Family of 3- How much to live on?

poppyscorner

Just looked it up and took this from here : http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/MoneyTaxAndBenefits/BenefitsTaxCreditsAndOtherSupport/Expectingorbringingupchildren/DG_10018854

The bit i've put in bold and underlined is the part that may apply to you

Who is eligible?

You can get a Sure Start Maternity Grant if you or your partner receive any of the following:

• Income Support
• income-based Jobseeker's Allowance
• income-related Employment and Support Allowance
• Pension Credit
• Child Tax Credit at a rate higher than the family element
• Working Tax Credit where a disability or severe disability element is included in the award

ironman1

We got a few bits like clothes this weekend, really excited now.

Trying to find a decent bedroom set, they seem to be expensive. The ones including a cot seem to be a minimum of £500.

Does anyone know if these sort of things go in Jan sales? The reason I ask is we can obviously wait a couple of weeks. But I'm not sure if they would put baby stuff in sales too often as there are so many born all year round!

Thanks to the poster above for pointing out the nappy deal on Amazon

Indie_Kid

poppyscorner wrote: »

At the time as a rule of thumb we were told that if we received tax credits of more than the basic element then we would be entitled to it I can't remember how much that was or is now but others should be able to tell you (I no longer claim tax creds)

The basic element is about £10 a week, as is the new baby premium. So, you need to be receiving more than £1095 per year.

bouncydog1

You might want to keep an eye on the local paper for any National Childbirth Trust sales. You are very likely to be able to pick up a cot from there and just buy a new mattress. Often, some of the stuff has hardly been used and with a good clean you would never know that it wasn't brand new.

Lilium

Take a look in Ikea for furniture...when my son was due we got a chest of drawers for £40, a wardrobe for £60 and a changing table for £25. We got the cot and mattress from Boots for £130 (but Ikea also do cots/mattresses for cheaper than that). So half the price of one of those baby bedroom sets.

jacqhale

Hi, I second the Ikea furniture. For our first I had my heart set on a Mamas and Papas set for £600. Luckily oh put is foot down and we got 2 single wardrobes and a chest of drawers (change mat on top) for about £100-£120. Kiddicare.com got us the cot for less than £100 (almost the same one in Mothercare was £300) and a mattress from Toys r Us for about £70 - it really doesn't have to be expensive!

gollygosh

You will be surprised at how much W.F.T.C. you get It's about the only time being self employed pays! My doctors wrote prescriptions for formula milk when I stopped B.F. admittedly it was for soya milk but it may be worth asking, soya milk was £9 a tin (10 years ago) at the time. stick with white babygrows really cheap in all supermarkets everyone else will buy you cute outfits and baby will have grown out of things before they've even been worn! Baby's are really cheap if you want them to be, don't believe the hype you really don't need all the bowls, powders, potions the books tell you you do. Good luck, sounds to me like you've got the prep well underway.

ironman1

Ah more great advice thanks alot. Looks like we'll be better off buying the furniture for his room individually rather than in a set then. On the Mama's & Papa's site they had a cot, wardrobe and chest of drawers with a changing bit on top, also the cot turns into a bed. That was for something like £475 reduced. Sounds a good deal but we'll look elsewhere first.

We are having the pram bought for us, we have loads of unused clothes that got given to us by different friends and family. We have a new crib, also as a gift. Also the cot will be bought for us by my gf's Mum. So to be honest we have been helped out massively

kindofagilr

3rd the ikea we got the cot and mattress for £100, the drawers and wardrobe were another £100 max, levsnik range (i think thats how you spell it)

daveyjp

I've not read all this, but any furniture can be found through local freebie papers etc or just ask anyone you know - people are always having babies.

Our cot which converted to a bed has just gone to it's 6th house - it just keeps getting recycled amongst families and friends!

Sky was mentioned earlier - we dumped Virgin cable TV during the summer as it was getting over £50 a month. We now have Virgin phone and broadband (10meg) for £25 a month. Live football is streamed on the net through hundreds of sites.