worried about finances during maternity?

[mumtobe79]

Hi All

Is any1 else really worried about how they going to manage money wise when the baby is born and on maternity. I am! We have a good lifestyle now but Im constantly overdrawn so cant imagine what it'll be like when the baby's here and on less money but more outgoings??

Does anyone know the benefits we're eligible for and how much we get.

Hubbie and I both have ok salaries so dont think we'd qualify for anything other than child benefit.

Out of curiosity whats your mortgage monthly payment - ours is £573 per month and a combined salary of £46,000. What about u all?

 

[lillyblue]

I am gate grashing, you will be fine mine is 36,000 and mortgage of 700 so I dont think you have loads to worry about hunni

xx

 

[chaya5738]

We pay 700 also and have a combined income of 41,000.

I hate to preach but you might want to get your budget sorted out as soon as you can. It is better to cut back on the overspending that is leading to the overdraft each month than rely on additional child benefits to supplement it. Once you pay off the overdraft you'll probably find things ease up as I am guessing a significant proportion of you monthly income is going on interest and overdraft fees.

You should be fine though considering your income and low mortgage.

 

[Chopsie]

You will, at the very least, get SMP if you have been with your employer long enough - details here -

http://www.dwp.gov.uk/lifeevent/benefits/statutory_maternity_pay.asp

Some employers though will pay you more than the statutory minimum of 90% of salary for six weeks followed by the basic level of around £118p/w for 33 weeks - my ex employers, for example, paid you full pay for three months, then half pay for three months followed by the basic level SMP. Now I'm self employed, all I'll get is Maternity Allowance, which is next to nothing!

You'll also get a wellbeing payment of £190 in April, and child benefit of about £20p/w once the baby is born. You may also be eligible for tax credits, but they're a total nightmare to work out, so you'd need to speak to someone from the DWP to ascertain how much that could be.

I think the trick is to buy as much as you can before the baby is born whilst you're still on full pay - stockpile basics such as nappies, wipes etc - you can NEVER have too many of those, I'm reliably informed! And you'll spend zero on socialising once the baby is born too, which could be quite a saving if you like to eat out as much as I do!!

 

[pacha]

Im really worried about it aswell. We're on joint £39K and our mortgage is £830 a month

 

[pacha]

This is what our internal site says about maternity pay but i dont really understand it

Pregnant colleagues who have at least 1 year's continuous service and who qualify for Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP) will qualify for full pay and assigned shift payments for the first 18 weeks (including 2 weeks compulsory Maternity Leave). They will then receive 21 weeks’ Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP)

 

[M&Ms]

Not that I want to put a downer on anything, but the only benefits you'll be entitled to are £18.80 child benefit and also possibly working tax credit - of a fantastic tenner a week....

 

[Chopsie]

This is what our internal site says about maternity pay but i dont really understand it

Pregnant colleagues who have at least 1 year's continuous service and who qualify for Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP) will qualify for full pay and assigned shift payments for the first 18 weeks (including 2 weeks compulsory Maternity Leave). They will then receive 21 weeks’ Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP)

It means that provded you've worked there for at least a year when your mat leave starts, you'll get your normal full pay for the first 18 weeks of your mat leave. You have to have at least 2 weeks leave by law, which is what the compulsory mat leave bit refers to. You will then get the basic level for 21 weeks, which is around £118p/w. By law, your employer only has to pay you 90% of your salary for 6 weeks, so 18 weeks full pay is really good. You can have up to 52 weeks leave in total, but the last 13 weeks would be unpaid, as you only get maternity pay for 39 weeks. As long has you have the minimum 2 weeks leave, you can go back to work whenever you like.

Don't forget, you continue to accrue holiday entitlement whilst on mat leave, and a lot of women choose to tag this on the end of their leave to get a few extra paid weeks. Your HR dept will be able to fill you in on everything once you've told them you're pg.

Hope that makes sense!

 

[Becc]

I'm absolutely pooping myself about how we're gonna manage when the baby gets here!! I got laid off just before I found out I was pregnant and as this is a small town and a lot of people looking for jobs I'm not really having any joy at the moment. Desperately trying to find something before I get a bump because I know employers aren't technically 'allowed' to discriminate against pregnant women... but it's obvious they're not gonna take me on if they can see that I'll be leaving in a few months time.

As I have no job at the moment, I won't get SMP and if I don't find work soon I won't have been employed enough weeks to claim Maternity Allowance either. I'm not entitled to any benefits like income support or even JSA as OH works full time and I was a student for the tax years they take into account so my NI contributions are too low.

My OH only earns 12,500 per year and at the moment we are having to survive on this alone whilst paying rent, household bills, loans etc... just thinking about it all stresses me to death!!!!!

Anyways, I'm sure that with an income of 46,000 you will be able to work out some kind of budget to manage on... I spose you just have to divide your outgoings into essential and non-essential and work it out that way

 

[yummy-mummy]

DH and I earn a combined £70K with a mortgage of circa £1000/month - yes we bought at a very bad time. We have a 3 bedroom house that doesn't have anywhere near enough storage and combine that with a step-daughter from DH's first marriage I don't know where things are going to go or how will will cope as DH has to pay maintenance (not CSA but private arrangement) and we lose a bedroom that only gets used 2 nights a week.

I get 18 weeks full pay then 21 weeks SMP and after that I'm on my own. Our bills are quite dear and I pay approx £700/month before petrol, phone and food so it's a lot of money to lose for whatever extended leave I take. I've started putting away a couple of hundred a month into savings and I know the in-laws and my parents will spoil the baby but my main fear is when I go back to work. I don't want to put my kid in nursery but for what it costs a month for a baby to be there full time I would still be losing by dropping down to 4 days a week.

Should have kept my legs shut eh? I'm really going to miss our standard of living but I guess that's the sacrifices you make just as our parents did for us.

 

[Shinymac]

I'm worried as I quit my job that I'd been in for more than a year as it was part-time, and I wanted to return full-time when my twins were starting school. So I took on a full time job on a 6 month contract, with the possibility of it being extended.
My contract runs out 1 month before I am due! I know they can't disciminate against me, and it's local authority too, so hopefully they may be more likely to stick to their non-discrimination side of the bargain, but I am still worried.
I won't qualify for any maternity pay from them, but I think I can claim something (SMP maybe?) from the government. I hate having to claim for things, and I'm worried it will be unnecessarily complicated to sort out!

 

[Barbiexx]

Im worried as Im a student so have no income or anythin

Im lucky as I have quite a bit of savings that I'll get when I turn 18, and Im stayin at home so....

I'm gonna look into grants with me being a student, and hopefully will get money towards childcare when I can carry on with my education

 

[Frog99]

We went from a combined income of over £50k to £26k when I got made redundant in June (I'd been there 51weeks so wasn't entitled to redundancy pay). Since then I've strated my own business but as you can image things are extremely difficult. Our mortgage is £800 a month, we've maxed out 2 credit cards and my OH makes CSA payments (although those should reduce when our baby is born).

As I'm sole director of a limited company, if I stop working, the business grinds to a halt which is inevitable in a few months. I've got a meeting with my accountant in Jan to discuss maternity pay and maternity allowance. I already get working tax credit (£90 a month which covers 2 food shops!) but no idea what else I'm eligible for.

We had to produce a budget when I got made redundant and even without luxuries, we're still overdrawn each month - whole scenario is a nightmare. Most stuff is going to have to be second hand for our baby I think!

Plus we live in a small 2 bedroom house with 2nd bedroom being my office - so I'll be losing that when the baby comes along.

 

[Ibuellie]

Man I kinda wish I hadn't read this thread. I'm trying to stay in total denial about finances. Will be dropping from £30000 per annum to ? in a couple of months. Husband and I are in Indonesia where only I work and we can live a ridiculously lavish lifestyle. We'll be heading back to the UK before I get too big so H can get some work but I'm not sure how excited schools will be to take on a 5 month pregnant teacher. Ah well, could be wealthy and childless, but this is much more exciting!

 

[poppyangel]

I think I am in denial too, I get 6 months full pay and 3 months smp so am hoping I will be able to save lots from my six months full pay while looking after the baby.