Trying for a baby next year - maternity leave?

ZsaZsa

I don't know how we managed, but we did. I thought I would have to go back after 6-9mths but I managed to stay off until my eldest was 4. We had v little savings, and, as I only had SMP, it was good practise at living within our much reduced means. I saved money by not having travel expenses, after work drinks, popping out for sandwiches/new handbags (!) etc in my lunch hour. Also because I was home I could properly meal plan and budget, instead of rushing back from back from and ringing out for a takeaway. Yes,it was a stuggle at times, but I imagine if I'd gone back to work there would have also been struggles, just different ones.I didn't regret it for a second. Hope it works out for you

memoryoftrees

SqueekyMouse wrote: »

Ah you mentioned holidays, that reminded me that while you are on mat leave you accrue your normal holiday entitlement, and then you are allowed to take them all as a block at the start or end of your mat leave. This would mean that you could make your mat leave last about 13 months, where you would be paid for the last month (ish). Or you could have 11 months of mat leave followed by your month of paid holiday to make upto the full 12 months. Hope this makes sense.

Unfortunately I can't do this because I'm a teacher and have fixed holidays.

Thank you for all the advice and tips. It will be a big shock :eek: at the moment my take-home pay is around the £2500 mark so I'll really have to make cutbacks over the next year to ensure I can afford it.

mildred1978

memoryoftrees wrote: »

Unfortunately I can't do this because I'm a teacher and have fixed holidays.

Thank you for all the advice and tips. It will be a big shock :eek: at the moment my take-home pay is around the £2500 mark so we'll really have to make cutbacks over the next year to ensure we can afford it.

Corrected for you. This is your husband's problem as much as yours.

As a teacher it would actually be best for you to have a September baby (and probably better for baby to be an eldest in the year child rather than youngest). But you'll need to fall pregnant this December for that to happen, and it doesn't always work out like that. We fell first month trying, while friends have taken years to fall pregnant.

I planned to take off 13 and a bit months - 6 months half pay, 3 months SMP, 3 months full pay plus a year's accrued holidays and bank holidays. However, there was a voluntary redundancy round less than a year in and I took it (they offered huge money).

We dropped from an income of over £120k per year to around £80k. Still sounds a lot, and it is, but we've managed to cup outgoings by more than a third, and we both think it's best for our son that I'm at home with him.

memoryoftrees

Mildred, I appreciate the correction but actually it was right first time; I don't have a husband and will be trying for the baby as a single parent

mildred1978

memoryoftrees wrote: »

Mildred, I appreciate the correction but actually it was right first time; I don't have a husband and will be trying for the baby as a single parent

Oops

Apologies for the assumption.

memoryoftrees

mildred1978 wrote: »

Oops

Apologies for the assumption.

Don't be! I couldn't think how to explain, so I er, didn't!

I wasn't thinking of this year to TTC. It will probably be next August, meaning the earliest I will have a baby (because, obviously things ALWAYS go exactly to plan ) would be May 2014. I don't know though - a lot depends on finances which is why I'm trying to get everything together, organised and in place. That makes me sound so together; I'm not!

That's why this may well be my first and last child so I'll feel most short-changed if I can't have my twelve months

mildred1978

memoryoftrees wrote: »

Don't be! I couldn't think how to explain, so I er, didn't!

I wasn't thinking of this year to TTC. It will probably be next August, meaning the earliest I will have a baby (because, obviously things ALWAYS go exactly to plan ) would be May 2014. I don't know though - a lot depends on finances which is why I'm trying to get everything together, organised and in place. That makes me sound so together; I'm not!

That's why this may well be my first and last child so I'll feel most short-changed if I can't have my twelve months

In that case post up an SOA - the people on this site are fabulous at finding ways to save cash. And every £100 you save is an extra day off work with baby.

SOA calculator CLICK HERE

memoryoftrees

I like that way of looking at it! :beer:

What is a SOA? Sorry - I know nothing! :rotfl:

mildred1978

memoryoftrees wrote: »

I like that way of looking at it! :beer:

What is a SOA? Sorry - I know nothing! :rotfl:

Have added a link to my post. It's an incoming/outgoing calculator.

Very important to be honest and to click the "format for MSE" button

moneypuddle

I dont know if this applies to you, but one lady at my pregnancy yoga class, who's a teacher was telling me that a colleague of hers, arranged to go back after maternity leave in the last week of the school year (so I guess the middle week in July), so that she could be paid as normal over the summer holidays, and won't actually return to work properly until the start of Sep. Obviously you can't arrange pregnancy like this, but if it does happen to fall this way, and if what I heard was correct, it might be worth thinking about?