saving money so we can start a family.

ellay864

Moving back to the OP question...just remember if you wait til you can afford children you will never have them

Seriously though at least you're thinking about things which is good, and once you go for it and then if you do get pregnant don't be fooled into paying stupid money for all the latest 'must-haves'. Most you don't need, and a lot you can get fine second hand - cot mattress excepted. What you will need to think about is how your income will be affected if you go on maternity leave or give up work, and then childcare afterwards

Good luck

P.S. In view of the readers on this thread I've doubled checked for poor spelling, grammer, rogue apostrophes etc but am waiting to stand corrected

hob

im so sorry to hear you lost a child iwanttobefree, i cant even begain to imagen how u must feel.thanks for the grate advice tho i will try the debt free wanna be pages.

hngrymummy wrote: »

If you think you can cope with bf correcting your spellings, then get him to proof read stuff for you, even to the point of getting out a red pen! If not, can you get another friend to help out.

In the meantime, if he has a degree he needs to start applying for better jobs (if he's not doing already).

.

i do get him to proof read anything important like cvs ect. yeah his degree hasnt really done him much good i think there are to many people with degrees at this point. i dont know when u last worked in call centers but i dont even think the normal staff are on such low pay, unless there maybe part time...

ellay864. im defently gonna get second hand as long as its good stuff, i dont see the point in paying more for the same thing. mind u there are some things u just cant get second hand car seat ect. a lot of my family members have allready had kids im sure there is plenty of stuff hanging about in spear rooms and lofts. if not there is allways ebay.

ukjoel

To be honest with the benefits system as it is a lot of people are having children in order to allow them to save money.
Maternity benefit, child tax credits, sure start, child trust fund, child benefits, free nursery hours, nursery tax breaks etc etc etc.

IWantToBeFree_2

In all fairness ukjoel, for the majority of people, that is simply not the case, I'd engage your brain before you type or stop believing what you are spoonfed by The Sun!

hngrymummy

Alas ukjoel, the government have their eyes on a lot of maternity benefits. Hob, you'll need to check any benefits you may be entitled to and see if there is a cut-off date for them.

I did inbound only calls in 2003, so no commission, but at the same time far less hassle.

As has been said, please take all comments on spelling etc as being meant to help rather than criticise. We want you to do as well as you can for yourself and for your sprog-to-be.

esio_trot

ukjoel wrote: »

To be honest with the benefits system as it is a lot of people are having children in order to allow them to save money.
Maternity benefit, child tax credits, sure start, child trust fund, child benefits, free nursery hours, nursery tax breaks etc etc etc.

I would suggest that if you ask most parents, they'd say that they're worse off financially as parents than they ever were before they had children - I know I am, despite the benefits system, and I'm only two weeks in! I definitely didn't start a family thinking I'd get rich from the benefits. That's a whole other thread though.

OP, I quite agree with the thinking that if you wait until you can afford children, you'll never have them. Do what you can to put money aside to cover maternity leave, get things second hand if you're happy to do so and don't go OTT with the big stuff and you should manage just fine

gratefulforhelp_2

Hob don't worry too much about the "help" with your spelling et.c You sound like a kind person with the right ideas about living responsibly. It was good advice about going to the DFW board and posting your SOA. Do that, and if the right job comes up for you then go for it.

If your OH has an English degree, can he find another job?

ukjoel

IWantToBeFree wrote: »

In all fairness ukjoel, for the majority of people, that is simply not the case, I'd engage your brain before you type or stop believing what you are spoonfed by The Sun!

I am commenting based purely on my own experience because thats the only one I feel qualified to comment on. I am not a daily mail reader (or sun reader) but a dad of 4 kids under the age of 3 whose life has changed a lot in the last 5 years.

We used to have 100k a year to live on but hours were killers and we needed to change or end up killing ourselves.

Both wife and myself work part time (30 hours) now.

The amount of tax credits we get means we are significantly better off with kids than without. (This wasnt the case when we had the big money but now we have downsized it is) It all depends on hours worked, and earnings. I have queried it with them and done the numbers and its correct (mathmatically).

I would advise the OP to use a website like entitledto.com and work out all the various potential combinations and option and numbers before saying they cant afford to have kids.

Am not saying you wont have to make sacrifices because you will but a couple of times I week I look at the wife and kids and feel I am the luckiest bloke in the world and never thought that 5 years ago.

My first post wasnt meant to upset anyone, but I have to admit a small part of me is loving the fact that the higher rate tax I paid out for ten years which is so resented is now coming back to me at last.

paulwf

hob wrote: »

smlsave thats a really good idea, i like the idea of a baby only costing 1000 pounds but it would be the loss of my income that would hit us the hardest. im the highest earner so it would make more sence for me to stay in work but i dont think i could do that. will have a talk with him tonight about living off one pay for a few month as a trail run. at the very leats it will force us to think about what we 'really' need.

It's quite usual now for the primary child carer to still work a bit, if you can work weekends or evenings that could bring in an extra £100 a week take home which can make all the difference.

Posting a statement of affairs can also be a good idea - the debt free wannabe board has info on SOA's. Basically it helps to put down in writing all your expenditure. As a quick example spending £40 a month on Sky and £35 on a mobile can be replaced with Freeview and a £10 PAYG package, a £65 a month saving or £780 a year.

xmaslolly76

I wouldnt factor in any of the grants that are out there at the moment they are being fazed out/cut at the beginning of next year which means unless your pregnant now you are unlikely to qualify for them. You should be able to claim tax credits once you have a baby and they can be a big help.

Goodluck with your TTC when you decide to go for it :-)