Baby on the way and SOA

Compingchris

Morning all

Thanks for all your kind comments and advice.
Woodbine - thanks for the heads up on the phone contract. We will have a look into this
HelenRachel - congrats on the baby front. I'm sure, like us, you will be fine financially when he/she comes into the world. I just keep,telling myself that there are people worse off than us and they manage just fine.
Cms-help - she has been there for 4 years so she get the full maternity pay entitlement. I'm not sure how much this is though?
Skinnylatte - thanks. And to stop paying into my pension is the last thing I want to do but thought its worth taking into account that I could do it if really desperate. There aren't a lot of places that have such a good pension and I'm actually looking forward to retirement!
EverTheOptomist - thanks for all your advice. It didn't come across as patronising. The advice will come in handy

I've been looking around the forum and in particular the boost your income area. I was thinking that we could start to do things like surveys. Any extra income would be a real help. I may even take a second job if needed, or the misses could do some part time work when the baby is born.

Thanks again for all the advice and keep it coming!

cms-help

Compingchris wrote: »

Morning all

Thanks for all your kind comments and advice.
Cms-help - she has been there for 4 years so she get the full maternity pay entitlement. I'm not sure how much this is though?

She may get more depending on the benefits detailed in her employment contract but minimum Statutory Maternity Pay is:

6 weeks at 90% average weekly earnings then 33 weeks at £136.78 or 90% of average weekly earnings (whichever is the lower figure).

She may also get a tax refund depending on when maternity leave starts/earnings etc.

Neil_948

If you are in the UK then you can use this tool on the GOV web site it can tell you what you can get and how much if you choose the necessary option

benefits advisor on the gov uk website


I know me and my partner got jobseekers, child benefit and child tax credits.

(sorry i'm not allowed to post direct links yet)

lhead123

If your partner is getting statutory maternity pay then she won't be able to do any part time work as that will be classed as working and the SMP will stop.

Has she had her MATB1 form from the midwife yet? She will be able to egt this after she's 20 weeks pregnant and hand it to her employer. She will then be told what she's entitled to in maternity pay. Some employers will pay more than the 90% wages for the first 6 weeks, depending on their policy.
x

Fletchasketch

Your mortgage payment seems quite high. I realise this might be because you're tied into a fixed rate deal, but if not then I bet you could remortgage and shave a couple of % off that rate.

Compingchris

Hi guys. Thanks again for the advice and comments

Ihead123 - thanks for the info on her not being able to work whilst on maternity pay. We've not had any forms yet. We are still waiting for the scan to happen but that is soon. She is getting a pack from her employers HR department that will say what they will do for her.

We've done a quick budget and it looks like we will be ok. Maybe a few kiss treats like trips to the pub fir a meal. But we don't mind as we would prefer to go without that sort of thing and have a family. We are going to do spending diaries in February to make sure we account girl every penny. When she isn't working we would save the £100 train ticket per month, her need to buy uniform, and an opportunity has come up fir me to car share at work so I would save another £100 a month. I'm a bit nervous about that though because if there was an emergency after the baby is born and I needed to get home from work it would be very difficult if I was in a car share. Work us 25 miles away. I could get a bus and train but it would take 90 minutes to get home, rather than 30 minutes.

Compingchris

Hi fletchasketch.

Thanks for the comment. We have about 1.5 years left on our mortgage deal. Thankfully our house value has gone up meaning we have a better LTV when do come to remortgage. The current deal is at 4.14%. With the overpayments that we've been making and the new LTV I'm hoping that we could get a great deal when the time comes.

MallyGirl

Compingchris wrote: »

Hi guys. Thanks again for the advice and comments

and an opportunity has come up fir me to car share at work so I would save another £100 a month. I'm a bit nervous about that though because if there was an emergency after the baby is born and I needed to get home from work it would be very difficult if I was in a car share. Work us 25 miles away. I could get a bus and train but it would take 90 minutes to get home, rather than 30 minutes.

If it saves £100 per month you could use the first month's saving to stash away the cost of a taxi in case of emergency. You would still be quids in.

Fletchasketch

Compingchris wrote: »

Hi fletchasketch.

Thanks for the comment. We have about 1.5 years left on our mortgage deal. Thankfully our house value has gone up meaning we have a better LTV when do come to remortgage. The current deal is at 4.14%. With the overpayments that we've been making and the new LTV I'm hoping that we could get a great deal when the time comes.

Brilliant, seems like you're really on it anyway, you don't need much advice! Good luck & Congratulations.

longtermplanner

Congrats etc - and it is so nice to see a SoA with no unsecured debt!

I second what the others have said about trying to keep the baby costs down. By the time it is 6 months old you will be sick of getting the all-signing all-dancing buggy into your car or onto a bus and will be desperate to get a £60 stroller type, so spend as little as you can on the first buggy or even better ask around all your friends / at works and see if you can borrow or get a second hand one.

Make sure your wife takes advantage of free NHS dental care whilst she is pregnant.