Finances need readjusting after life changing night!!

glittermonster

Well we are pregnant!

Due in November which means my DFplan wont quite work.

Its very early days and hoping to work til end of October, with maybe 3 months off work?? hopefully going back to the same job - will have to see what my bosses say!

SOOOO - do I carry on making my CC overpayments? OR save, save save.....

Just wanted some initial thoughts before I go crazy with all the random stuff going through my bed.

Gonna try and sleep now!

Hannah_10

Firstly congratulations, I am delighted for you.

Your boss can't sack you for going on maternity leave, speak to the CAB or your midwife about your rights on this long before you consider telling the boss. I wopuld think telling your boss before you absolutly have to is a risk you needn't take (a bad boss will find an excuse to fire you). Also about work don't assume just 3 months off is going to be OK, that would only be alright if Mum was super fit and very lucky. You might be the first but the last comes with no guarantees. Most women take a year off so keep an open mind.

I've got a new baby, she's 5 months old. During pregnancy I added up the cost of kitting out a baby to the average standard with all new gear at around £5k and then promptly panicked. With a little ingenuinty and some help from my sister I rustled up practicaly everything we needed for free. I am now replacing any items I was given for free which I dislike whenever I feel and not to a 9 month deadline, just because I now can. I don't think I've spent £500 yet, let alone £5k.

Babies don't need to be expensive, we make them expensive by coming over all snobbish about them. In fact they don't give a toss if thier clothes were from Freecycle and their cot is on it's 4th baby, they wont even notice. It's only you who'll notice. So how expensive your baby is is entirely up to you.

Martin's advice is always repay debts by using up your savings, do not have savings and debt, so I would do what I did and say apply yourself whole heartedly to rustling up the essentials for free or as close to as you can and use any money you have to get shot of that borrowing as fast as possible. You don't want to be entering a new chapter in life with that round your neck.

glittermonster

Thanks for your reply hannah and congrats on ur bubba.

I work with children and will bring baby with me as I'm a nanny. My oh works shifts so it won't be everyday I have bubba on his days off he can do it!! (assuming bubba is bf and takes a bottle)

anyway it does depend on my employers and what they're happy with! If not I'll be job hunting! Can see myself being off more than 6 months.

Who knows!

Nottoobadyet

glittermonster wrote: »

Just wanted some initial thoughts before I go crazy with all the random stuff going through my bed.

:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

pmf63

Congrats Glittermonster. My wife is a midwife, well trainee midwife, and used to be personnel manager in her previous life so I can speak from experience.

I would not say anything to your employer just yet. You will get a form called a MatB1. Give this to your employer. As soon as you get it to them your life will change. They cannot touch you with regards to making things difficult because of your pregnancy. Also ask for a risk assessment to be carried out on you. This may effect your working condition, if you have to lift heavy things etc. And as already said, they cannot sack you while you are on maternity leave but they can move you. They have to offer you the same or similar position. Moving you to another branch for example would be allowed, but not to a lower or inferior position.

iamana1ias

pmf63 wrote: »

Congrats Glittermonster. My wife is a midwife, well trainee midwife, and used to be personnel manager in her previous life so I can speak from experience.

I would not say anything to your employer just yet. You will get a form called a MatB1. Give this to your employer. As soon as you get it to them your life will change. They cannot touch you with regards to making things difficult because of your pregnancy. Also ask for a risk assessment to be carried out on you. This may effect your working condition, if you have to lift heavy things etc. And as already said, they cannot sack you while you are on maternity leave but they can move you. They have to offer you the same or similar position. Moving you to another branch for example would be allowed, but not to a lower or inferior position.

The OP is a nanny, probably for a family. I'm not sure how many staff/branches they're likely to have!!!! :rotfl:

iamana1ias

pmf63 wrote: »

Congrats Glittermonster. My wife is a midwife, well trainee midwife, and used to be personnel manager in her previous life so I can speak from experience.

.

My partner is a pilot. Doesn't mean I can fly a plane!!!

Hannah_10

glittermonster wrote: »

I work with children and will bring baby with me as I'm a nanny. My oh works shifts so it won't be everyday I have bubba on his days off he can do it!! (assuming bubba is bf and takes a bottle)

Great idea, but just don't financially rely on it. When I said lucky I was referring to that it takes 12 months for your body to get back to normal after a baby, you will be tired, possibly emotional or depressed and you might have to have stitches or a ceasarian. The odds are that you will avoid all this and have a lovely birth and a lovely baby because most women do but it's a modern fallacy (perpetuated by pride) that women can hop straight back on the horse when baby is 6 weeks old. It's not quite like it. Just keep an open mind and don't fence yourself into any corners you might come to regret later ok.

On another note, great, you can ask the boss and her mates for thier hand me downs, if they can afford a nanny odds are they'll have rather nice stuff too!

And congratulations again. :cool:

pmf63

iamana1ias wrote: »

My partner is a pilot. Doesn't mean I can fly a plane!!!

Don't think that was needed. I apologies if I am not good enough to offer advice!

curlytop12

Hannah_10 wrote: »

Firstly congratulations, I am delighted for you.

Your boss can't sack you for going on maternity leave, speak to the CAB or your midwife about your rights on this long before you consider telling the boss. I wopuld think telling your boss before you absolutly have to is a risk you needn't take (a bad boss will find an excuse to fire you). Also about work don't assume just 3 months off is going to be OK, that would only be alright if Mum was super fit and very lucky. You might be the first but the last comes with no guarantees. Most women take a year off so keep an open mind.

I've got a new baby, she's 5 months old. During pregnancy I added up the cost of kitting out a baby to the average standard with all new gear at around £5k and then promptly panicked. With a little ingenuinty and some help from my sister I rustled up practicaly everything we needed for free. I am now replacing any items I was given for free which I dislike whenever I feel and not to a 9 month deadline, just because I now can. I don't think I've spent £500 yet, let alone £5k.

Babies don't need to be expensive, we make them expensive by coming over all snobbish about them. In fact they don't give a toss if thier clothes were from Freecycle and their cot is on it's 4th baby, they wont even notice. It's only you who'll notice. So how expensive your baby is is entirely up to you.

Martin's advice is always repay debts by using up your savings, do not have savings and debt, so I would do what I did and say apply yourself whole heartedly to rustling up the essentials for free or as close to as you can and use any money you have to get shot of that borrowing as fast as possible. You don't want to be entering a new chapter in life with that round your neck.

just wanted to say really liked this post.good on you!

cat4772

Babies can cost as much or as little as you want them to cost. My LO is 23mo and we used my pregnancy to get rid of as much debt as we could (I think I was unsecured-debt free for about 6 months - two months before and for four months of my maternity leave). The only thing I absolutely insisted on being brand new was a cot mattress, everything else was up for negotiation. I recently calculated that in the end, and up to now, we have probably spent about £600 on a cot, moses basket, swinging cradle, pram, new pram to fit in the car as the original pram didn't:o and clothes from birth to 2 years old.

Childcare costs are the biggest drain on finances, especially when #2 will arrive when #1 is only going to be 27mo - that and realising that there's no way you'll be ableto fit two children in the small car so a new car goes on the shopping list:eek::eek::eek:

CONGRATULATIONS - it's a really exciting time