pregnant, working full time and confused!!!

Sambucus_Nigra

marywooyeah wrote: »

theres a post above regarding maternity pay which I am not sure is correct - the "90% for the first six weeks" I'm fairly certain is only paid if your company pays company maternity pay, otherwise it's just statutory maternity pay at the current weekly rate.

From the gov website:

How much SMP do you get

If you qualify for SMP, it is paid:

• for the first six weeks at 90 per cent of your average gross weekly earnings with no upper limit
• for the remaining 33 weeks at the lower of either the standard rate of £128.73, or 90 per cent of your average gross weekly earnings

MissMoneypenny

mojojojo25 wrote: »

I need to know if there is any help available to me. I think I will struggle to pay the rent for Jan - March at £600 per month with my current income but its just something I have to do, the idea of the baby coming early and having to stay in my current flat is just horrible. Is there any help I can get with the rent for those few months? What benefits will I be entitled to?

As said above, check on the sites (links already given) to see what help you get with rent and council tax before the baby is born. On the salary you are on now, you may get some help before the baby is born. Also try your local council site to see the "LHA" (Local Housing Allowance?) for your area. Perhaps google something like
(your council name) LHA rates.

You really need to tackle your debts now; you have two of you to think of. Looking back on your previous posts, I see that you did start a thread on the Debt free wannabe board, but never responded to their request for you to post your 'statement of affairs'. Perhaps go back to that thread? They won't judge you and will really help you to get your debts under control. They are really nice people on there and have been in your situation and know how it feels. You will be amazed at the advice and support you get on that board and how you can cut your spending and get better deals. Go for it.

For maintenance from the father and his not paying the full amount for his first daughter; get onto the sub board of this thread: the CSA board. http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/forumdisplay.php?f=140
Ignore any posts on there from fathers who don't pay for their children or brag about how little they pay; and ignore posts from any new wives who don't like the fact that their OH has to pay for their children from a previous relationship. You can use the 'ignore' button on them. But, there are people on there who will be able to tell you what you should be getting and how to go about it if your ex is unwilling to support his child. This is something you need to sort out too. As already said, any maintenance money you can get from him for his child, will not affect your benefits.

Plus: start eating healthy food. Better for the baby now and when he/she is born. Have you got a market near you? At the end of the market, you can get big bowls of fruit and veg for very little money. Go to the old fashioned board of this site, for help with how to cook from scratch and eat healthily for very little money; they are really nice too and will help you. http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/forumdisplay.php?f=33

Oldernotwiser

Can you sell the car and use the proceeds to pay towards your debts? This will save you both the insurance and at least part of the debt repayments.

flutterby_lil

krisskross wrote: »

I would think you will get the Sure start grant, this would help quite a bit. Have you looked into housing benefit and council tax benefit as these 2 alone are 50% or so of your income. Even a few pounds will help. Good luck!

I am sure the sure start grant has been abolished? Somebody may have said this already but only glanced at the posts!

Also, with my first child, I was left whilst pregnant, loser! I don't think you will get any help before baby comes due to your salaray but after you should get some extra help, I know I ended up on a good do being a single parent. Make sure you claim housing benefit, council tax benefit, child benefit and also see what working and child tax credits you will be entitled to.

Good luck. Glad you have friends to help you through it.

I am also due my second baby in March. This time with a lovely supportive partner.

mojojojo25

Hello All,

Many thanks for all your replies. In answer to a couple of questions, the car really isn't worth more than £200 I would say, I do need it to get to and from work at the moment however the month the baby is due is also its MOT month and tax month so whether or not I keep it I will probably decide then.

In terms of food, there aren't any markets near me that I am aware of, I do try and eat better when I can, I'm a constant lingerer near the reduced sections in asda and other supermarkets for cheap fruit and veg!

My debts are in the process of being cleared, this is through a DMP I am now on, I may have to tell them that I need to reduce my outgoings a bit more now and see what happens there.

I have checked the benefits advisor a few times and it seems I would be eligible for housing benefit etc but I didn't want to count on that too much as I'm not sure if they give you accurate amounts when they are estimating. If the estimates are right then I should be ok from March onwards.

I live in Bournemouth so renting here is crazy expensive. If you saw was I was getting for £400 a month at the moment you'd be shocked. Its in the rough bit of a reasonable area, constant stag do's outside my window every night of the week keeping me up, I don't have a freezer (this really is a problem as frozen food is so much cheaper!) and even if I did there would be no room for one! The locks on my doors are rubbish and the single glazing combined with the worst electric heating imaginable means I live in blankets.

So the new place for £600 a month is actually quite a bargain. safe area, private landlord (to avoid agency fees) and she is child friendly. I've been turned down by several landlords so far because they have a no children policy!!! Its not been easy finding somewhere.

I will take all of your advice on board and start planning ahead properly. I think its just nerves, at the end of the day they wouldn't publish estimated amounts if they weren't thereabouts correct surely?

Thank you for your lovely offer of items for the baby, I think I might be a bit too far away but a friend has contacted me recently to say she has loads of stuff so I think I'll be ok on that front!! :A

cosmic-dust

flutterby_lil wrote: »

I am sure the sure start grant has been abolished? Somebody may have said this already but only glanced at the posts!

You can only get it for the first child now.