Money, money, money!

[MrsB]

this might seem like a strange thing to ask but how much does the money situation change after you have your first baby?

hubby and i are quite low on funds at the moment and this is one contributing factor as to why we're wtt. a friend at work has just come back off maternity leave and she said that moneywise things aren't really that different since having her little girl.

without wanting to pry too much into people's financial situations i just wondered what kind of experiences other people have had.

 

[Princess81]

I don't have any experience personally, but my friends that have, have said it didn't make a great deal of difference initially. It all depends on childcare. If you are going back to work then the childcare could cost you a lot. If you are giving up work then obviously you'll lose your wage. It's probably when they get older that children become mega expensive!!

 

[MrsB]

yeah that's kind of what i was thinking! think i'm quite lucky in the fact that i'd get childcare vouchers and discounts from work and both mine and hubbies parents would be more than happy to help out.

i suppose loads of people manage without much money so it wouldn't be impossible - i just don't like the thought of bringing a little life into the world and then struggling to provide for it!

 

[JJ Mum]

You will manage fine, I have learnt that there really is never any right time to bring a child into the world, we had our first as an accident, so never saved or got ready, we still have no money now and it's fine.

When you have a baby, you will get child benifet afterwards , it must be about £60 a mth plus now for one, I dont know exactly as we get it for 3 kids and its £160 ish. this you get regardless of work , salanry etc- this is a big help to us.

You can also apply for working familes tax credit dependent on your joint earnings (search online under WFTC)

I would recomened starting to manage on only one salary now as it will take you a few months to manage this, then you will know how it feels, and save at same time.
If you get maternity money then great or the lower goverment maternity money.
If you go back to work and use private childminder, it would cost 1/3 to a half of your salary for one child, it's so expensive but keeps some money coming in.

Try to cut back and make do and make money from home, eg bake more, make bread, evenings in (as with kids you can't go for meals, cinemaa etc so that saves money)

Kids don't nottice money or lack or money , mine still are ok and don't know about named trainers etc , and they are 11, 9 and 8! (I guess the eldest will know soon!)

Good luck for TTC when you leave WTT X

 

[MrsB]

thanks JJ Mum, it's nice to hear that it's not impossible!

my parents always brought me up to be careful with money and i had a brilliant childhood so i'm guessing we'd cope!

getting really broody now as our neighbours have just had a baby boy this week (only seen pics so far but he's gorgeous!!) and then hubby said to me tonight "I want to be a dad! I can't wait till we can start trying"

 

[kellylou]

hi how can you find out about the child benefit? Hubby said he has checked and we are entitled to big fat 0 xx

 

[kellie0215]

Hi KellyLou
I work in benefits and everyone is entitled to child benefit of £20.30 per week for the first child and £13.40 for every other child after that, there is a website child-benefits
you can also get working tax credits and child tax credits if your earnings are low enough.
Also have you thought of council tax benefits? can help pay your council tax off if you only have 1 wage coming in after the birth and housing benefits help with rent if you rent a house
hope this helps and good luck ttc.
kelly

 

[xXxBonnyxXx]

Just thought I would hijack this thread and ask a quick question,
Hubby claims child benefit for his 3 children that live with us, would I file a seperate claim as its my first child or do I have to add the child onto his making the bubba the 4th child?
Although i'm sure I will be able to go back to work and have my family help out with the baby so its not really too much of a problem!

 

[tia maria]

hi how can you find out about the child benefit? Hubby said he has checked and we are entitled to big fat 0 xx

child benifit is given to all parents reguardless of what they earn!! my hubby earns enough for 2 full time jobs and we still get it!! just contact your local job centre and thgey will give you thre number u have to ring xx

 

[tia maria]

hi how can you find out about the child benefit? Hubby said he has checked and we are entitled to big fat 0 xx

child benifit is given to all parents reguardless of what they earn!! my hubby earns enough for 2 full time jobs and we still get it!! just contact your local job centre and thgey will give you thre number u have to ring xx

oh and its 80 a month for 1 child xx

 

[JJ Mum]

Bonny, I would have thought that you could claim on your own for this child , as it gets paid to only one of the parents.

One thing to remember is if one of you is not going back to work after the baby, get the child benifit payable to that one of you, as we found out afterwards that being the recipiant of the benifit also pays your national insureance stamp as long as you get it. We found this out when my hubby got made redundant and we had a gap of his stamps! then when we were told by the child benifit office, we swapped it into his name.

 

[kellie0215]

You can claim child benefit seperatley for yourself, so you would get the full amount £20.30

 

[serenitylove]

i have to agree with jj mum there is never a right time or enough money but tbh it not untill they alot older they need alot it just about making adjustments to your lifestyle and weather your prepared to do that

 

[Tonks]

Agree with JJs Mum.

When I was with OH we were better off having a child. We stopped going out so much, eating out, cinema, drinking etc and then I gave up work totally and we were still fine.

He was worried about money too, but freely admits now that there was nothing to worry about. The initial outlay for things like nursery furniture can be expensive but shop around. My nursery furniture is lovely and I got a changing table and cot together for £120 in a toys r us sale then I got lots of vintage stuff off eBay to decorate the room.

 

[MrsB]

thanks for all your comments and advice ladies. I think DH and i know that we'll manage and that we'll have huge support from family and friends. it's nice to hear it from people who've already had the experience though.

we know there'll never be a perfect time and my mum has always told me that it doesn't matter how much you plan etc you'll never know what it's really like until you try.

bring on 2011! lol xxx

 

[HelenJ]

I just wanted to say I am a stay at home mam and it definetely costs a lot to have a baby. We use formula (because I cannot breastfeed after a breast reduction surgery). The formula definetely is expensive were I live and this costs us about 10 GPB every week, then ofcourse all the clothing (and we don't buy the brand names) but the first year they need new clothing every 3 months, also buying the nursery things were expensive. And new bed linnen for the bigger bed (not only the cod) is costly. I think I spend about 125GBP every month on my babies basic needs (including clothing) and sometimes more, we make the food ourselves (so no ready made baby food) that saves a lot.

For us this is a lot of money because only my husband works (and he doens't get paid very well since he is just at the beginning of his career and only 23 years old). We didn't go out a lot maybe once a month out for dinner but we went out for lunch every saturday.

The money I spend on clothes and shoes etc and hobbies (knitting etc) is completely gone each month because I need to buy baby needs. Sometimes it is hard because now I cannot buy clothes of my favourite brand and need to buy 5 pound t-shirts, also I gained a lot of weight during pregnancy so I don't fit any of my clothes from pre pregnancy and I only have very little right now, they are cheap and don't look nice, but it is worth it. My baby boy is the best and I wouldn't miss him for the world.

In a few years from now it will be easier. If we get our second baby it is a lot cheaper in comparison to the first because we already have to much stuff

 

[ceciliab01]

What killed my budget was buying waaaaay too many cute baby outfits!

 

[bwlch]

You will manage fine, I have learnt that there really is never any right time to bring a child into the world, we had our first as an accident, so never saved or got ready, we still have no money now and it's fine.

When you have a baby, you will get child benifet afterwards , it must be about £60 a mth plus now for one, I dont know exactly as we get it for 3 kids and its £160 ish. this you get regardless of work , salanry etc- this is a big help to us.

You can also apply for working familes tax credit dependent on your joint earnings (search online under WFTC)

I would recomened starting to manage on only one salary now as it will take you a few months to manage this, then you will know how it feels, and save at same time.
If you get maternity money then great or the lower goverment maternity money.
If you go back to work and use private childminder, it would cost 1/3 to a half of your salary for one child, it's so expensive but keeps some money coming in.

Try to cut back and make do and make money from home, eg bake more, make bread, evenings in (as with kids you can't go for meals, cinemaa etc so that saves money)

Kids don't nottice money or lack or money , mine still are ok and don't know about named trainers etc , and they are 11, 9 and 8! (I guess the eldest will know soon!)

Good luck for TTC when you leave WTT X

Help
I came back to work on the 9th august 2010 from maternity leave and I have just found out that I am pregnant again (16 weeks) . I have not told my boss yet as I am worry that they will sack me. what is my legal position

 

[positivity :)]

hi bwlch

i work in HR and specialise in maternity rights - there is NO WAY you can be sacked, in fact no action can be taken against you at all!! it is exactly the same as the first time round. you are entitled to one year of maternity leave, there is nothing your employer can do at all!!

x

 

[JJ Mum]

Mr'sB, soo glad you are feeling like this maybee something you can do and manage, have you started trying to get your finances in order now, to get used to it?

I'm not going back to work this time afterwards going to be a stay at home mum and run the house better, and be there to help my older kids with homework etc more, then all 4 will get more time spent on them- def more needed than money right now.

I am going to set myself up in business , working in the evenings to try to bring some money in, but we will manage on my OH's supermarket wages, and my home grown fruit and veg and baking - but we will be soooo happy