Single and SMP

SingleMum2B

Hello everyone.

I am 11 weeks pregnant, not with the babies dad and he is not interested whatsoever and it is doubtful he will be showing any support.

My dilema- I currently earn a very good salary. I have a mortgage, car payments and obviously the other everyday payments- food, commuting etc.

I have been doing some SMP research. I believe the first six weeks are paid at 90% of your salary and then the remaining weeks are paid at about £500 a month.

No chance I can live on that- bills that come out of my account monthly are 5x as much as that.

I am really bricking it. At the moment I really can't see what I am going to do.

Has anyone been in a similar position? What did you do? By the looks of it I will have to return to work when my baby is 4 weeks old!!!!

mountainofdebt

What does your employer offer in terms of maternity pay - some may pay more than the statutory minimum?

Gillyx

Is there any way of cutting back on stuff to save more at the moment? Things like Satellite TV, batch cooking to save money, shopping at Lidl/Aldi can be cheaper, switching any debt to 0% interest cards, checking freecycle/Ebay/gumtree for baby bits. Downgrading phone contract and making sure you are paying the cheapest for your gas and electricity could all help you save a bit to enable you more time with your baby when he/she is born. Will you be paying child care once baby arrives or will a relative mind the baby when you do go back to work?

If you contact the CSA as soon as baby is born, you will be entitled to maintenance from the babies father.

SingleMum2B

mountainofdebt wrote: »

What does your employer offer in terms of maternity pay - some may pay more than the statutory minimum?

My friend who works at the same company is only on SMP, so I am assuming that is what I will get as well.

SingleMum2B

Gillyx wrote: »

Is there any way of cutting back on stuff to save more at the moment? Things like Satellite TV, batch cooking to save money, shopping at Lidl/Aldi can be cheaper, switching any debt to 0% interest cards, checking freecycle/Ebay/gumtree for baby bits. Downgrading phone contract and making sure you are paying the cheapest for your gas and electricity could all help you save a bit to enable you more time with your baby when he/she is born. Will you be paying child care once baby arrives or will a relative mind the baby when you do go back to work?

If you contact the CSA as soon as baby is born, you will be entitled to maintenance from the babies father.

Thank you for the advice.

I don't have Satellite TV. The only bills I pay are my council tax, electricity and gas, water rates, broadband, phone line. My mobile phone is a company phone- I make about £5-10 worth of personal calls a month. I tend to stick to text messaging as the contract is unlimited text messaging. I get my shopping through Sainsburys delivery- spend about £45 a week. I think I am going to make separate posts about the cheaper supermarkets/gas and electricity providers etc. My car still has 13 months left on a lease so nothing I can do about that- plus I need it for work anyway. My bills seem to be so high because of my mortgage- I live in London. I think that speaks for itself.

I am fortunate that I have no debt aside from student loans
I may look into getting a small loan- I have a excellent credit record so I don't think it will be a problem, maybe not a good idea though.

I will (unfortunately) have to pay childcare. Only family I have down here is my brother and his wife and they both work full time.

moneypuddle

If your company just offers the basic SMP package, you would get the first 6 weeks at 90% of your average gross weekly earnings with no upper limit, then next 33 weeks at £135.45. The final 13 weeks would be unpaid.

On top of this you can also expect to received £20.30 a week in child benefit. This is not means tested and is received by everyone for their first child at this level. Put your claim in asap (in the first 3 months, as it can only be backdated 3 months)

You will also be entitled to CSA payments from the father. This is something like 15% or 20% of his income (sorry not sure which). Put your claim in for this asap as they can be slow at sorting this.

I'm afraid its just a case of cutting back, saving, buying cheap where you can and asking for help if you need it. That's what we're doing. Having a baby is a big financial shock - not necessarily the things you need to buy, but surviving on a reduced income.

For the future for childcare your options are nanny, nursery, childminder etc. One cheaper option is to maybe work slightly less say 4 days a week and look after your own little one on the fifth day, plus the child of a friend. Then maybe they could return the favour and care for your child on another weekday. This would reduced other forms of childcare to 3 days a week rather than 5.

Good luck. I'm being induced tomorrow, and know what you're going through

choccybuttons

Hi

If your smp first as moneypuddle said there is child benefit, you may qualify for tax credits as you income will drop being on smp. Have a look at the online calculators for tax credits.

Also you have six months to start saving, any extra cash start stashing away now to give yourself a little buffer.

At least it might mean you don't have to return to work perhaps for 6 months after birth.

pollyanna24

I was in a similar position to you when pregnant with my second child. My bf walked out when she was 2months old, but we were pretty much separated when I was pregnant.

I saved as much as I could while I was pregnant (also on a fairly goodish wage) and I didn't go back to work after four weeks. I went back when the SMP ran out (9months I think). I was pretty much brassic by the time I actually went back to work. In my overdraft and all etc, but I think it was worth it to spend the time with my daughter. And I have slowly started saving again once I'm back at work. I kinda worked out how much money I would have in a year's time if I went into my overdraft when I wasn't working but then started earning again, if that makes sense.

I got a little extra tax credits, but I already had a daughter, not sure if this was why or if it was due to the new arrival).

fluffnutter

SingleMum2B wrote: »

I am 11 weeks pregnant, not with the babies dad and he is not interested whatsoever and it is doubtful he will be showing any support.

He's obliged to 'show support'. Financial support anyway. Make sure he does.

lowlitmemory

Save, save, save and save some more.

Your bills are £2500 a month by your own account... even living in London (I do too) that is a LOT for a single person. Any chance you could cut back somewhere and save the money? Really, really look hard. ETA: could you speak to the bank about taking a mortgage payment holiday whilst on mat leave?

We have worked out how much money we will need to still cover the basics when I am on maternity leave, and we are saving this amount now whilst I am pregnant. It might be helpful to work out how much you'll need (say to cover you until baby is 6 months), add some extra, then divide by the number of months/weeks left until you go on mat leave... then you know how much you'll need to save each month/week. If you think you can manage to save more then maybe you won't need to go back until baby is a bit older.

Good luck!

findingmyownway

I'm pregnant and know that being scared is totally normal!

However, you have 6 months to sort the situation out as best you can.

Priority 1: You really need to get a copy of HR document which shows their policies. It may be that your friend didn't qualify for additional support but you will. Often depends on how long you have work there for and how big the company is.

Priority 2: Even if you were going to be on full pay for mat leave, childcare is expensive and so you need to start saving / making changes to be able to afford this after you have gone back to work (assuming you aren't saving the equivalent of full time childcare costs now). Post a statement of affairs (basically a list of income and outgoing) on the Debt-Free Wanabee page and you will get all kinds of suggestions how to cut down your spending and start saving.