Low earners planning for a baby - the maths

RainbowLaura

Some really excellent thoughts and advice here, thanks so much. I will be bookmarking this post to refer to as time goes on!

unholyangel wrote: »

Have you factored in other costs? Replacing household items, redecorating etc? I'd also mention worst case scenarios but I guess thats where the nest egg would come in

We've spent the last year redecorating from top to bottom and have laid new flooring etc. The kitchen and bathrooms are good so we are hoping to do nothing cosmetic for another 10 years now(!!)

In terms of appliances, boiler, other unexpected repairs - one of the savings pots is for that.

sn1987a wrote: »

What about activities you could do with your baby? Will you stay the whole time at home? Not realistic, there will be other expenses. Are clothes for you part of the treat pot?

As others said, it may be hard to go back to work if you haven't been working for some time. Will you have to pay back maternity money if you resign?

The child benefit will be solely used for activities / days out, and we can top that up as needed from our small amount of disposable income.

Our own clothes are bought from charity shops and only when we really need new ones - I am good with a needle and thread so unless things are getting worn we kind of forget about clothes! ��

I only plan to claim stat maternity pay, as I know anything additional would need to be paid back unless I were to return.

JamoLew wrote: »

Looking at you mortgage payment, it is quite low (maybe?). Do you have a very low borrowing or small hous - if small house, will you have sufficient space and room for the new addition now and in the future ?

What industry is your husband in ? Think about sick pay, chance of redundancy as well and possibly consider some level of critical illness/redundancy cover for him. After all, he will be your main source of income. Be aware, this type of cover can be quite costly, so I would seek proper and professional advice on this before going ahead

On a practical level, your life insurance appears low as well (compared to mine). Is the insurable amount designed to just clear the mortgage in the event of death ? If so, you may want to look at substantially increasing the amount payable on death as you would now have a dependant to consider as well.

In terms of the house/mortgage, we struck very lucky and bought when there was a dip in prices. The owners were also desperate to move as they were emigrating. It's a decent sized house, certainly not huge but we have three good sized bedrooms, two bathrooms etc. We do live in a cheap part of the country.

We took out the life insurance when we were 22 which may be why it's a good price. We didn't have much wrong with us then! It's level cover and includes some critical illness cover as well. The mortgage has reduced quite a bit since then, and husband gets £60k of cover with work on top, so I think we are ok there, but good point, we should probably review it.

Thanks again everybody

JackeeBoy

It looks like you are in a better position than most people to start a family. My wife and I earn £1,700 more than you a month yet can barley save £100 a month. If you have been saving for 3 years, I am 99.99% sure you'll be okay with having a child.

Hillwalker11

What a refreshing post.You have all your priorities right.I am pretty sure with your mindset you will manage just fine.
You do not need all the 'must have' baby equipment that media adverts feel are essential. A lot of people will buy presents for the baby, so quite often the first three months are covered.
Also if pregnancy doesn't happen immediately you will have more time to save.
A new born baby needs very little,apart from love,food and warmth which I am sure you will supply in abundance.
Good luck with it all.

Sncjw

Have you thought of all the costs of the baby. The milk if you can’t or won’t breastfeed. The bottles, the clothes, nappy, all the equipment needed, bedroom and pram. Also toys as the child gets older.

onwards&upwards

minimuffin12 wrote: »

I'm a bit shocked at you thinking you are a low earner, but still able to put 1k in savings.

Both bring in less than £1500 a month, that’s definitely low earner territory. They are able to save because they live in a cheap area and keep their outgoings low, also because they are a couple so are pooling their resources very sensibly. If they were single neither would be able to save a penny!

minimuffin12

onwards&upwards wrote: »

Both bring in less than £1500 a month, that’s definitely low earner territory. They are able to save because they live in a cheap area and keep their outgoings low, also because they are a couple so are pooling their resources very sensibly. If they were single neither would be able to save a penny!

I'm just saying in my opinion I don't think it's low as we both earn similar and pay mortgage, childcare etc with money left over. Others have said they have earned less so OP is in a good position.

OP good luck, it is good you have thought it all out and you will manage just fine when the time comes. As someone said you don't need all the mod cons that are being sold as long as baby is warm and fed and has somewhere to sleep x

katsu

You pay £100 for breakdown cover a year - look at Autoaid (see Martin's main site breakdown cover article) or Britania Rescue or cashback deals if you want a bigger brand. https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/car-insurance/breakdown-cover/ Autoaid would save you £52.

oldtractor

Freegle and Facebook are great for getting things free or very cheap. lots of local groups selling bags of clothes baby things etc.

JackeeBoy

Sncjw wrote: »

Have you thought of all the costs of the baby. The milk if you can’t or won’t breastfeed. The bottles, the clothes, nappy, all the equipment needed, bedroom and pram. Also toys as the child gets older.

The main cost when it come to a child is the mother being off work and childcare.

Things like clothes, food and bottles can easily be afforded by adjusting what you spend on yourself and just spending more wisely. For example, when we had our child we was constantly buying him clothes, had all these fancy gadgets like a nappy bin and sterilising liquid and the last two are sat in a cupboard never to be used.

My tips will be -

Don't spend a lot on clothes. Can hand downs or buy sizes a lot bigger for a new born. They are pretty much immobile for the first 6 months so don't worry about the clothes fitting.

You don't need fancy gadgets.

Don't go crazy on toys in the first 9 months. Anything soft is great but they would have just as much fun with your phone, remote control or anything other random thing.

Buy one or two toys at a time when they are old then swap them out when they get bored.

You don't need a fancy pram. Just get one from mother care that triples as a car seat and stroller for when they are older.

99bottles

Lots of people saying to buy second hand. Whilst I agree thst items like clothes can save you lots other items, like car seats, shouldn't be second hand unless you really know the history. Children's safety is not work saving a couple of £s.