As our baby was unplanned, and we'd just got married, we had no time to save any money, and now the inevitable is coming - maternity pay! Whilst I do get maternity pay where I work, it isn't very good.
I will get 6 weeks at 90% of my wage, 12 weeks and statutory maternity pay plus half pay and then after that it drops straight down to statutory maternity pay. Scarily statutory maternity pay is only £136.78 per week! My current wage is pretty good, and after tax I come home with not too much under £2,000, that combined with hubby's wage means we can comfortably afford out mortgage, bills, car etc, but when my wage drops down to around £500 a month, that will be when the panic starts!
I have a plan though!
I intend to -
- Enter as many competitions as possible. I have mentioned before I'm a comper and have won some lovely prizes previously, well when I'm on my maternity leave I'll hopefully have enough time to step it up a little and enter more.
- Sell anything we don't need or use on Ebay, I'm pretty good at doing this anyway, but after baby is finally here I will have another clear out.
- Consider and evaluate and compare all purchases, particularly any expensive ones! I've done really well buying baby things on a tight budget, so I can't see why I can't carry on.
- Use Quidco or any other cash back sites where possible.
- Remember to fill in the surveys that I'm sent. I've registered on quite a few new survey sites, including YouGov and AdPoints, and every penny will help.
- I will remember to use my reward cards when shopping instore, I often forget to use my Tesco or Boots cards, therefore missing out on the points.
- I intend to try and use coupons or discount vouchers where possible when I'm doing my shopping. I have used the off one previously, but if I'm honest I never feel very comfortable in a shop doing it.
