Squeezing every last penny from the budget...

September 1st, 2010 at 06:28 pm

So at the advice of some other bloggers on here, I decided to relook at my maternity leave budget and see if I could somehow squeeze some more money out of a tight situation. Turns out if I can work until October 15th (1 week before due date!), I will have enough leave and money to float us with a little to spare until June 24th (When maternity leave/part-time leave is over and my mom can start babysitting) and I return to work full-time. I reworked all the numbers using a more concrete leave date and I found there would be 1,200 to spare. Not a lot considering we'll have a new baby and I'm sure there will be a fair share of items that need to be bought, but I'm hoping that I've built in enough weekend money (300/wkend - yes, extravagant to some people. I've been yelled at on the message boards for spending that much..) to cover small miscellaneous costs that come up. That's pretty much what we do now. Someone's getting married? Cash gift comes out of weekend money. Someone just had a big birthday? Gift money comes out of the weekend money. House needs some repairs? Weekend money. I'll probably be dipping into it quite often for diapers and formula. I figure I won't make a budget category for that until it's been a few months and I have a general idea what that'll cost. I dunno, it works for us so I guess that's all that matters. So yeah, for the time being I'm feeling better about this baby situation... until the next issue sets me off. :P

Posted in Uncategorized | 8 Comments »

8 Responses to “Squeezing every last penny from the budget...”

wowitsawonderfullife Says:
September 1st, 2010 at 11:58 pm 1283385495
1283385495

I saw a great show where the future mom met with all her friends to create of list of things she would need. All of her friends gave her what she needed from their stash. Clothes, cribs, car seats... Might be worth asking for them.
My English Castle Says:
September 2nd, 2010 at 01:24 am 1283390688
1283390688

If you feel up to it, I think working as long as possible is a good thing. It's so boring just waiting around, especially with a first baby. I would start scoping out used items for the nursery and bargains on what you REALLY need, not what those over-the-top baby places say you need.
lilmama Says:
September 2nd, 2010 at 02:14 pm 1283436882
1283436882

We do the same thing. I work pt and get about $300 a wk. We use about $100 of that for groceries and then the rest is weekend money but everything we need comes from that including clothes, household items, eating out, entertainment, gifts, and everything else. It's easier for us than making a budget for every little thing.
MonkeyMama Says:
September 2nd, 2010 at 03:09 pm 1283440166
1283440166

Not to be a debbie downer, but while working as long as possible is fine and dandy, you also have to prepare for unexpected/early bedrest, etc. Planning to work up until your due date is fine. Counting on it is a recipe for disaster. I'd highly recommend that both of you work work work while you can. It certainly won't get easier as the pregnancy progresses.

Good Luck!
guppy Says:
September 2nd, 2010 at 04:15 pm 1283444124
1283444124

wow - That sounds like a great idea! Luckily T and I have gotten most of what we need through a work baby shower, my mother, and a TON of stuff from MIL. After I have my family baby shower in a couple weeks I suspect we'll have everything except for diapers & formula (which is no small expense, but something we can handle).

my english- that's what i'm thinking. Right now I'm 33 weeks and feeling pretty ok. I'm sure it'll get a lot more uncomfortable in the upcoming weeks but I'd rather sit at work and get paid to be uncomfortable instead of sitting at home using up my leave staring at the walls waiting for the baby to come!
guppy Says:
September 2nd, 2010 at 04:18 pm 1283444328
1283444328

lil- I second that! I just can't be bothered setting a budget out for all the nitty gritty details!! If my major categories are covered and everything's working then I'm happy with that!

monkey- I understand your concern. That's why this is only a plan but I know there might be extenuating circumstances that turn it completely on it's head. If it turns out this baby needs to come out earlier than we'll find an alternative plan and make ends meet. When there's a will there's a way!
whitestripe Says:
September 3rd, 2010 at 05:35 am 1283492152
1283492152

may i suggest that for the family babyshower you put the feelers out there for diapers - i have had a few friends who have recieved boxes of diapers for babyshower gifts and didn't have to buy any for a long time.
Jerry Says:
September 3rd, 2010 at 09:06 am 1283504792
1283504792

With our first daughter, my wife worked until a week before her due date... but then she went 13 days past due! She went into labor the night before they were going to induce her, but it would lead her to burn three works of maternity leave without the baby being here to enjoy it. Also, what whitestripe said is a great idea. We got several big bags of diapers from friends and it was nice to have insurance that we would not need to buy any for several weeks after baby arrived. Good luck with everything!
Jerry

(Note: If you were logged in, we could automatically fill in these fields for you.)

Name:	*
Email:	Will not be published.
	Subscribe: Notify me of additional comments to this entry.
URL:
Verification:	* Please spell out the number 4. [ Why? ]

vB Code: You can use these tags: [b] [i] [u] [url] [email]

a guppy and her money

Squeezing every last penny from the budget...

8 Responses to “Squeezing every last penny from the budget...”

Leave a Reply