Pocket Money for bf/gf

pollyanna24

This is what I currently have as my "baby plan"

Incomings
BF 1,693.13
Maternity 468.72
Child Benefit 75.20
Child Tax Credit 60.00
From my savings 83.07

I have £996.89 in savings, so I have divided this by 12 to get this figure. This will go up until I leave work.

Total incomings 2,380.12

Mortgage 995.60
Spending for bf 200.00
Spending for me 200.00
Groceries/toiletries 160.00
Council tax 140.00
Petrol 100.00
Gas 45.00
Pet food/treats/toys 40.00
Sky 38.00
Electricity 32.00
Water 25.54
Mobile phones 46.00
Life Insurance 20.07
Dog Insurance 13.59
Cat Insurance 11.89
BT 11.75

Non monthly bills – calculated as monthly
TV Licence 12.04
Worming/fleaing 7.37
Dentist 7.00
Car Insurance 33.00
Vehicle Maintenance 25.00
Car Tax 17.08
Motorbike insurance 12.50
Motorbike tax 1.25
Christmas/birthdays 26.67
Buildings/contents 16.67
Gardening allowance 12.50
Pet Vaccinations 6.67
Contact lenses 8.50
Eye test 2.00

Total outgoings 2,268.01

Surplus 112.11

Not sure how accurate it will be, but most of it is similar to the one I use now. When maternity if up, I will either have to get a job or I go back to work full time as I earn approximately £250 more a month than bf, so I guess that makes the most sense.

pollyanna24

floss2 wrote: »

Sorry, I interpreted you saying he may be main carer as that he would be a SAHF....I didn't realise he also had a day-job.

Surely an SOA would be a good idea - for both of you - to see what HAS to be paid each month, and how much is left, to be shared between you.

At the moment, we both work full time. Which is mainly why it is such a worry for me. Because I earn more, we are toying with me going back to work full time and him being a stay at home dad, but I'm not sure I like the idea of going back to work full time (who would?!).

Woby_Tide

pollyanna24 wrote: »

Groceries/toiletries 160.00

Others will say otherwise but I still can't get over how little people can spend on groceries and the like. Ours went up a fair bit after our first as the concept of going out disappeared for a while so we spent more to make 'nicer' food at home to compensate(the wine bill went up as well). Also bear in mind on factoring baby food/milk/nappies. Regardless of your decisions that you hope to make, it's not always guaranteed to go that way for a number of reasons. Potentially you could up your budget to be a worst case, then if all goes to plan, the budget can be reduced and you've generated some 'extra' spare cash to use as you will

pollyanna24

Re groceries at £160. Yeah, I'm thinking of upping it a little bit. At the moment my budget is £250 but I cook for two other full grown men at the moment (plus they have a habit of using my toilet paper, washing powder, soap, shower gel etc even though I never said they could).

Before they came along I used to budget £160 for the two of us, but never managed to stick to it.

Planning on using reuseable nappies (my mum said she will help out as she used these on my bro and me) and planning on breastfeeding for as long as I can.

I do an awful lot of home cooking as it is, i.e. make in bulk and freeze, so intend to still do this a lot.

Wine? What's that? Completely forgotten what that is. Before I got pregnant, I'll be honest and say that a lot of my pocket money used to go on alcohol. Up to £100 and over sometimes. Gosh, that sounds terrible!!!

daphne_descends

I'm on extended maternity leave and not earning anymore.

So with a 7 month old life is incredibly busy and budgetting not realistic. We live on this simple principle - spend less than is earnt.

So DP spends what he needs, I spend what I need, baby comes first, and the accounts are happy.

Js_Other_Half

Spare cash gets spent on DS...and neither of us begrudge it:D
We each have £100 per month on personal stuff - everything else, including petrol, comes off the joint account.

The resusable nappies are a great idea - have a look http://www.thenappylady.co.uk/default.aspx or http://www.teamlollipop.co.uk/index.html

I didn't produce much milk, but mixed fed for 9 months - and the milk does add to your grocery bill.

OrkneyStar

Hi there,
What I think is really important is that you are already thinking about your finances. You are not likely to go wrong, as one other poster said, spend less than you earn. Keep track of things. Err on the side of caution, get into a habit of spending less than you actually have, that way you see how little you can survive on and maybe manage to save towards holidays and things. Also bear in mind your tax credits will go down when your baby is 1, if you return to work you will maybe need childcare although might get some help with this. Also have you factored in a contribution to a Child Trust Fund or a baby savings account ? Even £5 put away will help with University costs or that first car!!! Having a baby is a time of flux, it is great to plan ahead, but also be adaptable. Our LO's health and wellbeing comes first and that does sometimes mean going without 'our treats'. I hardly spend anything on me now but I don't feel hard done by in anyway as I just seem to want to spend what we have spare (not a lot) on him!!! Enjoy your pregnancy and well done for being so organised as to think ahead and plan.
Take care.

keelykat

Hi ya, we're on a really tight budget!

I was doing two part time jobs, but since becoming pregnant i have since left both. Many reasons including high bp and health reasons.

So i won't even be getting maternity pay etc, we are just living on my husbands wages. We obviously discussed how we could cope financially before even ttc and admittedly (bad spelling sorry) i was hoping to keep working for a few more months down the line but as he said my health and the baby is more important right now.

We've never had a set amount to spend each week/month, we've always pretty much shared everything. Although ive never earnt a lot-ive always treated him to things when i could and ive always done all the housework etc.

I guess i am lucky in one sense that my OH doesnt mind looking after me-i dont ask for a lot anyway. when ive been earning ill maybe treat myself to something, but both of us are sensible.

Im taking at least a year out to be a full time mom, i dont see why people have babies only to hand them over to a babysitter etc. Will be happy to work again after though, well im going back to college to re train as theres no way im going back to the cra ppy part time work i was doing before.Again, im lucky that my OH is really supporting and wants me to be happy work wise, even if this means stepping backwards to re train kind of thing.

keely.

robnye

my DW an I have £50 cash per week..... but having 3 daughters, gets chipped into by them..... very rarily do we splash out on ourselves

so if he cant manage on £300 without kiddie... how is he gonna manage with kiddie......

galvanizersbaby

keelykat wrote: »

Hi ya, we're on a really tight budget!

I was doing two part time jobs, but since becoming pregnant i have since left both. Many reasons including high bp and health reasons.

So i won't even be getting maternity pay etc, we are just living on my husbands wages. We obviously discussed how we could cope financially before even ttc and admittedly (bad spelling sorry) i was hoping to keep working for a few more months down the line but as he said my health and the baby is more important right now.

We've never had a set amount to spend each week/month, we've always pretty much shared everything. Although ive never earnt a lot-ive always treated him to things when i could and ive always done all the housework etc.

I guess i am lucky in one sense that my OH doesnt mind looking after me-i dont ask for a lot anyway. when ive been earning ill maybe treat myself to something, but both of us are sensible.

Im taking at least a year out to be a full time mom, i dont see why people have babies only to hand them over to a babysitter etc. Will be happy to work again after though, well im going back to college to re train as theres no way im going back to the cra ppy part time work i was doing before.Again, im lucky that my OH is really supporting and wants me to be happy work wise, even if this means stepping backwards to re train kind of thing.

keely.

Hi there
I thought I'd take a year out when I had my first but felt differently after the actual event - you may see why people want to go back to work sooner LOL! - seriously though all the best with the pregnancy and the re training - not really a step backwards - just a different direction :cool: