Tips for surviving Maternity Induced Poverty.

I had known it was coming for 9 months but I still felt powerless to stop it. Not my baby dear reader, the end of my maternity pay. The last 3 months of maternity leave are by far the hardest.  It’s the time when true MIP (or Maternity Induced Poverty) sets in, and while the priceless time with your baba more than makes up for any financial hardship MIP doesn’t have to be so tough.

Here are some tips to help keep your head above water until you’re safely back at work - and spending half of your income on childcare:

Save — let’s start with the hardest. Nobody likes saving and with a baby on the way, or already here, finding those extra pennies can seem impossible. But, saving doesn’t have to mean a huge sacrifice to your income. Filling up a change jar can make a big difference and give you a surprising amount of silver to spend at the end of the month. Credit unions are another great option for savers. Based in the heart of most communities they offer savings which can be taken by monthly direct debit or paid in at the account holder’s discretion.  Credit Unions also offer low rate loans with further deductions for people who hold savings with them.

Shop Around — looking around for the best prices and knowing which supermarkets have a baby event on can save a lot of money. Most major supermarket’s have shopping cards` which you can load money on to whenever you’re at the till, some even accrue interest. Just think, putting £5 a week on a shopping card for the first half of your maternity leave (26 weeks approx.) would give you £130 towards groceries for the second half or a rainy day.

Take advantage — most shops have a loyalty scheme in some form or other. My favorites are Boots Advantage Card which offers points to be spent in store with every purchase as well as extra points and offers if you’re in their Parenting Club. Whilst Tesco Clubcard points can be collected in store for money off vouchers or boosted for benefits, including tickets for family days out.

Make Money Online -- In this technological age you don’t have to leave the house to earn some extra cash. Gumtree, Shpock and eBay are sites where you can sell your old  (or even new) stuff to a national audience.  Alternatively, sites like vivatic and Toluna offer payments for completed surveys and online data tasks.

Buy nearly new — Buying previously owned stuff can save you heaps of money. Few things in this world have to be brand new and with car` boot sale sites on the rise, the quality has never been higher. Check our your local Facebook Marketplace selling page to see what’s out there or just throw on a coat and head to a Car Boot Sale near you, they can be quite fun.

Check your eligibility — Every year billions of pounds in benefits go unclaimed in the UK. Now, nobody is going to come knocking down your door with a cheque, you have to find out for yourself. Child Benefit is available to all households in the UK with children, though there are deductions for higher earners with a single income of over £50,000. Tax credits, working tax credits and tax breaks are available for families and married couples. Use this tax credits calculator to check  your eligibility

I hope my tips helped, if you have any more please leave a comment or tweet me @familywellnessm  

If you liked this you might also like:

Finding the faith in time for September

Surprise

Nobody loves me, everybody hates me, I think I'll go and eat worms.