help, living on maternity pay!!!!

ragstoricheswannabe

Am new to the forum so think i am in the right place?!

It has just dawned on me that i am leaving work in 3 weeks to start my maternity leave and after the six weeks, i will only be getting £400 a month, i usually bring in £1300!! have been doing all the changing of bills to the cheapest which will help but still am gonna struggle on partners wage and less than half mine a month. :eek:

We have the usual things to pay such as a big loan, credit cards, next card, mortgage and all the trimmimngs that go with that etc.

Has anyone any ideas to cut right back and anyone been there have any pearls of wisdom?

LilacPixie

In similar position. Have you looked at what if any benefits you are due when baby arrives??

To know where to cut back you first have to establish where does your money go. Write out a full statement of account based on now and then another based on SMP + benefits.

ragstoricheswannabe

yes i have but not entiltled to much given the amount me and my partner earned, they will still class me as in full time employment and base what you get on the last tax years earnings, even though this year will be no where near!!!! most of wages goes on bills: £865 on mortgage, £115 on council tax, £60 gas and elec (DD) £22 life insurance, £250 food (aldi and freezer shop) £173 for loan, £100 or so on credit card payments, £50 to pay next card etc.

jak

I agree with lilicpixie. the only thing to do it put it in black and white then see where you need ot cut back. Congratulations by the way! I just started my mat leave!
J
X

RAS

Hi

Please check www.entitledto.com, so you know exactly what the situation will be re CTC and WTC before you panic too much.

On the other hand, it is really important that you start to address the drop in income now and that you minimise your expenditure over the next few months. For baby stuff, sign up for all the freebies and for the local group of www.freecycle.org - like e-bay but the stuff is free.

Stacie_86

Hi,
I am in the same position. I dont understand how I am able to live on Maternity Pay... Its not a matter of cutting back on things, the sorry truth of it is I will NOT be able to pay my bills on the £400 a month I will now be on. I am happy to shop cheaper, search for deals, reduce my bills etc... but no matter any of this, I will still be unable to pay my rent, loans, cards, elec, gas, water, ctax... the list goes on.
Is there anyone who has been through this and got through to the other side in one piece? I am scared that by living on maternity pay for 9 months is going to have a long term effect on my credit ratings and could potentially leave me in a huge amount of unpaid debts
Help!?!

tallyhoh

see if you are entitled to any benefits with http://www.turn2us.org.uk/benefits_search.aspx you dont have to fill you personal details like name in.

Alibali

I am going on Mat leave at the end of March, OP this suggestion wont be that much help to you but to anyone else who has a while before Mat leave starts - try and pay off as much of your debt as possible! If you cant do this, try and consolidate, if you have credit cards - could you try and transfer them all on to one card with a 0% interest deal?

My role as a money advisor has helped me forward plan and budget for mat leave, however, it does not make living on a massively reduced income any easier. Mat leave, is about £128 per week, with child benefit on top, £20.30 per week and possibly a wee bit of tax credits depending on your income. So monthly that works out as £642 per month - this is excluding tax credits. My suggestions are -

Create an excel spreadsheet which shows each month and the income you will have for each of those months (my spreadsheet is currently up to January 2013) and also your expenditure i.e mortgage/council tax etc....list absolutely everything!! Remember to include a fund for expenses i.e car MOT/tax etc which you will put in to savings each month, it may not be much but it will help if you have a small amount of savings. Once you have paid each bill as it falls due in the month, tick it off as being paid. Set a budget for fuel and food and stick to it. Also if you do have a surplus, set a budget of how much you will have for 'spending' i.e lunch, magazines, clothes etc and also set aside a budget for the baby for clothes/equipment etc.

Open extra bank accounts,you should aim to have four - 1. your current bank account should be for your 'spending money', 2. this should be for bills, have all direct debits/standing orders etc coming out of the one account 3. Food & Fuel, currently we spend £250 on fuel and £250 on food (this also covers any birthday presents we need to buy in that month) If its separate you wont be able to spend more than what is in your account 4. This should be a savings account, try and put even a small amount away each month to cover car tax etc.

I currently have an account for each of these things and its a god send when keeping tabs of your money. On pay day transfer the required amount in to each account then you know what you have left in your own account is yours to spend. And make the most of online banking if you dont already have it.

Depending on how your Mat pay/child benefit is paid, if it is paid weekly, you might want to keep this set aside for your fuel and food, buying it weekly.

Alibali

Also, the inland revenue have a tax credit checker on their website which is quite good.

redsquarelady

Sorry to jump in on the thread but during stat maternity for 39 weeks. If thats your only income can you apply for hb and council tax benifit or do they work like tax credits and take your yearly income?

Tixy

This thread is very old - if anyone is replying please only reply to post #6 onwards.

Stacie_86 wrote: »

Hi,
I am in the same position. I dont understand how I am able to live on Maternity Pay... Its not a matter of cutting back on things, the sorry truth of it is I will NOT be able to pay my bills on the £400 a month I will now be on. I am happy to shop cheaper, search for deals, reduce my bills etc... but no matter any of this, I will still be unable to pay my rent, loans, cards, elec, gas, water, ctax... the list goes on.
Is there anyone who has been through this and got through to the other side in one piece? I am scared that by living on maternity pay for 9 months is going to have a long term effect on my credit ratings and could potentially leave me in a huge amount of unpaid debts
Help!?!

Usually people get £128 maternity a week, which is £554 a month.

If you have unsecured debts then you may well find you cannot service them whilst on maternity, and so you might have to default on these and arrange repayment plans, and yes this will affect your credit rating.
But aside from unsecured debts if you cut back on everything and check you are getting all your benefits you should be able to manage. You might find you get housing benefit to help with your rent, council tax benefit to help with council tax etc. You should also get tax credits if your household has no other income.
Another thing to consider is whether you want to take the full 9months maternity leave, you could consider a shorter maternity leave and compare childcare costs to how much extra you would earn from being at work.

How long until you go on maternity leave Stacie? if its a while yet start making the cutbacks now and seeing how much you can put aside now to help once you are on maternity pay.