Soon to be mummy, is £300 a realistic disposable income?

Catty89

Hello,

As the title says - we are expecting our baby on the 2nd of July and after all our bills, direct debits food and petrol we will be left with £300.

This is to include everything else. New clothes, toys, days out, savings for xmas and bdays, emergency money and a little for socialising and baby classes etc.

I no we wont be going out much but as we are used to having around £800 left over the thought of more than halfing this is quite daunting. On paper it works out fine but in real life i really dont know.
Alot of people have said to live on this budget to see if it will work but at the moment we are stocking up on baby things, painting the house and paying all extra bits and bobs before baby comes so cant really cut to £300 now.

I also have a friends wedding next October abroad and it seemed plenty of time to save for it when she told us but now i am panicking thinking how we can save for that on top of everything

Thanks

skintchick

It's pretty much what we have left after all bills and food. My daughter is nearly 4 now so we have managed. OH gives £210 to me and has the remainder for himself.

Mine is spent on classes for DD and any bus travel, cafe visits etc i do with her. OH usually saves his for holidays etc.

Lets face it, if its all you've got it will have to be enough wont it!

maghater

Catty89 wrote: »

Hello,

As the title says - we are expecting our baby on the 2nd of July and after all our bills, direct debits food and petrol we will be left with £300.

This is to include everything else. New clothes, toys, days out, savings for xmas and bdays, emergency money and a little for socialising and baby classes etc.

I no we wont be going out much but as we are used to having around £800 left over the thought of more than halfing this is quite daunting. On paper it works out fine but in real life i really dont know.
Alot of people have said to live on this budget to see if it will work but at the moment we are stocking up on baby things, painting the house and paying all extra bits and bobs before baby comes so cant really cut to £300 now.

I also have a friends wedding next October abroad and it seemed plenty of time to save for it when she told us but now i am panicking thinking how we can save for that on top of everything

Thanks

Congratulations. Yes you will manage, because you don't have any option. Baby = total life change, so what are priorities and cannot do without now, will all change. Take it from me it will not be the money you miss, it will be the sleep. Enjoy

msb5262

Hi OP,

As skintchick says, it will be have to be enough if that's what you've got!

A few words of caution:
Don't forget that some of your bills may go up after the baby is born e.g. water & heating may cost more if you are home all day, as well as the inevitable costs of nappies whether disposable or washables (extra laundry, wear and tear on washing machine etc.), and formula if you don't intend to breastfeed. However, food costs can often be cut if you have time to economise with good menu planning etc... assuming you aren't too tired...

I'm working on the basis that you mean £300 per month, by the way?

MsB

Catty89

Ahh yes i should have said per month. I think £70 per week doesnt sounds too bad but then when i think there will be 3 of us using that it does seem a little scary ( plus we do need to save some as we have no emergency fund)

Brighton_belle

You mention xmas: that's one thing you can prepare for now, by down scaling it in your head. Don't see it as needing to be a huge expense - start where you mean to go on - you really need spend very little. Warn everyone you usually buy for that you won't be buying for anyone other than children this year (and make that a small budget) and say you don't expect anything either.

You don't need to buy for each other - just do something nice for each other as your 'gift' and your baby will be given plenty by doting family/friends so you will not need to spend large amounts of them as they won't care about presents anyway.

pigpen

I have way less than that and 10 of us to feed and clothe!! They don't need clothes or toys every week or even every month so most months you don't need to buy any of those things.

I spend what I have to and keep the rest in the bank until something crops up.. like my kitchen ceiling caving in due to a leaky pipe for example.

lady1964

OP, have you included CB (assuming you will get it of course!) in your £300?

That's around £80 every 4 weeks which can help pay for nappies/milk/clothing etc for your baby. If friends/family ask what gifts to buy, ask for clothes in the next one or two sizes up so that you will have less to buy later on, same with toys & just store them away until baby is the appropriate age for them.

You could also start buying other necessities such as wipes, baby bath, beakers, cotton wool, whatever you plan to use, now and store so less to buy later.

I hope that doesn't come across as a bit preachy or telling you what you already know but I did the above when I was pregnant and was so grateful for bigger clothes/toys etc when we had very little money.

katiechoc_2

If that's £300 after all bills, rent/mortgage, food and petrol then yes, definitely do able - however it's clearly a lot less than you're used to so may takea bit of getting used to!

Between me, my OH and our 11 month old we spend less than £100 a month after bills etc. but we've never been big on going out anyway, LO wears second hand or supermarket clothes and I shop at New Look, H&M etc.

Check eBay for bundles of baby clothes, they get worn for so short a time you can find stuff in almost mint condition. Or your local nct nearly new sale. Sainsburys often have 25% off clothing offers and their baby stuff is really nice.

Socialising with bubs - find your sure start centre, they run free play sessions.

Save up your club card vouchers for restaurant tokens so you can still get out every so often. Or use them towards a holiday as they have pretty good deals on the rewards site for holidays and short breaks.

Batch cook your meals - saves money and also means if bubs is in a grump one day and you don't have time to do a proper tea you've got something ready in the freezer.

And congratulations!

Kayalana99

J/w is this only whilst you are on mat leave or are you not planning to go back to work?

I noticed you said you had £800 but would drop to £300.

have you caulcated in any benifits you will recieve?

I think you will be fine for *now* because newborns are pretty cheap week to week, people will buy you alot of clothes etc but once they hit about 6months and weaning begins thats when the money really starts to go...you'd be looking at an extra £15-20 on your food bill a week (or we did at least with jars if you made your own you could proballly do it on a tenner)

As others as have said though you manage with what you've got!

choccybuttons

You will be fine. You have budgeted for everything else so this is is pure 'fun' money. I have £20 a wk for fun stuff, baby classes, coffee out with friends. You just get more inventive. You could give yourself £100, your partner a £100 then still have 100 left over to put.in savings fund for birthdays ect. Toddler groups are a cheap morning out, sure start centres run cheap or free baby classes, if u bf there are free groups. You will find loads to do on a limited fund.

When baby is born u will get loads of clothes. Shop around for nappies and wipes, brand doeant mean best (plus I dont change disposables unless they have a dirty bum as they lock away wee).

I often pick up clothes in my weekly shop at tesco or sainsburys so include that in my food budget.