Going from a fairly good income to MA

[Steelgoddess]

just wanted some advice advice really please...

Im going from an ok wage to MA and just wanted to find out how ppl manage as its not really alot.

im lucky as my partner has a good income, but I don't want to constantly rely on him for everything.

Can you give me some tips on saving money and making ends meet?

 

[Kimberly]

Great question. I'm interested in hearing tips too. I'm really concerned about going down to just SMP. In the 5 and a half years we've been married we've always had two incomes.

 

[Dinski]

Firstly, I would always try generic items for essentials such as nappies, wipes, bottles etc before the 'brand' names. A lot of the time the generic items are much cheaper and just as good and you can always progress to the brand names if you want.

If you are using cloth nappies most local councils give you an amount towards buying them. When bubba was born I lived in Haringey and they were giving £54 towards reusable nappies if you want to go down that path.

Check on things like freecycle/ebay/gumtree for baby toys/pushchair/baby essentials as you can normally get nearly new bargains or new things cheaper than retail.

Have a few bodysuits/sleepsuits/vests for baby but don't spend too much money on newborn as they grow out of them super quickly. Don't spend too much money on non-essentials that you think you might need as you'll end up not using a lot of things and wasting money and you can always buy them once baby is born if you think you really need them (i.e. top and tail bowl, nappy wrapper etc).

Don't forget that you get a £250 voucher from the government to invest for baby and I think this is £500 if your household is on a lower income.

Hope these tips are helpful.

 

[Minxy]

You will manage easier than you think you will.

I was very worried about dropping my salary for MA but when you're at home with a baby you don't spend much. Once I'd factored out all the money I'd been spending on travel to/from work, all the lunches I'd buy and the drinks/meals out it was easier than I thought.

My biggest tip would be food. Take packed lunches when you're out with baby. Baby groups do dirt cheap tea and biscuits, meet like-minded mummies in cheaper cafes.

Can you take a 'baby break' on your mortgage or any other debts you might have? Talk to the lenders if you need to. We didn't have to pay for three months.

Don't be too proud to take advantage of everything offered to you by family/friends. If they want to buy you something, let them. Borrow baby clothes or even clothes for you if you've a friend that's willing. Your dress size will fluctuate over the next year, it's not worth spending on stuff.

Make use of your free daytimes by sticking baby in a sling and getting round the charity shops. You could find loads of toys/clothes etc. NCT are another bargain hunting ground.

 

[aramintalovegrove]

Sharne I really worry about this too!

We live to our means and Im cacking myself about loosing hundreds of pounds a week!!

Im planning on going back to work soonish after the birth (went stir crazy with DS and went back after 8 weeks!!!) But I want the luxury of not having pressure to have to go back if I dont want to.

we are lucky that I have savings and have already agreed if nessisary I have allocated an amount as a figure that we are happy to loose from our savings to fund us until we return to our old income.

My feeling is that if we really budget well I can have longer off if i want and we have also agreed that DH will prob take a career break to look after LO for sometime after I go back to work so he can have the joy of being with LO for a while too. This is factored into the amount we have allocated.

I suppose Im very lucky to have this option but the bottom line is you will make it work somehow Im sure, its suprising what rubbish you spend your money on in a day as someone else has said...a trip to the local newsagents means I loose £10 on rubbish, and dont get me started on how much I spend on nipping to get a pint of milk!

edited to remove my wage amount as I was always taught it was vulgar to tell people how much you earn!!

 

[Hazel]

I suppose Im very lucky to have this option but the bottom line is you will make it work somehow Im sure, its suprising what rubbish you spend your money on in a day as someone else has said...a trip to the local newsagents means I loose £10 on rubbish, and dont get me started on how much I spend on nipping to get a pint of milk!

edited to remove my wage amount as I was always taught it was vulgar to tell people how much you earn!!

I agree with the wasting money. I popped out for some bread etc and spent £20 yesterday.

DH got made redundant in Jan so we've had to cut back but haven't found it to bad. He has a job but nowhere near as well paid as he was.

I've made a spreadsheet up of our incoming and outgoing to see where we spend the most and where we can make savings. Food bill was able to be cut down quite a bit by loosely planning meals in advance for the week and not just buying anything, I do it oline and get it delivered on the days when they do cheap delivery so I'm not tempted to overspend in the shop. A lot of our outgoings were eating out and take aways so have cut them down. We've also had to cancel the gym membership . Being careful with petrol and not making unnessecary trips I save up all the things to do in the town and write a list and go twice a month. Sending emails to companies instead of ring 0845 numbers to save phone bill.

It really is all the little things that you do that add up over the year.

 

[kalia]

I was signed off from 28 weeks so because I could hardly do anything because of the pain I was in I saved a fortune! I had been saving anyway but this meant i didn't spend any extra money at all and that added up to thousands over the last 5 months OH saved too. We agreed an amount that he would give me as childcare money each month. I'm glad I saved and didn't just rely on him having money as he was made redundant on Friday. It's OK though as we have enough savings to keep us going and it means we get more time as a family - and I can have a nice long bath and clean the house!

 

[Sherlock]

We got rid of one of our cars which means we now have to juggle who has the car on what day. TBH though its mostly hubby atm as I don't get out much. But he can take public tranport when needed and also is near enough I can take him and pick him up. Or he can try to arrange a lift.

We also plan our meals ahead. Makes me less likely to impulse buy. And I make fresh meals over pre packed stuff. Much much cheaper.

Don't buy into all the baby gadgets and crapola. I avoided buying things like bottles, steriliser and so on and even now only have 2 bottles and use Milton. Ditto about newborn clothes. Stick to sleepsuits and bodysuits in the early months and it saves a fortune. Buying loads of cute outfits is really pointless as a) they simply never seem to wear them and b) sleepsuits are so much easier to change and manage and more comfy. Still don't have a baby monitor and certainly no nappy bin etc.

Make your own baby toys. A plastic bottle with some dried lentils and so on inside does as good a job as a £10 shaker. Use pots and pans and a wooden spoon for a drum kit. That sort of thing.

Walk where you can with baby.

You don't have time for renting DVD's and so on I found (not that we did beforehand anyways) but things like that are always good to rethink.

Make own lunch of going out.

Breastfeeding is waaaaay cheaper than formula I'm saving me a fortune right there

 

[Steelgoddess]

Thanks everyone for all your fantastic replies!!!

 

[valentine]

Hey Sharne,

I have been living on a low income for over a year now. We didn't have a lot to start with with debts and no savings but its still been tough.

If you have been living on a high or higher income then I imagine that there are lots and lots of luxuries that you class as expenditure. Do you subscribe to magazines or even buy them weekly, go to the gym, pay online DVD rental, buy music online etc etc - all these small things really add up. I'll bet you could make plenty savings here.

One thing we have found really helpful is to always always make sure there is £100 a month available for baby items - be that wipes or new nappy wraps or NCT sales or whatever - just anything DD needs. It means that however skint we are, we always seem to have enough to buy what she needs. We always spend the full £100 but don't buy nappies or formula, goodness knows what it goes on but you'll be surprised how much they cost and how much you seem to spend on them! Particularly in keeping up with the Joneses! I have a lot of rich lovely Mummy friends and I have to try really hard to smile and be pleased when they show me their latest purchases or talk about shopping from the trendiest online shops - I'm just jealous. If your baby is warm, dry and fed - its happy.

I find Martin Lewis's website and weekly money tips really helpful for info anything from cutting back and budgeting to looking at your bills and working out the cheapest deals. I also use the forums there.

Make use of your free daytimes by sticking baby in a sling and getting round the charity shops. You could find loads of toys/clothes etc. NCT are another bargain hunting ground.

This is SUCH a good tip. DD and I have found the most AMAZING clothes (I have kitted her out until she's 4, seriously, on good quality Gap, Next, Debenhams, M&S etc clothes) and gorgeous wooden toys in lots of our local charity shops. We treat visiting them as a day out. One day we'll go to the charity shops in x town, next week, we'll go to the charity shops in x town etc etc.

Sorry I've rambled a lot - I need to go to bed! Good luck hon - treat it as a challenge, I always do - you need to find fun in your situation! I often look for ways to make money too - selling on eBay & Amazon, doing surveys online, online bingo loopholes (free cash on signup then withdraw) etc for a bit of extra pocket money, it really comes in handy.

Valentine Xxx

 

[louxlouxbellex]

Thanks for starting this thread Steelgoddess! I too I'm really worried about money & its great hearing how everyone else copes