Expecting first baby - childcare costs don't add up

zzzLazyDaisy

bestpud wrote: »

I can confirm that savings do not count for tax credit purposes.

The interest you earn on savings does, but then they disregard the first £300 a year, so if you'd have to have pretty substantial for it to wipe out your award all together!

Also, interest earned on savings in cash isa's isn't counted for tax credits as the interest is tax free (confirmed by inland revenue)

giger

Thanks again for the past few replies

The ISA thing is interesting and something I will keep in mind as this is where a lot of our money lies.

Our parents had also maybe hinted that they could travel down and help for a day. Trouble is it is a 3hr train ride, so not sure if they will be up to a 6 hour round trip to come down for the day! Hopefully we can alternate between parents so they would only have to do it once or twice a month. We can always hold their new grandchild to ransom! (we won't be able to afford the petrol to keep driving back to our hometown)

Floxxie - we've already done some initial quotes on CTC and unfortunately your figure is not a fixed amount. It's about 20% less for us. Thing that has now sunk in is how much it all adds up. Easy to think £18.80 child benefit doesn't go very far, but added to any CTC, maternity pay and other bits & pieces it looks like it will be the difference between not affording to pay for everything, or just covering the costs.

My next gripe is childcare vouchers through work. If my benefit entitlement is minimal, why at least can't I buy all the childcare vouchers I need to cover childcare costs?! Why do they have to cap it? Again, another reason why there is little incentive to work hard and do well for yourself.

We have our first appointment at the nursery tonight (despite being about a year before baby will be going!) to look around and put our name down. We will know more about prices after this so I will report back to let your know our plan. Hopefully we can get our employers to sign up to their corporate scheme too - fingers crossed.

Oldernotwiser

giger wrote: »

It must have been down to a quirk on the website again. I do earn over £300 interest on my savings but I certainly wouldn't call it substantial.

I think you'll find that most people on here would think that this would be pretty substantial!!

You sound like a really nice guy and I'm sure that you're feeling really protective of your fiancee just now but I'm worried about the way in which you seem to keep reiterating that she won't be able to cope with the most normal of things. Is she really that fragile? We're a tough lot normally!

giger

I just want her to be OK with everything as obviously it is a life changing thing and a big commitment. She moved away from home with me a few years back when I was relocated with work. As such we know a few people here but most family and friends are back in our home town, which I now feel a bit guilty about. I'm sure when it comes to it she will be fine, but right now i'm trying to work out the best way to do everything. I've already sorted out flexitime so I can have an extra day off every fortnight to be at home to help out!

& yes, I am a nice guy

Sarahsaver

I am not going back to work after I have my baby in Sept as it would not be cost effective.
We are just in the bracket where we do not get help with childcare apart from about a tenner a month max, and thats having 3 kids already, so it is not worth it.

giger

Oldernotwiser wrote: »

I think you'll find that most people on here would think that this would be pretty substantial!!

On this I just meant that £300 interest could be earned on 2 years worth of ISAs if you had used your full entitlement, which in the scheme of things is not that much & i'm sure thousands of ppl here would have.

Apologies if it came across the wrong way.

galvanizersbaby

giger wrote: »

I just want her to be OK with everything as obviously it is a life changing thing and a big commitment. She moved away from home with me a few years back when I was relocated with work. As such we know a few people here but most family and friends are back in our home town, which I now feel a bit guilty about. I'm sure when it comes to it she will be fine, but right now i'm trying to work out the best way to do everything. I've already sorted out flexitime so I can have an extra day off every fortnight to be at home to help out!

& yes, I am a nice guy

Hi Giger - I think it's great that your thinking/planning everything so far in advance - you sound sensible enough to realise that with a baby not everything goes exactly to plan I am your OH will adjust to the change well but your right in thinking it can be an isolating and lonely time without friends and family around you - would be great if your OH could learn to drive as this will give her and the little one much more freedom (sounds as though where you live places are much easier to access by car) - bet she will look forward to your fortnightly flexi day - I expect that will be a great help to her!
Good luck with the nursery tonight - do you have to give some sort of deposit to secure the place?

giger

How quickly things can change. Tonight's appointment has now been delayed until next Thursday due to an outbreak of fifth disease :mad: . They are just waiting for the quarantine period to pass before getting the all clear.

I think we do need to pay a deposit but I am not sure how much yet. They also mentioned that you cannot 'reserve a space', but i'm guessing the deposit gets you to the top of the list when they start to actually fill the places.

And you are right, car around here is great. You can get just about anywhere in a few minutes (thanks to lots of parkways), vs a few hours on the bus!
Had already thought about getting her driving, but another car might be an expense too far. we'll see how things go on that front.

Oldernotwiser

giger wrote: »

On this I just meant that £300 interest could be earned on 2 years worth of ISAs if you had used your full entitlement, which in the scheme of things is not that much & i'm sure thousands of ppl here would have.

Apologies if it came across the wrong way.

Sorry, I added an extra 0 in my calculations! Must explain why I'm always broke!

galvanizersbaby

giger wrote: »

How quickly things can change. Tonight's appointment has now been delayed until next Thursday due to an outbreak of fifth disease :mad: . They are just waiting for the quarantine period to pass before getting the all clear.

I think we do need to pay a deposit but I am not sure how much yet. They also mentioned that you cannot 'reserve a space', but i'm guessing the deposit gets you to the top of the list when they start to actually fill the places.

And you are right, car around here is great. You can get just about anywhere in a few minutes (thanks to lots of parkways), vs a few hours on the bus!
Had already thought about getting her driving, but another car might be an expense too far. we'll see how things go on that front.

Oh err! - not sure what fifth disease is!? - perhaps it's a modern name for chicken pox or slapped cheek?!
Think its probably a case of whoever's been on the waiting list longest
gets the place - think the deposit is just a way of them keeping your money incase you should change your mind when it actually comes to placing your child there - my deposit got returned to me when my son left the nursery and started school.
It would be good if she could go out with you in the car with L plates to start off with - even if you can't afford a second car yet - I passed my test a month ago (I'm 35!) and really wished I had learnt to drive sooner as it would have made a massive difference when I first had the kids who are now 4 and 5 - when they were babies I had one of those twin buggy's and getting that on and off public transport was no mean feat!