Maternity Leave Advice ...

[polo_princess]

Ladies im really not sure what i want to do about maternity leave so thought id ask for some advice as i only have 7 weeks left to decide.

So im due 18th of Dec ... what an awkward time with christmas and whatnot so i could really really do with being paid as much as i can throughout the ENTIRE month of December.

So if i were to count back 6 weeks (at 90% pay) from the end of December that would take me to the 2nd week in November ... then i have 10 days leave left so i could take that which would mean finishing work on the 31st of October, but still being on full pay through November!!

Has anyone got any ideas or thoughts on ways to maximise my money/when i go on maternity leave. Ideally id like to go as early as i can, but not leave myself short for money!!

Going from £1800 a month to under £500 will be a big drop and i just dont want to leave things tight over December

 

[Spartacus]

Hey hun!

I know it is going to be a shock isn't it maternity pay argggh!!

We are trying to save some money where we can each month so we have some money for emergencies.

When does your work holiday year run to and from? I know for example if your holiday dates run from say January to December and you are entitled to 25 days you are still entitled to your holiday so basically you will still get paid for it. How long are you thinking of taking for maternity?

Hmmm money savings.....we are both stopping our pensions for a year as that is just under £200 saving for both of us and then we will pay our council tax for the whole year rather than direct debit so is an extra £100 or so a month that we have extra too. We still looking into other options at the moment. We looked into potentially having a mortgage break but I think we worked out we would get penalised for it under out mortgage but others work - also you have to pay it at some point I guess and our babies are going to be with us for a long time!

Hope that is helpful and if you have any money saving tips yourself send 'em my way

Em
xx

 

[lollylou1]

i dont earn quite that much but i am stressing about it as well. i am hoping to stay at work as late as i possibly can whilst working with young children in a nursery. i am trying to do it that way so i have got money for longer afterwards as christmas is going to be on a budget this year anyway.
i think the way u are planning it sounds good to me i have been trying to find out what im entitled to whilst i am actually off but not having much luck so far as it seems not entitled to much at all

Lou
xxx

 

[Becky]

I went through all this with my mum yesterday (good old mum explaining things) i get 8 weeks at full pay and then 33 weeks at £117.18 a week!! I also have 15 days holiday left to take!!

My company will pay you full pay for 8 weeks if you have worked with them for over a years before the 15th week before your EDD! Maybe find out if your do the same as this!!

x

 

[reallytinyamy]

I worked until I was 37 weeks, I just wanted as much time off as I could after I've had the baby, if I'm going to be living on peanuts I dont want to be doing it in front of daytime tv

 

[ryder]

Hmm not sure! Maybe start saving up money? If you havent already? Pay off any debt you have now so you have less bills later?

Thats what I am doing.

I was going to work right up until just before my due date, which is Nov3rd, but Ive decided im going off a month prior. I want to be able to rest and work on setting things up for the baby and finish any last miute things.

 

[leeanne]

Hope you can figure it out hon. Maternity pay isn't much in comparison to a regular wage, but at least it does help some.

 

[luvbunsazzle]

Start buying Christmas stuff now, so when your wage does decrease you have already began buying. I think your doing it wisely. Im taking my M/L Oct 1t as i just cant cope with work and i'd leave 2morro if given the chance, but me and OH also had this discussion yesterday and decided on budgets for christmas, and birthdays etc, and will begin shopping, on each pay day.

 

[PeanutBean]

God I've got no tips. My DH's salary will cover the mortgage with about £100 to spare a month. You do the maths! We're already looking at credit cards with interest free until the autumn to tide us over until I'm back at work and we can pay back the debt. Overdrafts too. It sucks, we paid off the wedding and car loans when we moved house so have had no debt for a year now. I feel pretty sad that it is our only prospect. I asked the bank about a mortgage break they just said they couldn't do anything. We're trying to save but we're going to be about £5k short if we live on a shoe string. Tax credits will help a little but I don't know how much we will be eligible for yet. It sucks but if our incomings don't cover the mortgage, bills and food I don't see what choice we have but to go into debt.

 

[ryder]

Maybe you could pick up a child in your neighbourhood that is in need of childcare? I know quite alot of people around here who do that, they only take children during day hours and it gives them a little money anyways..

 

[Sarahkka]

PP,
I read a really good financial book for women many years ago. It's called A Woman of Independent Means and it's by Gail Vaz-Oxlade, who is now quite famous in Canada for a very clever show about money and relationships (Til Debt Do Us Part). She has a website you can check out, but if you can find her book, she has a whole chapter on the mat leave budget crunch and lots of great ideas.
One thing from her book that we are trying now is to see how well we can live on just OH's income. It gets you used to the new smaller budget and helps you prepare so it's not such a shock when mat leave starts and the money really isn't there. Meanwhile, sock away everything you're saving by cutting back your expenses to live on OH's income, so that you'll have some extra to help during the baby year. Sort of a kill two birds with one stone approach...
My OH and I are actually getting all our ducks in a row with life insurance, etc, so we've found a really great financial advisor who is helping us see how to stretch every dollar.
Some of it is common sense (minimize debt, don't spend what you haven't earned yet, etc.), but there are all sorts of personal finance things that the vast majority of us have no clue about. It's certainly not taught in school. There's no shame in going to see a professional for advice - just know that if they don't charge you for the service, that they are then most likely making a commission on any products they sell you. (The same as it's important to know that a real estate agent may be really helpful and great, but do keep in mind that they make a commission off your sale and are self-interested to a degree.)
Anyway, that's what we've been doing and have a nice cushion of savings because of it. It might work for you?