Is it possible to survive on £450 a month?

Newyorkdreams

Hi Cookiee


Congratulations on your pregnancy. You must be over the moon after lots of heartache.


We had mini NYD -our first baby - in March and I think £450 is doable although may not leave you much for treats etc. I find I'm going out a lot more as my baby cried with colic for 7 weeks and I hated being stuck in. I ended up doing lots of walking in parks etc and free places - but also having tea and cake which rack up the pennies - and the calories! You may be lucky - your baby might like to snuggle up on the couch and watch telly but for your sanity you will need to get out. Sure you don't have to buy things but it's difficult to resist all the time. Baby clothes are very cute and addictive so be careful!


The Child Benefit of £80 every 4 weeks does cover the basics such as milk (we are also formula feeding) and nappies (we use ALDI nappies which are absolutely brilliant, cannot fault them). Nappy cream lasts for ages once you buy a tube - you only need a tiny amount.


Nearly new sales run by the NCT are fantastic. We got a crib, baby carrier and steriliser for £23 - saving £160! We also bought the nursery furtniture from Mamas and Papas and they guarantee if the prices goes down from the time you order to receiving your goods, they will give it to you at the reduced price (you have to contact them though and they don't like it much..ha ha ha). I saved a fortune, about £200. I also complained a couple of times over poor service and received another £100 in gift vouchers.


Mr Meatloaf is totally spot on - you'll get lots of presents from lots of lovely, kind, thoughtful people that you don't even know sometimes although if your anything like me, I didn't want or like to assume that we would, so I bought a lot of stuff (FTM thing to do I think). I also bought a lot of things from ebay that were second hand and also new things in the sales for 6-9 months and 9-12 months that we've put away.


Just a couple of things on previous comments, I do not believe in asking someone to hold a baby shower for you as I personally think that is rude - it may be a very british thing but I think you should wait for someone to offer. I had 2 showers and my hubby had 1 but our friends and colleagues planned and organised these for us as an act of kindness and friendship, not as a way of getting lots of gifts (which we did but did not ask for).


Also, there are lots of comments about your other half doing the cooking as he will be at home. It really depends on how good your baby is. I am on mat leave and my hubby works full time. Our baby is a great sleeper at night but needs my constant attention during the day and does not let me get on with housework chores or cooking. Most days we need to get out of the house as she cries and gets bored if we stay in. This may improve as baby gets older, but may not so I don't think it's fair to assume that just because dad is at home, he is able to do lots of cooking. My husband does it when he comes in from work!


Good luck with everything Cookiee and enjoy every minute. It's truly amazing.


NYD xx

pineconesjay

Hi, sorry I haven't read through all the comments so not sure if any of this has been said yet:

1. Learn to live on your future income, NOW. As in, get used to it now while you still can. All of your hubby's income should be going toward paying off your debt and building an Emergency Fund BEFORE the baby comes.

2. No, actually #1 is it. It will put you in a great position and you'll know fairly quickly if you really can live off that much money. Better to try it now, rather than find out when it's already too late.

themull1

PasturesNew wrote: »

It's plenty. £450 before bills is doable. £450 after bills is positively comfy.

Depends on whether you have a lifestyle or just a life.

YORKSHIRELASS

Congratulations and well done - I did no financial planning at all when I had my boys and we got into a real mess. Finances are the last thing you want to think about with a newborn so set up some spreadsheets now or get a system going so that you can easily keep track of where you are.

OK, now I wouldnt want to be negative but this could be quite hard on you. Leaving your baby and going to work isnt always easy and you will have days when you resent your husband for being able to stay at home. If you are quite comfortably off at the moment doing this and having a drop in income, combined with all the changes a baby brings, might not be easy.

Could you try and live on your £450 before you actually have to do it to get used to the idea? Any spare money can then be set aside for emergencies.

Having said all that it is definitely doable. I feed four of us, including two teenagers for £70 a week and could do it for less. Your grocery budget is one area where there is a lot of flexibility.

Good luck!