First baby on the way, tips welcome!

ema_o

Ooh LP I like the look of that, must wait till after the scan tho!
Ironman, perhaps your OH will be better when she sees the scan, and that everything is okay. I have spent a lot less since finding out and my bank account is looking more healthy, but my OH is if anything worse, the week we found out he spent a fortune on beer / rum (all to have at home over a period of time but still...)
You may have done this already, but I plan to have a spreadsheet to work out what income will be over my maternity leave, what essential spending we have, perhaps looking at something like this will help your OH see that putting a bit aside now will make a difference in the long run.

Suggest it very carefully, and after the scan, us pg ladies can be a bit (or a lot) volatile!!

ironman1

Looking on here it seems either the man or woman in the household doesn't like the idea of saving!

I wish I could get her to even look at it all but she wouldn't even know how much a certain bill was. It's hard work but as we aren't in debt other than the mortgage, I suppose she just isn't interested! She pays her half (not half actually!) and thats her done.

I don't like to push her and sound tight.

I probably sound really tight, but i'm someone who can spend 100 quid on a night out or at football and not worry about it. It's just with baby on the way I want to start getting in front thats all

lilian1977

Hiya

We've found that buying stuff in advance has been a godsend (I'm 18 weeks) - we've bought loads of nappies using vouchers and offers and after doing a stocktake at the weekend realised we've already bought about 130 newborn, 130 size 2, 160 size 3, 90 size 4 and 130 size 5! So hopefully we shouldn't need to buy that many for the first few months

Tesco do 100 value nappy sacks for 4p which seems ridiculous to me - I bought 20 packs at the weekend when I spotted that!

I've been going to Primark and Tesco once a week and having a look in their clothes sections, found some great bargains on sleepsuits. Car boot sales are great for this as well, the clothes will probably only have been worn once or twice. Also, search on Ebay for baby clothes bundles for the age range you want, I've got a few bargains this way too.

We've been buying stuff on Ebay and now just need the big things like the cot and pram which we're waiting until after the 20 week scan to buy.

We've both started putting £100 a month each into a savings account so that when I'm on no pay for a few months we will still have enough to pay the mortgage etc!


Good luck with it all - you'll be fine as long as you're organised! It's wonderful that you're thinking about stopping going out and spending so much, you seem very supportive xx

ema_o

If it gives you hope my OH has got better over time, and he will be fully on board with the new budget, he actually wants to sort it out sooner but I have said wait till after the scan. The spending on booze is unusual, I think he may have freaked a bit at the thought nothing will be the same again...

If she doesn't cope with the detail could you keep it very simple eg:
Month, incoming, expenditure, balance
June, 1800, 1200, 600
July, 1350, 1200, 150

Not sure what you are doing after the 12 months, if you are paying for childcare the budget will continue to be tight so you should factor this in too.

I'm sure you will sort it closer to the time. For me and my OH budgeting is done as a partnership, so we each pay in all our wages and each get the same spending money, doesn't work for everyone but does work for us. Everything left goes into savings / mortgage so will benefit us both in the long run.

Oh, and wanting to budget isn't tight, it's preparing to not have to be tight from 6 months onwards when OH isn't earning anything. I would rather spend less now through choice than be forced to spend less because we hadn't saved anything.

One other thing that occured to me, are you sure that maternity pay will be full pay? In ours there is a clause about how long you've worked for the company, fingers crossed that you do get it but you definitely need to find out.

ironman1

We aren't sure what sort of pay it will be, I don't think it's right how these companies, no matter how big or small, have to pay out much at all to be honest, especially when the person hasn't worked for them long. So as long as we can get by, whether it's full or half pay we won't complain.

I honestly don't think she will ever be 'on side' in terms of saving etc, she never tells the truth about money and will make sure I never see any letters/her online account. I find it all so weird for a couple living together. I don't want to seem like Im checking up on her but I've always believed if you have nothing to hide, you wouldn't hide it!

missty25

Hey,

Just wanted to say congratualtions.

Has your OH checked what her maternity entitlemnt will be, I noticed you mentioned she has not been in her job for that long, maybe worth double checking.

I think with SMP you need to employed for at least 26 weeks before something like the 15th week of pregnancy, check with direct gov for about SMP as could have got worng end of stick!

Baby's don't need much, just lots of love attention and not tonnes of clothes etc!

ironman1

She started the job three months ago. Still waiting on what the entitlement will be. I find it almost embarrassing considering she has only recently started, but it wasn't the way it was planned

missty25

Don't feel embarassed, having a baby is the most wonderful thing and don't let anything step in the way. If she finds that she is not entitled to somehting from her employers I'm sure that there is maternity allowance that can be claimed.

I would definatey check with direct gov as there is lots of info there.

Good luck with everything!

Indie_Kid

missty25 wrote: »

If she finds that she is not entitled to somehting from her employers I'm sure that there is maternity allowance that can be claimed.

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/MoneyTaxAndBenefits/BenefitsTaxCreditsAndOtherSupport/Expectingorbringingupchildren/DG_10018869 explains about maternity allowance.

rach

Ironman I'd say you two really need to get the money situation sorted out. Having a baby together is a whole new step from just living together and you can't go on not agreeing about money - it will escalate massively.

Definitely check out the mat pay, I'd be amazed if she's only been in the job for 3 months and gets 6 months half pay - I don't get anything like that and I work for the local authority where entitlement is relatively generous!

Each couple has to find their own way with money. For us what works is everything being joint, we have a joint account where both our salaries go and bills come out, and then DH puts what is left each month into our ISAs/savings accounts. We pay for everything on credit card and actually currently the ccard accounts are also joint, I just have a card on his account. Now I understand that wouldn't work for everyone, but it does for us. I basically let DH get on with sorting the money (he does it for a living too so it's much easier for him!!). I actually spend very little, most of my c card bill is food shopping etc to be honest, not because I'm particularly trying not to spend, I just don't go anywhere much at the moment!