What Are 16 Quick Money-Saving Tips For Maternity Leave?
With the current cost of living, you’re probably wondering how you can save money while you’re on maternity leave.
The beauty of maternity leave is that you don’t have to worry about rushing from A to B. You can literally go at your baby’s pace. With this you can save money on transport, entertainment and food during your maternity leave. Read on for sixteen top money-saving tips while on maternity leave.
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1. Make A Budget
You’ll probably go on maternity leave a few weeks before your actual due date, so use this time to plan a simple budget. Work out how much money you will be paid over maternity leave, then divide by the number of months or weeks for a rough guide of how much you can spend. Add in any savings (if you have them) that you want to include as part of your budget.
Statutory maternity pay lasts for up to 39 weeks. Remember you’ll be paid more for the first 6 weeks of your maternity leave. If you take the full year, the last few months are likely to be unpaid. So it’s helpful to have a week-by-week or month-by-month average so you can budget better towards the start of your maternity leave.
2. Review Finances
Check you will have enough in your bank account or savings to cover rent or mortgage payments, food and bills. Also budget for other essentials like clothes and milk for baby. If you have a partner, it can be helpful to sit down with them and decide (particularly if you have individual accounts) whether you need to set up a joint account for household payments. Your partner may decide to transfer a certain amount of money per month if certain direct debits come out of your account. After all, maternity pay is a cut to your pay even though you are doing the essential job of bringing a new life into this world!
Remember to check any benefits you are on and how they might change once your baby is born. See our guide to benefits for more.
3. Make Sure You Claim Child Benefit And Any Other Benefits
Be sure to claim child benefit, which is £25.60 per week for the eldest child and £16.95 for additional children. See our blog post on how to claim and other benefits you can apply for.
4. Make Larger Purchases Before You Go On Maternity Leave
If you have your heart set on a particular piece of baby equipment like a cot, travel system or furniture for the nursery, try and buy this while you have your usual, regular income. Some people don’t like buying ‘early’ but a month or so before you go on maternity leave can be a helpful time to buy so you don’t splurge your budget in the very first week!
5. Shop Purposefully When Buying New
It can be really tempting to rush out and buy loads of baby stuff the minute you go on maternity leave (or learn that you are pregnant). While it’s important to have essentials like nappies, clothes and a cot, try holding out a bit and seeing what friends and family give you. Some will want to buy you/the baby a present so newborn sleepsuits, cellular blankets and cardigans will probably be coming your way!
If you live in Scotland, you will be sent a Baby Box with essentials for the first 6 months of baby’s life.
6. Try Second-Hand For Large Items
NCT (National Childbirth Trust) Nearly New sales are a great place to buy second-hand equipment like high chairs, clothing, baby bouncers, potties and toys.
If you have friends who have had a baby recently, you can ask them about larger equipment like prams or electronic breast pumps. They may even have bags of extra nappies or maternity essentials and clothing.
Make sure you always buy brand-new mattresses as these are safest for newborn sleeping. See The Lullaby Trust for safer sleeping tips. It’s also recommended for car seats to be new, as they are guaranteed to be in perfect condition and therefore are safer for your baby.
7. Shop Around For Discounts – Use Baby Deals
All that feeding, sleeping and holding baby gives you a bit of time for shopping on your phone! Take advantage of sales and deals and go to baby screenings for cheap cinema tickets.
If you’re a member of the NCT (National Childbirth Trust), they will often have special offers and discounts. Also check out Happity for our partner deals on top child and parenting brands. One that could come in particularly handy is the PACT coffee deal… which parent doesn’t need more coffee right. You also get a free personal cafetière with any purchase when using the code HAPPITYCAF24!
8. Plan Ahead When Cooking
Ditch the takeaways and try to plan ahead when food shopping. Batch cooking can also be helpful. If you or your partner are cooking something like a spaghetti bolognese sauce, try and double or triple up on quantities. Then you can have one portion for the fridge/the next day, one for the freezer and one to eat right now.
Take advantage of recipe box offers like this Hello Fresh one here on Happity.
9. Remember Your Maternity Exemption Certificate For Prescription Costs
Your maternity exemption certificate (MATEX) is valid until your baby’s first birthday. You can use this during pregnancy as well for free NHS prescriptions and free NHS dental treatment.
10. Block Book Classes
Block booking classes will lead to a saving as it’s usually cheaper than PAYG (Pay As You Go). A weekly class gives you a regular time to be with your baby and meet other parents in a relaxed setting. Search here for baby classes near you.
11. Save Money On Transport During Maternity Leave
If you were used to ubers and eating out pre-baby, there’s a money saver right there! While it’s easy and quick to jump in the car, there are ways to use your car more frugally and build travel into your day-to-day routine.
If you’re heading for a baby class in the local area, see if you can walk. It may take longer, but it frees you up as you can be leisurely on the way home without worrying about car parking charges. It can actually be easier to tuck a sleepy baby into a pram instead of a car seat. You’ll also get in your steps on the way there and back. If you’ve booked a morning class and your baby usually has a mid-morning nap, the walk home can be all they need to get snoozing (particularly if they’ve just had a stimulating baby class!) Or you can be flexible and hang around with other parents afterwards and see where the day takes you.
Under 5s travel free on buses and trains, so you’re only paying for an adult ticket. Baby carriers are easiest to use on this form of transport. If you need the pram, ask for help at the station and they should provide a ramp.
12. Use Your Keeping In Touch Days
Companies and organisations will usually offer up to ten ‘Keeping In Touch’ (KIT) days during your maternity leave. If you can, use them. That’s ten days of paid work, which can give a much-appreciated cash boost. This can be especially helpful if you are in the statutory maternity pay period or unpaid weeks towards the end of your leave. KIT days should be that – keeping in touch – so you won’t be thrown in at the deep end.
If you’re worried about childcare, it’s an ideal time to ask a friend or relative to help babysit. Or your partner can take a day’s holiday and that way you both get paid on those days.
13. Cash In Rewards And Vouchers
Now’s a good time to use all those loyalty cards for local cafes that you have digitally or stuffed at the bottom of your bag.
If you collect Tesco Clubcard points, you can trade them in for two times their value to save on entertainment, dining and days out. Or use Nectar card to save money during your maternity leave on a Sainsbury’s shop, Morrison’s More cards for discounts when shopping and myWaitrose for free hot drinks. Also check out cashback websites.
14. Check Your Bank Account Perks
Some bank accounts like Halifax will offer cashback when you use a debit card for some goods and services. If you haven’t shopped around for a current account recently, now might be the time to consider a switch. It’s also worth checking you’re getting the best energy deal for your home on Uswitch.
15. Raid The Cash
If you’re a fan of Sort Your Life Out, you’ll be amazed how much cash the average family has lying around in their homes. Now’s the time to raid the piggy banks, back of the sofa and deposit that money in a bank account, or do some cash food shops at the supermarket.
Want to go back to work ‘early’ without racking up childcare costs? Shared Parental Leave could be an option for you. Basically you agree to grant the remainder of your maternity leave to your partner as Shared Parental Leave while you go back to work. So, for example, if you have reached 9 months, you can grant the remaining 3 months to your partner. This will still be unpaid, but if you’re in a job which pays more, you’ll both benefit from that higher salary for the time you go back. Your baby will be with a parent, and you’ll be saving money on childcare costs.
If grandparents are able to do childcare and you both want to go to work, that’s another option. However, the advantage of shared parental leave is that you both get some dedicated parental leave with your baby before their first birthday.
How Much Money Do I Need To Save For Maternity Leave?
A couple of months’ salary put away in the bank is probably a great safety net to aim for. But with the cost of living these days, saving your hard-earned cash isn’t always an option. So try and be as savvy as possible in the months leading up to maternity leave. Anything you can stash or save will be a bonus for those later weeks and months. Some parents will go back to work after 39 weeks (or earlier) once their Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP) runs out. Others will take the full 52 weeks of Statutory Maternity Leave, which includes the thirteen week unpaid period.
How Much Is The Average Maternity Leave Pay UK?
Maternity pay may vary depending on your individual employer. While Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP) is usually 90% of your salary for the first 6 weeks, some employers may offer ‘enhanced maternity pay’ of 100% for this period. This is then followed by the usual SMP of £184.03 or 90% of an employee’s Average Weekly Earnings (AWE) (whichever is lower).
In one recent study, it was estimated that two-thirds of businesses may offer a form of enhanced maternity pay, with some offering full pay for longer periods of time than six weeks. However, this is often dependent on the parent returning to work at the same business following their maternity leave.
Want to get out and about, have fun with your baby or toddler, and meet other parents?
Search Happity to find everything that’s happening for the under-5s in your local area – from music and singing classes, to messy play, arts and crafts, baby massage, gymnastics and more. Simply enter your postcode and child’s age to search, and then book your spot in a few taps. Enjoy dedicated fun time with your little one, watch their skills develop, and make friends at the same time. Mums, dads, grandparents and carers will all find something to love!
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