Pregnant but have debts - need advice on saving vs repaying please!

La_escocesa

Hi, 

I'm currently on mat leave and definitely found it more useful to have a healthy savings account before mat pay kicked in. When I was a few months pregnant I put all my debt payments to min payment and ramped up the savings. Yes, I could have less debt if I'd kept hammering debt repayments, but I reckon I would've ended up putting the odd thing on my credit card etc if I didn't have cash saved up. 

I also wouldn't bother buying anything for baby ahead of time as I bet you'll get loads from people. 

FB marketplace has been great for second hand things for baby too. Also, don't feel bad about selling things that people give you that you won't use/don't need/baby outgrows! 

For things like toys I've found baby groups have been good for seeing what baby likes. Try before you buy type thing...😊 Community groups are sometimes just £1 or free in surestart centres etc so things with baby can be pretty cheap. 

Another vote for reusable nappies here too 😊

middleclassbutpoor

These can be good also and worth checking out. 
https://www.nct.org.uk/local-activities-meet-ups/nct-nearly-new-sales

db2016

speaking as a guy (so if i put my non father / parent foot in it i apologise) - but dont fall into the trap of brands for the baby. even walking round you see and notice brands with babies in prams that cost the same as a small car, or clothes that look great for what a month?
a baby doesnt need that, also (and this may be touchy) but for a childs first birthday or xmas (maybe even 2 years?) - they wont have a clue anyway, so why do people host parties or again buy branded things etc, ill never understand, and tbf it seems like those things are more for the "look at me as a parent" more than the child.
on the flipside, milk the life outta everyone who does the above, you can cash it in cheap on FB / EBay etc, let the mugs pay full price and you get it cheap!

middleclassbutpoor

db2016 said:

speaking as a guy (so if i put my non father / parent foot in it i apologise) - but dont fall into the trap of brands for the baby. even walking round you see and notice brands with babies in prams that cost the same as a small car, or clothes that look great for what a month?
a baby doesnt need that, also (and this may be touchy) but for a childs first birthday or xmas (maybe even 2 years?) - they wont have a clue anyway, so why do people host parties or again buy branded things etc, ill never understand, and tbf it seems like those things are more for the "look at me as a parent" more than the child.
on the flipside, milk the life outta everyone who does the above, you can cash it in cheap on FB / EBay etc, let the mugs pay full price and you get it cheap!

Speaking as a guy who is a father/parent- that is absolutely spot on.  I wouldn't even buy branded stuff 2nd hand, get to any of the supermarket clothing brands for babies and next at a push and you will be fine.  They grow so quickly, its not worth spending a lot.  

Bizzywizard

We got loads of items at our local car boot, which were good quality. Worth going the first few weekends when they start, as loads of mums and dads will be wanting to get rid of stuff.......ready for the next lot of stuff! We also saved our tesco vouchers and bought the first years baby clothes. Free cycle is also worth a look. We were also given loads of new stuff as gifts so next, debs etc.
A changing matt for £3 or £4 from tescos was the thing I could not do without! 

redlighthouse

So much amazing advice, thank you all so much!

I totally agree about branded baby clothes and big parties etc. It's expensive, and from what I've seen, also extremely stressful for the parents! As someone whose parents didn't ever do that kind of thing when we were small, I don't think my siblings and I missed out at all. I cringe at the expense and effort I see families going to to outdo each other...

Bizzywizard - love the idea of saving Tesco vouchers, that's genius!

La_escocesa - that's really useful to hear, thanks. I've been looking into the stork mode idea and it does seem very much to be targeted to the (bonkers) situation forhealth care in the States, but I also think it just makes such good sense for me here in the UK too. 

On_my_way

Also you should get your accrued annual leave at full pay rate so you can add those on to your 9m off so be off a bit longer.

I would recommend that you go to some breastfeeding classes and really look into that - not only has it got huge health benefits for you and baby but formula is very expensive and will cost you hundreds of pounds over that first year.