Stay at home mums!

[Lara310809]

When I got pregnant we were on a joint income of around £40,000. But we paid loads in rent, car, commuting etc, so it felt like peanuts.

We moved abroad, now hubby earns £18,000 (he was previously earning £26,000 in the UK, but wages are lower here), and I don't earn. I was previously earning £18,500 in the UK. I don't earn anymore because we moved abroad and I was about to pop so couldn't get a job at that point. We were TTC again when LO was 6m, so we didn't see a point in me trying to find work if I was only going to get pregnant again and go on maternity again. Maternity leave here isn't too great, and I wanted to take a year off with this baby as I did with the last.

On £18,000 it's hard, I admit. we don't pay any rent anymore, but OH has credit card debts, and pays £250 each month on his car loan. We pay more for food shopping over here (because it's shipped all the way from the UK), so that's a major stress for us; our average shop is about £140 and we can only go about 2 times a month.

My OH is getting a rise though, to £20,000 next month, so that helps. He gets another £2,000 next year too, so hopefully that will all add to it.

We don't get any government help here (I think you do get child tex credits inthe UK?); we don't have anything like that here

 

[mommyB]

I am getting $1000 a month in maternity benefits but that will end in December, it is also when I am going to inform my work that I will not be returning. We have just moved to a new place and we have a really small mortgage, so it is allowing me to be a SAHM. My hubby makes a decent amount of money, but we made sure to figure out all the financial stuff before we made the decision to stay home. Plus we plan to try again in January which would mean me going on Mat leave again next year, so I might as well stay home.

 

[Carlyp1990]

i have no idea how i will manage but im not goin bk to work, i refuse to miss out on katie growin up and will starve if i have to. i should add me and OH dont live together and im moving into my own house next week. it will probably be tough for me but i dont care xx

 

[T-Bex]

We're on the minimum wage income, and it can be tough, but I think it's worth it. I'm quite traditional, in a sense. I chose to have a baby, and I want to raise her myself; not pay someone else to do it. I didn't work previously (I was at uni) so didn't have a job to go back to, so I think that was a big difference for me. Also, I still breastfeed during the day, and on a morning and night time, and I don't want to force weaning before Bethan's ready. I just feel that we have so little time with our children before they're in school fulltime, that I want to do all sorts of things with her, whilst I can!

We manage by being very frugal, and by making lots of things from scratch - food, clothes, toys. I breastfeed, and we use reusable nappies, which also helps a lot.

 

[mrsraggle]

I work part time and our household income is £45k. We pay £7k a year in childcare. But after that we really struggle!!! I don't really understand why, we have loans and a credit card but they're not huge. There's no way I could be a SAHM.

 

[Vinushka]

We are pretty tight on money. OH only works part time as he struggles finding a new job and I am a full time carer for my daughter who is severely learning delayed (she is basically a toddler in a 7 year old body).

I get about £480 a month in carer's allowance/her disability allowance which just about covers our rent. We are on LHA unfortunately which has just been halved so rent is all I can manage.

OH is on 16 - 32 hours variably and makes about £500 a month. He pays the bills and buys food, generally we don't have anything spare at all and now our car failed it's MOT we can't afford that either. Rent is £550/month. We also have to pay back £1300 of tax credits that the government fucked up in 2008, and £600 in council tax from moving.

I want to get a job

 

[bubbles123]

When we both worked our income was £35K +, now with me as a SAHM it's over £20K. I became a SAHM as I would have been left with £5 a week after paying for childcare. You have to give up the holidays and luxuries etc but we have enough left to pay for everything we need.

 

[mummy3]

I'm a SAHM but in the states so dont think that would be much use Would be nice to hear from other US mummies though.

My hubby earns around $115k as an engineering manager, including his bonus and freelance work, he works 80+hour weeks for this. Student loans have been paid and saving for a house is happening but hubby hasn't been on the wage for long. LO cost $6000 after insurance, we did cord blood, rent here is around the $2000 a month, car payment and insurance and then groceries it all adds up. Health insurance is a lot and we get taxed through the nose and as of next year next to no tax rebate. We get no government assistance at all. Electric is super expensive too due to the A/C being on as its the desert here

 

[Bluebell321]

Our joint income is £70k a year. I earn £10k more than my DH, so I need to go back to work. Am considering dropping to 4 days a week though, which wouldn't have too much of an impact on our income. I don't think I'm cut out to be a SAHM, I'm already counting down to the end of maternity leave!

 

[karlilay]

Were live on below £15k.

Its hard, im not going to lie. We have alot of basics food now. But the kids have the best of everything. They have nice clothes, expensive nappies, wipes etc.

We pay the bills and our debt.. which is not alot, about £1000.

Currently were really struggling, OH has a little 125cc moped for getting to work. We live in a little village, with no shop and no bus service, and he works in town. Only now its getting rediculous having to rely on people, so hes going to have to learn to drive.

Presuming he passes, and we get a car etc. We will be BRASSIC!
Buuuuuuuuuuuuttt... i wouldnt have it any other way, and i want to raise my babies.

 

[bbyno1]

I am a SAHM atm. I enjoy it.
I am going to try finding a job though once Aliyah is a year old

 

[tu123]

We have scrimped and saved for me to be off for 8 mths now. I will be going to work but only at the weekends which will just cover my half of the household bills, etc.

I was on a good salary but it wasnt enough to justify paying the average childcare fees of £1600/mth where i live.

We only get CB from the government. But we have less spending money than my sister who has 5 kids, no qualifcations and lives in a very nice council house, and has never worked a day in her life

Sorry, rant over!

 

[Wirral_Kitty]

We have scrimped and saved for me to be off for 8 mths now. I will be going to work but only at the weekends which will just cover my half of the household bills, etc.

I was on a good salary but it wasnt enough to justify paying the average childcare fees of £1600/mth where i live.

We only get CB from the government. But we have less spending money than my sister who has 5 kids, no qualifcations and lives in a very nice council house, and has never worked a day in her life

Sorry, rant over!

Lol, you've pinched my rant!

 

[NuKe]

my OH earns around 21k after tax. i am on benefits as I suffer badly from anxiety and panic attacks and am genuinely not able to go back to work yet. I LOOOOOOOOOOVE being a SAHM!!! things can get very tight sometimes, but its definitely doable!! we do have to make sacrifices but its sooo worth it.

 

[Eltjuh]

hubby takes home about £1200 a month, we pay the bills (loan, credit cards, tv, phone, internet, tv licence and all that - comes to about £500) with it and of course the shopping (about £50 a week, so £200 a month). And we're even saving £140 a month.
And then we get £81 CB and about £50 TC, but that needs to be reviewed cause my husband earns less than we filled in on the form....

Oh and we're lucky cause our house is an army house (hubby is in the army) so it's cheap and the rent is taken off hubby's wages before he gets paid. And we don't pay for water, but we do pay for gas & electricity.


We do alright now we don't have a car anymore but when we did still have the car we were always broke and there was no way we could save any money....let alone £140 a month. We're just trying really hard to get the credit cards paid off now - usually only use them in emergencies, but had a couple of expensive emergencies so they were both kinda full.... we're getting there though

 

[Eltjuh]

We have scrimped and saved for me to be off for 8 mths now. I will be going to work but only at the weekends which will just cover my half of the household bills, etc.

I was on a good salary but it wasnt enough to justify paying the average childcare fees of £1600/mth where i live.

We only get CB from the government. But we have less spending money than my sister who has 5 kids, no qualifcations and lives in a very nice council house, and has never worked a day in her life

Sorry, rant over!

Same for my SIL and her bf, they both don't work and have 2 kids, yes they live in a small, 1 bedroom council house but they have a lot more money then we have.....

 

[tu123]

We have scrimped and saved for me to be off for 8 mths now. I will be going to work but only at the weekends which will just cover my half of the household bills, etc.

I was on a good salary but it wasnt enough to justify paying the average childcare fees of £1600/mth where i live.

We only get CB from the government. But we have less spending money than my sister who has 5 kids, no qualifcations and lives in a very nice council house, and has never worked a day in her life

Sorry, rant over!

Same for my SIL and her bf, they both don't work and have 2 kids, yes they live in a small, 1 bedroom council house but they have a lot more money then we have.....

Life is life i spose. I know that i CHOSE to go to uni to get my qualfications, but with no help with rent, etc i came out with £25000 worth debt. Same for hubby. So yes! It s my fault that i have £400 worth of loan fees going out every month, but it just sucks. I am being pitiful i know but it seems that those at the top dont need any help and those with the lowest income get all the help, but us in the middle get nowt!

My sister has a bugaboo AND a quinney and has a 5 bed house and was bragging about her new £500 flatscreen TV last week! They are both on benefits-how does that happen? They have no disablities so is there no reason why they cant work-or t least one of them!

I'l shut up now-i sound like a child!

 

[Wirral_Kitty]

We have scrimped and saved for me to be off for 8 mths now. I will be going to work but only at the weekends which will just cover my half of the household bills, etc.

I was on a good salary but it wasnt enough to justify paying the average childcare fees of £1600/mth where i live.

We only get CB from the government. But we have less spending money than my sister who has 5 kids, no qualifcations and lives in a very nice council house, and has never worked a day in her life

Sorry, rant over!

Same for my SIL and her bf, they both don't work and have 2 kids, yes they live in a small, 1 bedroom council house but they have a lot more money then we have.....

Life is life i spose. I know that i CHOSE to go to uni to get my qualfications, but with no help with rent, etc i came out with £25000 worth debt. Same for hubby. So yes! It s my fault that i have £400 worth of loan fees going out every month, but it just sucks. I am being pitiful i know but it seems that those at the top dont need any help and those with the lowest income get all the help, but us in the middle get nowt!

My sister has a bugaboo AND a quinney and has a 5 bed house and was bragging about her new £500 flatscreen TV last week! They are both on benefits-how does that happen? They have no disablities so is there no reason why they cant work-or t least one of them!

I'l shut up now-i sound like a child!

I agree, there is no help at all for those in the middle!
Luckily I went to uni when it was 'free' and you got a grant but I still racked up about £4k spending it on shopping and going out...paid it off within a year or two.

 

[kiraelliott]

I was hoping to go back to work for 16 hours a week but my boss won't let me said full hours or no hours! Then I learnt that even on my 30 hours a week, i'd get 850 a month, 700 of that would go on childcare and i'd never get to see my baby!!!! So...i'm leaving soon when i've been paid all my maternity money so I can get my tax credits altered and hopefully find a little evening or weekend job maybe. DH only earns 1040 after tax a month so I don't have a whole lot of choice. Besides... i really don't fancy someone else bringing up my baby >_< xxx

 

[jenny_wren]

i'm a sahm and i love it
once she starts school we'll either ttc
another or i'll get back into full time work

financially it's a bit of a struggle, we live
in a rented shithole and are drowning in debt but i still
love it lol, my partner works, he's always worked though
if he's off for more than a week he just gets bored so
it kinda works out the best for both of us, he gets
about 1050 after tax and we put money into savings
each month which will go towards a deposit next
year so we can move into a bigger place but for now
we're just about coping and i'd prefer to bring emily
up myself, we get hb, ctc, cb and wtc it's not much
but it helps especially with our rent lol

it would be MUCH better for us if oh didn't work
but he wont so we make do with our smart price food
and flat that's been kitted out from freecycle lol

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