Savings

[MissN8]

Hi, is anyone saving a certain amount before ttc? I have started and plan to save 4 thousand mostly to cover mat leave. Should be finished this time next year.

 

[Girly922]

We didn't save a huge amount before ttc because we'd just saved for a deposit and bought a house. While pregnant though I cut down on as much as I could to save for maternity leave. We managed to save about 9 grand in the time between buying our house and me finishing work at 37weeks.

 

[MissN8]

Wow that's loads. Is it expensive the first few months? Suppose you will be saving on petrol not working

 

[Girly922]

It wasn't as expensive as I expected. We bought all the nursery furniture while I was still working, and family bought us a lot of the more expensive essentials. We BF which also saves a lot of money, and I shop around for nappies because you get through a ridiculous amount in the first couple of months, and nappies aren't cheap!

I don't think we needed to save as much as we did but I'm taking the full year off and wanted to be sure we had enough to cover the mortgage in case anything happened.

 

[Pearls18]

We didn't really have masses of saving for a baby (we have a few different savings accounts for other things but we didn't specifically save for a baby).

First baby was a surprise so we just had make do, which was fine we had everything new and what we wanted we just bought it gradually throughout the pregnancy, second time we only needed about £1000 to get things because we kept a lot from DS1, but again I just bought things throughout the pregnancy. We didn't need to save up for maternity leave as I have a good maternity leave package and we have more money ATM from not having to have DS1 in childcare full time and it costs me £200 a month to get to work usually. We are currently setting money aside for august though because that is the only month I am taking unpaid, DH has 2 weeks off then so we are saving to have lots of days out (we live in London) before I go back to work.

Babies are pretty cheap, you can pretty much make a baby as cheap or expensive as you like. As they get older the more expensive they become, for us the biggest thing is childcare, that really takes a dent out of our monthly expenses. And then for others it's maternity leave I guess, but as for stuff, I wouldn't fret too much. You're doing the smart thing though, and it's nice to feel prepared

 

[Pearls18]

We've barely spent a penny on DS2 since he was born (after the initial "set up") I BF, we are using DS2's hand me downs (for now, I won't do it forever bless him lol) I think nappies is all we buy for him lol.

Oh I lie I've just bought some expensive Neal's Yard baby balm to try and get rid of his stubborn cradle cap lol. Oh and it's his christening next month and that is costing about £400 total.

 

[Pandora0814]

I saved enough to cover my parts of the bills then my husband did the rest. When I had my son we were tight on money but we watched what we spend and we tried to make sure we had everything before our son was born.

Plus the baby shower helped out A LOT! It got us through the first 5 months very comfortably.

 

[MissN8]

Yea i hope to get a few gifts too from family so not too worried about that. I am the main wage earners so for me to be off need to have money saved. It is good to be prepared i don't wanna stress about money with new baby either. I cannot wait. As you say its when they get older they will need more.

 

[spicyorange]

Savings hahaha, I'll be happy if we don't have debts, we won't have any savings, wev never had any. I'm not worried though, in the last year wev moved house, bought 2 cars and a holiday without any savings so we will manage baby some how to

 

[WhiteKhocol8]

Ideally I'd like to have 7000 saved but that is a dream figure. I'll be happy if I have my debt covered by then! However I do have two years so who knows - a lot could happen in that time! At least that's what I'm hoping!

 

[RaspberryK]

No we didn't, we didn't think we needed to and I wish we had because dh lost a lot of his work when ds was 7m til he was 14m
Xx

 

[WhiteKhocol8]

That's what I worry about =( my DH's industry is unpredictable but there is usually work going - the problem is with a child neither of us can really afford to be totally out of work. I am formulating back-up plans a through h at the moment as contingencies in case I have to work from home earlier than I expect to have to.

Savings help but I think having other plans in place to get you through if you need them helps too. Life is very unpredictable.

 

[RaspberryK]

We luckily have a flexible mortgage and took a mortgage holiday. Then paid it back over 6 months.
I got a 5 hour contract and worked full time except the days dh had the offer of work.
We borrowed a lot from the in laws via the business and have now just paid the last off.
We are just starting on the credit cards. Wouldn't have been so bad but we had to get a loan for emergency work on the roof.
But we are out of the worst now.
Xx

 

[Emiloo]

I have nearly £150 saved so far haha. Every little helps!

 

[MissN8]

Better than nothing!

 

[WhiteKhocol8]

Ladies you've inspired me (read: given me the kick up the backside I needed) to go get my taxes sorted out this week and see if I can find a way to consolidate my credit card and loan into one to make repayments more manageable. THEN I can start saving! I am now a woman on a money mission!

 

[MissN8]

Im glad we could help. I think u just have to cut back on nights out and buying things you don't need and also get those debts paid off

 

[Girly922]

Nights out definitely have become a thing of the past here, and if we go out to dinner now, we go somewhere like Nandos rather than TGI Fridays. Cheaper and they do NHS discount! Lol.

Try and save a small amount for dinners out and cinema nights etc for while you are pregnant. It's likely to be the last time you go out as a couple for a long time.

Things like buying own brand, and only buying things like toilet roll and toiletries when they're on special really helps too. It can help to ask for vouchers for a specific shop for Christmas. Christmas a couple of years back we asked everyone for Next vouchers. Ended up with £200 worth. Still had a lot left when DD was born which meant I could have a bit of a spree in the sale for lots of new clothes for her without it hurting my bank account!

 

[MissN8]

Very good ideas girly. I was thinking as soon as i get a bfp to start putting nappies and wipes and toiletries into our monthly shop so you gradually build up stuff for when baby comes. Same here i hardly ever have nights out we are just happy staying in with take away or going for dinner

 

[Girly922]

Rather than sticking up on nappies etc before baby arrives, you'd be better off buying a £10 gift card for your regular supermarket every time you do a big shop. Put these aside until baby's here and then you've got the reassurance that you've always got money for food and nappies. Babies grow out of nappies so quickly you don't want to get too many of one size, plus you never know how you will get on with a certain brand. DD gets a rash with Tesco brand, but I know LOs who leak or get a rash with pampers. Same with wipes and toiletries, you never know if LO will get a reaction. DD got a nasty rash from Simple baby wash so it's not worth stocking up on too much until you know what you can use.