Is anyone else worried financially?

[amylk87]

I think the problem we will find is that we havent saved money for the big purchases like the pram, car seat, cot etc. So i think we'll struggle there.
When me and my OH talk about money and future, we know we'll be comfortable once i start working, but the mortgage isnt very much - so he would like to move to a bigger, more 'family' house therefore the mortgage will be more a month. Plus we're talking about putting about £500 a month in savings. I think this may be naive because i don't think we really have a clue how much a baby will cost.

 

[angie79]

angie - we haev spent about £1000 on Byron during my maternity leave. We were given quite a lot of stuff and some stuff was bought for us but we haven't really found it to be very expensive at all. The childcare will be though!

£1000 omg blimey - may i ask on what

xx

Is the omg because you think it's a lot or a little? I definitely think it's a little! It's been on bedding, toys/books, play mats, clothes, next size car seat (we had a travel system bought for us), small buggy, toiletries, steriliser and couple of bottles (I BF so not many), cups/bowls/cutlery, real nappies and accessories. Think that's about it.

What we didn't have to buy:
Bought for us - cot, chest of drawers, travel system
Lent to us - rocker chair, bouncy chair, moses basket and bedding, cot mobile, some toys, clothes, breast pump, baby carriers.

I reckon that's the bulk of the stuff we use. Can't think of much else.

i must have got confused i thought you were saying that you actually spent £1000 on him didnt realise you was talking about all the equipment etc - yes i was thinking £1000 too and i hope that should be more than enough as i'm not getting hardly anything new.
I guess i'm lucky i have my mum around for childcare and my oh in the winter months

 

[PeanutBean]

I think the problem we will find is that we havent saved money for the big purchases like the pram, car seat, cot etc. So i think we'll struggle there.
When me and my OH talk about money and future, we know we'll be comfortable once i start working, but the mortgage isnt very much - so he would like to move to a bigger, more 'family' house therefore the mortgage will be more a month. Plus we're talking about putting about £500 a month in savings. I think this may be naive because i don't think we really have a clue how much a baby will cost.

A baby doesn't have to be as expensive as it is made out. It's just like with the average wedding cost. You can buy a matching cot, wardrobe and drawers set made in solid oak for £1000 a piece or you can buy something very cheap indeed for second hand. You can buy a £1000+ fashionable travel system or you can get the cheapest brands (e.g. Graco or Britax) for £300. People get suckered in thinking they have to buy all these trendy things and have things that match a a big swanky nursery but it's just not necessary at all.

I don't know how long you're saving for but £500 a month seems like tonnes! We couldn't afford to save before my mat leave but managed to put away £3k over my annual leave before mat leave and my 90% pay period. It was amazing and only because the interest rates suddenly dropped so much but those savings really helped.

 

[amylk87]

Well at the moment, my OH puts around £300 a month in his savings account so i think when i work £500 isnt impossible to achieve, but when we have a baby, maternity pay and the cost of the baby will make it hard.

 

[PeanutBean]

We won't have a penny to save once we're paying childcare three days a week in Jan and savings from the next two months will be paying off the bit of debt we have from my leave.

 

[lozzy21]

I think aslong as you save what you can, arnt overstreatching your self and not spending silly amounts on babys things most people will manage.

My mam paid the mortgage, the rest of the bills and fed the 5 of us on less that £800 a month. If she can do it most people could.

 

[toffee87]

Always ikea

 

[londonbird]

Financial stuff is a big part of it, know feasibly its going to be 3-4 years for us to save and me to get to the point where I want with career (finishing my MA atm).. working hard to clear things up save etc

OH has two kids already so knows well the exspense, very much dosent want to have to scrimp save and struggle for another

Least I am not the only one in the same boat!!

 

[Sooz]

I have been paying back my student loan for a couple of years and, even though I changed my address & name with them, they have sent the statement for this year to my Dad's house so I only picked it up this week. I was horrfied that the repayments from my wages were not even covering the yearly interest!!!!

I agree that as loans go it's one of the best deals you will get but do watch out for this, they are trying to pump you for as long as they can. I am sending a supplementary cheque off each month now to ensure that at the end of each financial year the loan will have decreased, not increased. I borrowed £7k and currently owe just over £8k.

 

[stargirl69]

We are ttc now but we had to wtt for ages because we wanted to be in best position we could before bringing a child into the world. 4 years ago we had our own place and full-time permanent jobs but only earned about 30,000 a year between us. Money would have been tight. So I re-trained and hubby changed jobs. We got a nicer house in a better area and we now earn about 70,000 between us. Things are so much better now. Yes waiting was hard and money will still be a bit of a struggle when I'm on matenity leave but I feel better knowing we waited.

We paid off all our o/ds, loans and cc before ttc. We haven't started saving yet, but if I manage to get pg, we will then start putting away about 400 pounds a month to help us when baby is born.

 

[londonbird]

I am saving also, trying to put away as much as possible, doing a bit of a frugal challenge atm! £25 a mnth for food, maximise the amount I can stash away

Moving in first, married, training contract...etc

Thanks stargirl that helps loads, at least it feels proactive to be boosting earnings/saving/scrimping for something you really want

 

[REBECCALOU]

I am slightly worried.Boyfriend is on a good wage but he got into a lot of debt before we got together and trying to pay that off at the minute.

Really wanting to go ahead and start trying but trying to be sensible and wait until I've been at my job long enough to claim maternity pay. Then we should be able to cope with all outgoings.