Pocket Money for bf/gf

pollyanna24

galvanizersbaby wrote: »

Gosh you are organised Pollyanna - wish I was that good!
Don't know where in the country you are but I reckon you should avoid the water meter as long as poss cos chances are your better off paying what they ask under the old rates system - with the meter you pay for what you use and in my experience in a household with more than 2 that can be quite a bit!
I reckon your safe with 200 for the food - course figuring in the nappies and wipes and hopefully you won't need it but formula milk you may end up spending a bit more but reckon that sounds about right

I just have this fear of not being able to afford things. Even though me and bf are on okay money, money was always tight for my mum and dad when I was growing up. I have been paranoid since we moved out that we can't do it by ourselves, but I suppose we have proved that we can.

When we bought our house just over 2 years ago, we got a letter from the water company saying they wanted to put a meter in. Then they stuck a couple of notes through the door saying they'd come and we weren't in (damn that annoyance of having to work!). They even had pics of where they were going to put it and told us they would have to dig up our drive. We weren't pleased, but not particularly bothered as we figured it had to be done and seeing as it is just a concrete drive and not a pretty one, figured as long as they filled in the hole, it would be okay. I even tried ringing the numbers on the notes they left, but in the end gave up. Why should I push it? Since then, we've forgotten about it.

Live in South Herts, almost literally on the border where the London Boroughs stop.

My mum has promised to help out on the nappy front (i.e. show me what to do as she used terries) and I will persevere with breastfeeding for all the reasons that you're supposed to.

galvanizersbaby

pollyanna24 wrote: »

I just have this fear of not being able to afford things. Even though me and bf are on okay money, money was always tight for my mum and dad when I was growing up. I have been paranoid since we moved out that we can't do it by ourselves, but I suppose we have proved that we can.

When we bought our house just over 2 years ago, we got a letter from the water company saying they wanted to put a meter in. Then they stuck a couple of notes through the door saying they'd come and we weren't in (damn that annoyance of having to work!). They even had pics of where they were going to put it and told us they would have to dig up our drive. We weren't pleased, but not particularly bothered as we figured it had to be done and seeing as it is just a concrete drive and not a pretty one, figured as long as they filled in the hole, it would be okay. I even tried ringing the numbers on the notes they left, but in the end gave up. Why should I push it? Since then, we've forgotten about it.

Live in South Herts, almost literally on the border where the London Boroughs stop.

My mum has promised to help out on the nappy front (i.e. show me what to do as she used terries) and I will persevere with breastfeeding for all the reasons that you're supposed to.

I would definately forget about the meter unless they contact you again - we brought a 4 bed house on the South Coast near Brighton when I was married and we had two little ones and the water bills were horrendous - looking at your budget think yours are currently in the region of 25 pounds which will be based on the old rates system so I reckon your quids in for the time being - less said to the water board the better!:D
Good luck with the terry nappies - I never contemplated them but I know they are good for the environment.
I do think you are good for all this budgeting - I remember having a rough plan when I was pg with my first but think it mostly went to pot after my son was born - however this was back in 2002 and while on maternity leave I discovered ebay for the first time and managed to bring in more money with selling on there - brought more baby clothes though than I sold mind!:D
By the way just saw the comment about the wine bill going up - in my case I did buy a lot of wine after my son was born but I found having not touched any throughout pregnancy I could only manage a couple of glasses so this might save you a bit of money! Lots of luck x

pollyanna24

Can't remember if I said it on this thread or another, but my alcohol spend used to be horrendous. Up to and over £100 a month! Which sounds terrible to me, but some people (I live near London) around here can go out and spend that in one night!

Since getting pregnant, this spend has obviously gone down. I still go out to our local, but as I only have a half guinness, then most of the time my round is paid for me by someone else! Result!

When the baby comes, a bottle or wine or "8 cans of lager for £6.50" is something that will come out of the £200 we give ourselves. We used to go halves on things like this and I should imagine it will continue.

I'm just looking forward to the whole thing now and still have 5 months to go (due on 22nd October)! Hopefully I will have everything sorted and the budget will go to plan. I'm sure my parents will help out a little bit with food and letting us eat at theirs etc etc.

onlyroz

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..

To keelykat - you probably qualify for maternity allowance from your part-time jobs. I did with my firstborn - I'd done a bit of part-time lecturing, and was surprised to find that it was enough. Maternity Allowance works out at about the same as Statutory Maternity Pay, but figuring out how to claim is a nightmare - ask at your local Job Centre Plus.

OrkneyStar

pollyanna24 wrote: »

Re the food. Should I put the budget up to £200 then? Is that reasonable? One of our lodgers leaves at the end of this month and my food budget is going to go down from £250 to £200 for three adults, so should that be enough for two adults and one baby?

This sounds fine. When LO first comes along you might find you have to buy the odd more snack/easy eat type of thing as you don't always have time to make a big meal (esp if you breastfeed and baby likes to be attached to you lol). Once routine a bit more established with LO you might be able to spend the odd afternoon batch cooking, hence save money that way. I do this a lot and cooking from scratch (and especially in batches) does save money. If you have any time in the month or so before baby is born then you could make a couple of big lasagnes, cottage pies, that sort of thing and freeze them ready for convenience (and saving money) when LO comes along. Try not to stress too much about it all, its an exciting but scary time!

beer_tins

Hmm, well I'm getting married this year and not too long after that we'll be trying for a LO. When we do, OH will take maternity leave and then stay at home. I earn a fair bit more than her, though she can double her income in commission in a good year (and would then earn more than me!). Still, she would stay home as my income is more regular and my job more secure (quite specialist, in an industry that is always needed even in lean times).
So after all our expenses (including my travel to work and my work clothes) I plan to split everything 50-50, as I believe everything should be shared in a partnership. that would leave about £200 a month each, not bad but we are used to a lot more on 2 incomes (yes I know we're spoilt). We'd then "club together" for certain purchases and holidays, so she'd be part of the decision process rather than feeling she needs to beg money off of me!
Once she'd be free to return to work (kids old enough), I'd encourage it, as I would feel taken for a ride if she stayed home once the kids are old enough to go to and from school on their own.

I know I'm getting well ahead of myself though!

galvanizersbaby

beinerts wrote: »

Hmm, well I'm getting married this year and not too long after that we'll be trying for a LO. When we do, OH will take maternity leave and then stay at home. I earn a fair bit more than her, though she can double her income in commission in a good year (and would then earn more than me!). Still, she would stay home as my income is more regular and my job more secure (quite specialist, in an industry that is always needed even in lean times).
So after all our expenses (including my travel to work and my work clothes) I plan to split everything 50-50, as I believe everything should be shared in a partnership. that would leave about £200 a month each, not bad but we are used to a lot more on 2 incomes (yes I know we're spoilt). We'd then "club together" for certain purchases and holidays, so she'd be part of the decision process rather than feeling she needs to beg money off of me!
Once she'd be free to return to work (kids old enough), I'd encourage it, as I would feel taken for a ride if she stayed home once the kids are old enough to go to and from school on their own.

I know I'm getting well ahead of myself though!

My plan was v similar to your Beinherts when I was in your situ but didn't quite work out that way - think the trouble is throw a baby hormones post natal depression etc... in to the mix and planning financial or otherwise often goes out the window!:rotfl:
Totally agree with your joint partnership approach by the way
Prepare for the ununplanned and unexpected I reckon, good luck

beer_tins

galvanizersbaby wrote: »

My plan was v similar to your Beinherts when I was in your situ but didn't quite work out that way - think the trouble is throw a baby hormones post natal depression etc... in to the mix and planning financial or otherwise often goes out the window!:rotfl:
Totally agree with your joint partnership approach by the way
Prepare for the ununplanned and unexpected I reckon, good luck

Thanks very much! Yes, I'm aware that these kind of plans often go out the window once things actually change! I doubt I'll need that much money "for myself" once we get to that stage anyway, as the nights out will become a rare occurrence!

My mate tells me his (expecting) wife is like a free taxi service which he thinks is great! Not only now, but during the time she's breast-feeding afterwards. I don't think he realises that far from being free, the (financial) price will be very high indeed in the long term!

domestic_goddess

Hi there

I don't have any advice for you but I just wanted to say well done for being so organised, you really have thought of everything I can think of and I think you will be just fine.

I know that a few people have said that £200 - £300 is too much, however, you are lucky in that you can afford this at the moment and are sensible enough to know that you can cut down here in future if necessary. You don't want to feel that all your BF does is work to pay bills and I am sure he diesn't either.
:beer:

pollyanna24

Toots wrote: »

I know someone mentioned that your electricity bills will go up once your little one is here but maybe you should factor in for your fuel bills to go up anyway.

According to Martin's E Mail the other day we should get them capped now as they could rise by up to 50% :eek: This could make quite a difference to your outgoings during the winter months.

Indeed, and isn't it a scary thought?! The worse thing about gas/leccie is I have no idea how much to budget for it as it does seem to go up every month!