Maternity leave - Budget help

Kitten_Pie

Hi,

I was hoping some lovely people would be able to help. we are expecting twins in November and I am trying to get my budget in order. I have put below my outgoings etc.

I realise that it isn't in the standard format however this is what I work from.

If anyone has any suggestions it would be truly helpful. From looking at it, it seems that after maternity leave I will need to get at least a part time job close to home rather than return to my current employment however I am worried that a job isn't going to turn up when I need it so will need to get outgoings as low as possible.

FireWyrm

Hi Kitten

Congratulations....

Now comes the fun part. I know a little about babies on a budget as I have two hungry mouths to feed and not much to feed them with so I'll try and help a bit here. I think I've understood your spreadsheet, but I have a few questions :

1) You get paid £1397 and you are proposing to spend £2000 on a nursery? That doesnt sound like a good idea. You'd seriously be better off not working and looking after bun on your own.

2) You need to reduce the 'baby stuff' row. I know this is hard, but have you thought of car boot sales, charity shops etc for clothes. I couldnt afford nappies when I had my two so I went to washable instead. It's off topic here, but PM me and I'll give you more information if you want it.

3) Sainsburys....you could reduce this drastically buy shopping in value shops and bulk buying. Go over to the Old Style board for inspiration and advice on how to do this. I manage to feed two adults, two small children and 3 cats on £100 a month. It is absolutely possible.

4) I notice you list 'Travel' and 'Petrol'. What are these and can you do anything about it? Have a think about car sharing, public transport etc.

As far as I can see, you're good without the nursery expense. Is there some reason why you need this since it far outweighs what you would earn?

P.S, I notice you have £3K in an 'emergency fund'....without being facetious, doesnt this count?

Pegjes44

Hi,

You will need to find a solution for the nursery £2000/month, is very expensive. You only get £ 1397/month.

You will need to apply for Tax Credits, they will help you for Nursery costs.

I've 2 kids but i couldn't put them to the nursery as it was around £ 900/month for each kids. I found a familly friend which i pay only £ 100/week.

Everybody would like to put their kids to nursery but can be affordable if you are a single mum on benefit or something similar

Kitten_Pie

Hi FireWyrm,

Thank you for your comments, I think I have confused things slightly, I have 4 separate budgets in one, my current budget, maternity budget which so far works ok as long as we are strict. I then have a back to work budget and a stay at home budget. Obviously from this there is no point me going back to work as I will be loosing more than I am earning however trying to get the stay at home budget down further as I can't guarantee that I will manage to get part time work as my maternity leave finishes.

We are lucky that our friends and family are really excited and are buying things for us, all we will buy initially is the outfit that they come home in.

I will reduce the baby stuff, I was just worrying that I was underbudgeting, the Sainsburys cost is what we are spending at the moment and we haven't been strict with the own brand things and treats etc so this can come down. Being our first and two of them again I didn't want to under budget and find that we couldn't stick to it.

When I finish work I will no longer have the £130 travel (this is my monthly travel card, there are no other ways of getting to work which work out cheaper. My last job I was able to get the bus although it was much longer it only cost £30 a month)

Car petrol is so I can get down to my mothers and generally driving needs, the train works out at about £40 to get down there whereas it will cost me much less in petrol. Currently I spend less than this but not sure how it will change with the little ones. I may end up walking everywhere.

My savings will cancel out the loan that is currently in my signature, it will be paid off the week the doctor says they are due. *gulp* At least then I will be debt free. Poor but debt free.

Thank you again for your advice. Any advice you have on the washable nappies I would be grateful for, we have already decided to go down this route however not sure which ones to go for. Will be speaking to a friend of a friend who is a nappy lady to try them out but just seems to be so much choice.

Kitten_Pie

Hi Pegjes,

I have looked on the tax credit calculator and it said that we wouldn't be able to claim anything apart from the standard £20 for first child and £13 (?) for second, however looking at my budget it does seem that I haven't updated it since finding out there were twins so should be able to up this a little.

My DH currently pays for all our house costs, Mortgage, electricity etc. Once I get my hands on his budget he maybe able to help however he already has most of the costs his end which is why I was able to pay off my debts and get my costs down.

Pegjes44

We all start with washable nappies but with 2 babies on the way, you will be very busy.

Try to register to any sites like Pampers, Huggies....they've got always so many coupons for nappies

Kitten_Pie

I have loads of vouchers just need to collect them. Hoping to use disposables while they are in hospital and for the first week or so until things settle down in to some form of routine. Looking at the washable nappies a lot of them look as simple as disposables only difference is the washing - I am sure DH can help out that side at least.

FireWyrm

Kitten_Pie wrote: »

Looking at the washable nappies a lot of them look as simple as disposables only difference is the washing - I am sure DH can help out that side at least.

Exactly so. Modern washables are very good and in my personal opinion, better than disposables. In my case, it was nothing to do with environment and all to do with money. I put two children from birth to potty through a single set purchased for £100ish. I dont know what the current rates for disposable nappies are, but I'm willing to bet its allot more than that in a year, let alone 2 years x 2 children. There are some tricks and shortcuts to it and I'm happy to advise off thread via PM but a quick google for Tots Bots will help you in the short term.