OMG Pregnant and Bankrupt!

chunkychocky

Breast feeding and cloth nappies will save you a fortune. Modern cloth nappies are very similar to disposables (shaped the same and fasten with poppers or velcro) but get thrown in a mesh bag in a bucket instead of the bin. The mesh bag goes straight in the washing machine so you don't have to rehandle the dirty nappies. If you are happy to have second-hand you can have mine as my youngest has pretty much stopped wearing them (only at night time now). PM me if you want them.

missminx007

woody1983uk wrote: »

We received the 'health in maternity' grant of just less than £200, this was regardless of income. Ask you midwife about this. We also get £80 per month child benefit now the baby is born, again this is regardless of income. You will be entitled to child tax credits and/or working tax credits, although this varies massively depending on wages, nursery fees etc. Last year i earnt £25k and my partner earnt about £14k, and we get just over £100 per month. The amount we receive will go up once we start paying for childcare, although if your partner isnt working then that shouldnt be an issue for you.

I would also try breastfeeding, its great for mother, great for the baby and great on the wallet!!!

I've just doubled checked the health in pregnancy grant and its been scrapped!! You have to be in your 25th week ormore by Jan 1st 2011 to apply. Im due in June so pretty gutted about this, it would have helped out lots!

andreap1984

missminx007 wrote: »

I've just doubled checked the health in pregnancy grant and its been scrapped!! You have to be in your 25th week ormore by Jan 1st 2011 to apply. Im due in June so pretty gutted about this, it would have helped out lots!

Flaming typical, government stopping the small grants for new mothers - they don't realise how much it will actually help us out

Doooford

Hi Andreap, couldn't agree more with this advise. We got a fair bit of stuff from freecycle and trade-it.com. People get rid of sacks of clothes for a couple of pounds and we have got loads of really good quality clothes like this. It's hit and miss and you may end up not wanting 90% of the stuff but you can just pass that on. Can't remember exactly what we got deals on, but an example was :-

Baby monitor £15 (trade it) worth £50 - Excellent condition
Teavel Cot £9.99 (Charity Shop) worth £100 - like new
Microwave Steamer - £13.99 (Mothercare half price) - Used for 18 months
Stair gates - free from freecycle
Bags of clothes - free from freecycle
Mamas and Papas Cot/bed - £60 (eBay) worth £200 - Brand new
Mamas and Papas rearfacing pushchair/pram - £120 (outlet shop) worth £250 - Ex display reconditioned

Breast feeding saves an incredible amount of time and money. Have a tub of milk anyway for emergencies but breast feeding makes everything so much easier, especially actually leaving the house.

We had difficulties at the start and took 3 weeks for our son to latch on. We paid £40 for a lactation consultant to come around and guide us a bit and it was really helpful. We also found a number for a training consulatant who was keen to help for free but we insisted on paying her some money to at least cover her travel costs. It was through a local site but I just googled "breastfeeding help consultant".
Anyway, there are plenty of free things about and people willing to help. My partner didn't work at all through pregnancy so she was able to spend time searching this stuff out.

MummyCat123

Hey ya, you'll be able to get Child Benefit, and possibly Child Tax Credit and Working Tax Credit - the rate of income is changing in April so the current calculations are slightly out, although if your household earns over £40K a year - then you won't get the Tax Credits at all.

Google the "Tax Credits Calculator" it will take you through a series of questions which will then work out how much you are (approx) due from today until the end of this tax year (5th April) so it will basically give you an insight into what you should receive for two weeks. Cuts have been made to Tax Credits by the coalition government, so you no longer get an extra £10 a week for children under 1 year from April, and the family element has been decreased in some way too, but as long as your household isn't over the £40K mark, then you should receive something.

You can send the forms back as soon as your child is born, registered to receive a birth certificate and you have a Child Benefit Number, it can take over 3 weeks to process, but they will backdate it as much as 3months from the baby's date of birth.

Make sure you do a Joint Claim if your partner is living with you, the income is based on the previous tax year, so it may be that they require evidence of your earnings before you receive the payments.

Payments can be given weekly (as opposed to monthly) which can make Nappy and Milk Budgeting much easier

If you are undischarged, then I imagine you need to inform your OR, although I am currently doing mine in Scotland, so no Working Tax Credits or benefits are taken into consideration as income up here for me.

eBay is just awesome for Baby Things, particularly clothes, as Bubs will grow so quickly at the beginning that you'll find items available that have barely been used.

A good travel system will last you years as it comes with a car seat, pram, then turns into a pushchair - be very mindful of buying second hand car seats, always remove the covers to check that the protective padding between the plastic is totally intact & hasn't been involved in a car collision.

Ensuring that they are 100%cotton for little one's delicate skin - Asda (George) and Tesco's etc do really great deals on multipacks of baby gro's and sleepsuits, and you can bag some awesome deals in their sales too.

Some supermarket own branded nappies are better than Huggies and Pampers to be honest, and their wipes cost half as much too (make sure you get unfragranced for when LO is born)

Consider the long term and decide whether you want a moses basket and then a cot or cotbed (converts into a toddler bed upto approx age 4), maybe ask gift buyers if they can contribute towards something big (ie the pram) or buy for the future: eg, a sleepsuit age 3-6 months for the winter (since you're due September).

And ask for a pack of newborn nappies (variety of weights) with each pressie, so that you're nicely stocked up. If you know anyone without children of their own, asking for a pack of nappies will no doubt be quite amusing to them, and everyone will appreciate buying you something so useful

Good luck with the pregnancy and congrats MC x

joandkaz1

little babies actually cost very little. I have breastfed both of mine and saved about £16 a week by doing so!! cloth nappies are expensive to start with so I never bothered with those.

princess1984

The health in pregnancy grant has been scrapped in the government budget, and you won't qualify for the sure start maternity grant as you need to be due or have the baby before April 2011. I've just been turned down for it because my baby is due in May..

Hannah_10

I've got a 5 month old who was kitted out almost exclusively from freecycle and cast offs. I can remember buying monitors... that was about it. Cot, pushchair, car seat, highchair, clothes, washable nappies, you name it I found it free. Ok so some of it is less than wonderful, but I can replace that when I want, not to a due-date deadline. Other stuff is awesome, I will be keeping the cot as long as I might still have kids again.

You say you worry about endless milk and nappies. Buy a birth to potty set of washables for £250-£300 and that's the nappies suddenly un-endless (disposables wil cost you closer to a grand) and breastfeed if you can because that is free. Not only is it free it's less messy, always ready and healthier.

I'm not a first time mum though. It's often said that you fuss more about your first than your second and it's true. It carries on, by the time women get to 4 kids they are pretty well unshockable haha! You can spot the first time mums from the air of help-I-don't-know-if-I'm-good-enough. That air carries on down to the wallet. You can nip it all in the bud and talk yourself out of it before it starts if you know the insecurity will hit, because it seems to me to be the insecurity that fuels the spending fires with babies.