Stay at home dad & finances

[jo_79]

Hi im not sure where to post this but here seems a good place to try!

I know its early days to be thinking about this but i need to have an idea what to expect.

Im going to take my maternity leave as close to birth in october as possible, i work in an office and its really calm and easy - its more like a mini family than work!

Anyway im going to take all the maternity leave im offered from my company so hopefully looking to go back May/June 09. Now i earn twice as much a year as my OH so we talked and decided i should go back to work when my leave finishes and he can stay home to look after baby which he's not phased by and really looking forward to it.

Im just a bit worried about how we'll cope financially. We've looked at benefits etc but doesnt look like we can get any as i earn £20000+ a year.

Thanks for reading!

 

[Mellage]

You will still be eligible for your child benefit, £20 a week, you should also be eligible for working tax credits, me and OH both earn over 20K a year and we qualify, £10 a week is better than a kick in the backside. Other than that not really sure, best bet would be to have look on the net, theres a couple of websites that you can work out what your entitled to.

 

[leedsforever]

couldnt he get a part time job to add to your monthly incomings...?

finances is a huge worry

 

[jo_79]

well i thought he could get a part time job either evenings or weekends but i can never guarantee what time i will get home after work so thats no good for him to do evening work. he is a bricklayer by trade so i suppose he could do weekend jobs for that - as long as the construction industry picks up again!!

i forgot to say that he doesnt have to leave work but we think its just mental for him to work 40 hours a week on his crappy wage to spend all his wages on a childminder to look after a baby we planned and wanted.

I was a single parent for 7 years with a mortgage to pay and all the rest that goes with it on less money than im on now so i know how hard it can be with no money and i just dont want to go back to struggling again.

 

[leedsforever]

sweetie hope things work for you

 

[Pops]

I hope it all works out for you hunny and we are thinking of doing the same thing when it is our turn.



xxx

 

[jo_79]

Im sure it'll all work itself out by then but OH mentioned it the other day and it has been bugging me since.

 

[AnnaBanana9]

We've decided that I'll be going back to work full time and hubby is going to be a stay-at-home dad. He's been a househusband for the past few years, so I guess that doesn't make a huge change to our setup. I'm on a similar wage to you, and we receive Child Benefit of £80 every 4 weeks, and also qualify for tax vredits of about £21 per week. It's been perfectly manageable for us so far, even now while I'm still on maternity leave and only getting 1/2 pay.

Good luck and hope everything works out for you.

x