maternity leave, as my pay pays all the bills, whilst my Husands pay pays for the weekly food shop, petrol and spending etc.

Our little Boy is almost 2 years old and we would like to try for baby number 2 but need to save at least £5,000 - which means I can take 9 month maternity leave and not worry about bills being paid.

elfen

Am I the only person who's mum/close relative will sit and knit baby clothes compulsively from finding out? It's my mum who does this, when my sister was expecting, out came the baby patterns, my sister's mate, out came the baby patterns and shes still knitting for them now!

Budgeting_mum

Hi.

Remember to put in your claim for child tax credits as soon as the baby is born. They only back pay to 3 months so if you wait until the baby is 4 months you'll miss out on a months entitlement. You get more per month while the baby is under 1yr. Also, don't forget to claim for child benefit. Not loads but it all helps.

I was lucky as we saved for a long time before baby 1, so I actually had enough to mimic my monthly salary. At the end of my maternity leave I was pleasantly surprised to find we still had 90% of it left. This was due to less going out and less frittering away of money after a browse round the shops. Add to this less petrol (as no journey to work) etc, you may find it's not as hard as you think to make ends meet.

Google benefits and discount vouchers (milk, veg, nappies etc) and go to CAB to check you're claiming for everything you can.

Good luck - enjoy.

trufflebuggy

elfen wrote: »

Am I the only person who's mum/close relative will sit and knit baby clothes compulsively from finding out? It's my mum who does this, when my sister was expecting, out came the baby patterns, my sister's mate, out came the baby patterns and shes still knitting for them now!

No I have one of these too...... my lovely mum knocks up a new knitted outfit in a matter of days, she's currently doing some rather groovy knitted hats with cute flower motifs on them to go with the equally lovely tops. Yesterday she became almost insensible whilst looking at (rather lovely) buttons to put on possible new outfits.... ah bless!!:rotfl: