Is £350 a month enough to pay for all baby food/nappies etc?

[FierceAngel]

i'm a single parent on maternity leave and i get £56 a week as i'm not intitled to working tax credits as i earned too much last year!!!

you can ask them to asses you on wht you will earn this yr thts wht we did and made big diff xx

Really? Can you do that?? We earnt just under 40k last year, but we were not a couple and so both had high costs of living apart and no savings, so we are going to struggle this year as my SMP just covers my loan and overdraft repayments, so OH's salary is basically paying fr everything else.

yup if your income will be signifigantly less..

you would get it topped up at end of year anyway but if like us you could do with the money now.

our joint income last year was 20k more than this year (as mat allowance isnt included)

you have to let them assess you on last years then ring up to appeal...

 

[Aidan's Mummy]

is that tax credits and child benifit combined?? Because you wouldnt get that much on tax credits on its own. But yeah 350 is more than enough in my monthly shop for aidan including baby food, nappies,milk and any other bits and bobs i spend about 70 quid. Go to asda its amazing value for money. And then any money we have left over wer buy toys or clothes for him

Also buy the big boxes of nappied its alot cheaper you can get 104 for 11 quid
xx

 

[Becky]

is that tax credits and child benifit combined?? Because you wouldnt get that much on tax credits on its own. But yeah 350 is more than enough in my monthly shop for aidan including baby food, nappies,milk and any other bits and bobs i spend about 70 quid. Go to asda its amazing value for money. And then any money we have left over wer buy toys or clothes for him

Also buy the big boxes of nappied its alot cheaper you can get 104 for 11 quid
xx

It depends I get alot more than that on tax credits x

 

[Aidan's Mummy]

is that tax credits and child benifit combined?? Because you wouldnt get that much on tax credits on its own. But yeah 350 is more than enough in my monthly shop for aidan including baby food, nappies,milk and any other bits and bobs i spend about 70 quid. Go to asda its amazing value for money. And then any money we have left over wer buy toys or clothes for him

Also buy the big boxes of nappied its alot cheaper you can get 104 for 11 quid
xx

It depends I get alot more than that on tax credits x

Yeah it must depend on your situation
xx

 

[FierceAngel]

is that tax credits and child benifit combined?? Because you wouldnt get that much on tax credits on its own. But yeah 350 is more than enough in my monthly shop for aidan including baby food, nappies,milk and any other bits and bobs i spend about 70 quid. Go to asda its amazing value for money. And then any money we have left over wer buy toys or clothes for him

Also buy the big boxes of nappied its alot cheaper you can get 104 for 11 quid
xx

It depends I get alot more than that on tax credits x

sure does we get 93 a week in ctc and wtc plus 20 a week child benefit so we get 489 per calender month for all three

 

[Tegans Mama]

is that tax credits and child benifit combined?? Because you wouldnt get that much on tax credits on its own. But yeah 350 is more than enough in my monthly shop for aidan including baby food, nappies,milk and any other bits and bobs i spend about 70 quid. Go to asda its amazing value for money. And then any money we have left over wer buy toys or clothes for him

Also buy the big boxes of nappied its alot cheaper you can get 104 for 11 quid
xx

It depends I get alot more than that on tax credits x

350 a month is plenty, I get £129 a week ctc and then child benefit (because tegan gets high rate dla) but most of it doesnt get spent.

 

[babezone]

id say it was plenty xx

 

[smartie]

I agree with the others that its going to be plenty!

 

[DragonMummy]

Yeah formula is about £6 a tub if you don't breastfeed and that lasts a while - prob three or four tubs a month. Ask people for mothercare vouchers as a baby gift for things like bottles, steriliser etc. Nappies, Sainsbury's own brand are pretty good, as are their wipes. Plus theyre always on special. Clothing - get an ebay account. Baby clothes are only used for three months then grown out of so you can get nearly brand new ones for pennies on Ebay - also look on Freecycle for people giving stuff away near you - always handy for things like walkers, bouncers and a spare buggy. The only things you shouldn't scrimp on are mattresses and car seats in my humble opinion - always get the best one you can afford.

xxx

 

[FierceAngel]

We was using boots own nappies as they were lots cheaper about 5 pounds for 45 nappies then went to savers and they do pampers size 2 baby dry 4.99 for 45

best wipes ive found are the tesco baby soft ones.. you can get three packs for about 2.50 i found the huggies ones quite moist...

we use one tub of formula a week atm costs 6.98

 

[caggimedicine]

Christ! £350 a month?! Hubby and I both struggle and work full time. Obviously we're missing something!

 

[Maffie]

I haven't budgeted how much things will cost monthly yet, hopefully feeding breast milk and using cloth nappies will keep costs down, and I think grandparents will go crazy enough buying clothes!

 

[FierceAngel]

Christ! £350 a month?! Hubby and I both struggle and work full time. Obviously we're missing something!

erm i worked full time and am currently on maternity leave..

oh works full time (48 hours a week) but is in a low paid job...

hence we get 389 per month which will go down once luisa is over one..

 

[ClaireLouise]

£350 - wow, that would do me!! Just budget and save over any extra money so you can buy toys and clothes when you simply cant resist haha

Its all so confusing to me, iv been trying to work out what il get, but i dont know how to do it, even the HMRC website baffles me and i work at an accountants!!

Is there a thread on this forum where i could get help in working out what im likely to get?

I earn £18k gross and OH earns £12k gross and my baby is due in Nov. I need helps working this out!

 

[Pyrrhic]

you'll spend like £30-50 a month on nappies and formula.

 

[Tasha]

£350 - wow, that would do me!! Just budget and save over any extra money so you can buy toys and clothes when you simply cant resist haha

Its all so confusing to me, iv been trying to work out what il get, but i dont know how to do it, even the HMRC website baffles me and i work at an accountants!!

Is there a thread on this forum where i could get help in working out what im likely to get?

I earn £18k gross and OH earns £12k gross and my baby is due in Nov. I need helps working this out!

Going on what you said when your child is born you will be entitled to no working tax credits and £918 of child tax credit which works out to be about £17 a week over the year, this is based on your child being under one and will reduce after they are one. I used the tax credit calculator but try using https://www.entitledto.co.uk/ and just write it as if your baby is born already. HTH

To the original poster we get just over double what you will for three children and it is plenty so you will be fine.

 

[ClaireLouise]

£17 a week? So im supposed to survive off my OH shitty £160 a week, £123 maternity and £17 tax credits???!!!!

That wont even cover my outgoings!

How unfair is that!!!

Thank you Tasha for working that out though.

EDIT: as per that website, iv tried my best to be accurate and got this:

Total Entitlements £6,400.12
£122.74 weekly

I cant see that being right either! Ill have to go to citizens advice and ask them to help a dumb blonde haha!

 

[Tasha]

Ah hun it will be more whilst your on mat pay, you will have to apply for it using your previous years wages and then tell them you have about a 10-12k decrease in income, so that should give you more whilst on maternity pay. Hope that helps.

Just did the calculator again and whilst on maternity as you will be on a relatively low income you will be entitled to £2675.59 a year which is 51.45 a week, plus your £20.00 a week Child Benefit, hope that sounds better babe x

 

[Laura--x]

Yeah thats plenty xx

 

[ClaireLouise]

Ah hun it will be more whilst your on mat pay, you will have to apply for it using your previous years wages and then tell them you have about a 10-12k decrease in income, so that should give you more whilst on maternity pay. Hope that helps.

Just did the calculator again and whilst on maternity as you will be on a relatively low income you will be entitled to £2675.59 a year which is 51.45 a week, plus your £20.00 a week Child Benefit, hope that sounds better babe x

Aww thank you hun, you're a star! Iv always been wondering what il get, now at least i have a rough idea thanks to you!!!