Just found out I'm pregant and worried about money

Eresin

Hi everyone,

I've just found out that I am pregnant and am now seriously freaking out about money.
I earn £1140 per month as does my b/f. We own our won house and have a car and our outgoings are about £1600 per month. Generally speaking we each put £850 into our joint account to cover this and whats left is our own.
This means that we could not survive on just 1 salary.

I am particularily worried as I only started my job in July this year and I dont think I will be entitled to maternity pay.
I have no idea how much SMP is and whether this will be enough. We have only been in our house for 3 years so we are very early on in our mortgage. There isn't much scope to reduce our outgoings either and I am now in a state of blind panic about now having to buy things for the baby.
How am I going to cope?

Gillyx

There will be ways of cutting back, spending less on shopping, cutting out satellite/digital tv, cutting down mobile phone bills. You will be entitled to Maternity pay so don't worry, it may only be at statutory rate, but you will get something. You will work it out.

Baby things can be bought 2nd hand, and usually in brilliant condition as they're not used for very long.

Congratulations xx

Eresin

We have a £25 per week budget for food right now (we have a couple of cats so that includes their food).
We don't have sky or anything like that. Don't even use the tv to watch tv so we don't pay a tv license.
My mobile is about £15 per month which I think is pretty cheap considering most tariffs today, perhaps I should switch to a pay as you go nearer the time. We don't even have our house phone plugged in as we only use the line for internet so we have the most basic package.

As you say I am sure there will be things we can cut back on when things come up for renewal.
Phew this is scary

Upsidedown_Bear

This will help you find out about Statutory Maternity Pay.

https://www.gov.uk/statutory-maternity-pay/overview

You might also be entitled to tax credits etc.
Put your details into the Turn2us website.

http://www.turn2us.org.uk/


Congratulations

katiechoc_2

Congratulations!

You will also get child benefit once he/she is born, £80 per month at the moment.

It is daunting but its doable - for instance you'll be saving on your petrol to and from work, you'll be at home so less spent on buying lunch/Starbucks etc while you're at work.

Freecycle is great, and if you know any friends with babies I'm sure they'll have stuff you could borrow/have, we've hardly had to buy any clobber for our baby as a colleague keeps bringing boxes of barely worn cast offs in for us. And the supermarkets are brilliant value on clothes anyway.

And, off topic but I had to mention it - it's good to know there are other people that don't have a tv license! We don't either, there's nothing on it we'd watch but we get some funny looks when we tell people!

**Bex**

Firstly congratulations!

I am currently 32 weeks pregnant and when I first found out I felt exactly the same way as you - pertrified about money! We had just moved to a new area and I had quit my job with no new one to go to. I found myself pregnant and unemployed - not quite how I anticipated bringing up my first child!

We can afford to live on my husband's salary - just. However living on one salary was only ever intended to be a temporary thing until I could find a new job locally. What with the financial crisis and my pregnancy, that unfortunately never happened and we've now been coping on one income for nearly a year.
We have had to cut back on things, but it IS possible. There is plenty of advice on here!

I wasn't eligible for statutory maternity pay either. But I have been approved for maternity allowance - the government benefit equivalent which provides £135 a week for 39 weeks. This will help make finances easier for us once the baby is here. You should definitely look into this as you may be eligible if you cant get SMP.

Buying baby things was my biggest worry. But I have since discovered that you dont need to spend nearly as much as you think you do. We have acquired a lot of things second hand - via friends/family, ebay etc - and have not actually had to spend much at all. Use freecycle and ebay where you can and there are tons of freebies to be had out there for new parents. Babies are simple creatures, especially in the early months. They don't need all the latest clothes, toys and gadgets!

I still have the odd panicy day (probably down to the hormones!), but I know we'll cope and I am now really looking forward to being a mum

Sid_Wolf

Baby stuff doesnt have to be expensive

We have bought a lot of bits 2nd hand

- pram/buggy, came with a carseat (shop had it inspected before resale) - £125
- carrier, older baby bjorn off ebay - £10
- Moses basket and bassinet, borrowing of my cousin - Free!
- Clothes, lots of bundles on ebay, i've just been getting smaller bundles for 99p - £2.00, but if you're happy to pay more you'll get a lot more, earlier this week someone had a bundle of over 80 items for £25

Only thing we've bought new has been a few clothes, towel, blankets/muslins and bottles. My parents are buying us the cot as a gift

SwipernoSwiping

Hello,
It's the most frightening "happy" discovery. I recall panicing when I discovered I was expecting my second. Hubby got laid off from work 3 weeks later:eek:
We bought alot of things second hand, some of them never used for a pitance, in the end the second child ended up in better quality stuff than the first one! Join NETMUMs website, look on "nearly new" as there are plenty of bargains there. Check out your local NCT too as they often have nearly new sales.
If ever there was a time to be savvy and follow the mantra "Do I need it" buying for baby is that.
Ebay is good - but everyone is looking on there, so sometimes you can by NEW for cheaper than second hand on there!
They do not NEED nor WANT half the stuff the marketing man shoves at us. Vtech would go out of business very quickly if every new parent only bought 1 new toy from them!
CAB will help discover if your entitled to maternity if you are having trouble doing so yourself. It depends on how many contribution payments have been paid.

Make the most of free stuff thats offered by the supermarkets and all the websites - huggies, pampers, cow and gate offer freebies, sign up for EMMAS DIARY, BOOTS BABY, ASDA BABY, tesco baby, sainsburys... you get the idea.
Consider using cloth nappies.. buy them second hand too as many people will pay out the large sums.

kingkano

Babies don't mind what brand their buggy is, or if their clothes are second hand. They are in the clothes of one size for such little time that second hand stuff from ebay quite often IS as good as new. Some even come with the tags still, where people have received too many gifts and not used them all. Until the age of about 2 out daughter had most of her clothes from ebay bundles and they were 90% excellent condition and quality.

I'd say don't panic about the money Things often work themselves out. Do you have a socialising budget in your monthly outgoings? For the first 6-12 months you won't be spending much of this

Mummy_Moo

Hi,
Don't panic, you'll be ok. You can spend an absolute fortune on baby things if you've got the money but really they don't need most of it.

I recommend you buy a new car seat that is definitely compatible with your car (Halfords will check the model for you even if you don't buy from them), but everything else can be got second hand much cheaper, and still in great condition. Baby things go for very little on eBay, especially if its collection only from somewhere near by.

Make sure you're claiming everything your entitled to, you'll get child benefit, and child tax credit, but will also get working tax credit while your on maternity leave. If you're on a very low income you may also be able to get some housing benefit (to pay the interest only on the mortgage) and council tax benefit. Also look out for the Healthy Start vouchers (ask your midwife), you get £6.20 per week for the first year of babies life towards fruit, veg & milk, plus free vitamins for you and baby. There are, of course, lots of health benefits to breastfeeding but it can save you loads of money too (formula costs about £8 per tin plus bottles etc).

You will also find yourself ditching unhealthy / expensive habits (if you have any). Stopping smoking / drinking / takeaways can save loads of money to put towards baby things.

The last bit of advice is remember how quickly babies grow out of clothes and equipment. Rather than buying everything you need for the first year or two while your pregnant, just get what you'll need straight away. Keep the packaging (if possible), and when baby needs something else as they grow, sell the stuff they've grown out of to help with the cost.

Good luck, keep smiling, and take lots and lots of photos.

rosie383

You will get there. You should be entitled to maternity pay.... I had started a new job a week before my LMP!
We managed with no problem and were actually better off in a way as we were more careful with our money than before. We also were happy to get everything second-hand, handed down, or in sales. You don't even need to buy a new car seat ....... ask around among friends as usually someone will have one lurking around that their baby has grown out of. If you know the donor, and they can assure you that the seat hasn't been involved in an accident, then it'll be okay.
The one thing to buy new though, is a mattress for the cot. That is the advice on reducing cot death- 'new baby, new mattress'. Everything else can be pre-used. Even when it comes to a mattress, as long as it is safe, with air holes etc, shop around on-line and you can get a perfectly decent one for maybe £30.
Start properly looking at your outgoings now, so that it won't be as much of a shock once your income does drop.