Well next year i'll be dropping from 270 a week to 123 a week It's worrying me a lil now!! I don't know if I'll be entitled to any help either!? Can anyone relate? My hubby will be getting the same salary then obviously but with the mortgage bills and the baby it's hard to see how u cope!?

dont forget you'll get 20 a week for family allowance thingy and if u claim child tax credit too once shes here u might be getting a total of 170 a week or sumthing xxx i dont know how much child tax credit is xxxxx




just looked on adviceguide.org.uk and its 2235 per child - so thats just less than 50 pound a week xxxx

I know I'm going from about £370 a week before tax down to £123. I'm not doing this because we should have just about enough to manage but my sister in law suggested to me to contact the mortgage company to let them know and get a 'holiday' from the mortgage. My hubby is an orchestral violinist so if we do struggle for cash he can either do a few quartet gigs or take on a pupil. I guess the key is to start saving as much money as possible now.

i wont get Maternity pay as i havent been here long enough - and if i havent paid enough National insurance im not even gona get much maternity allowance

god knows wat im gona do when the babys here, prob have to go straight back to work x

I feel the same im going from £400 a week to £123 and our morgage is so high at the mo because we are fixed in it really worries me too!! but there is nothing more we can earn its going to be extremly tight !!!!!!!! xx

ditto re the mortgage payment break - thats what we are doing,. I am going down to £123 a week from a lot more and its scary hehe. I have done some juggling and can manage 3 months off totally with another two doing a few hours a day - dont forget your keep in touch days though they pay you for those on top of your maternity benefits which might give you more time for me it meant to added security of those evtra two months part time as you can do ten days while on mat leave. HTH

IT'S CRAZY you are having an addition to the family yet no matter how much your weekly amount is you get 123 a week!!? It's a lil backwards!!

What's a keep in touch day?

I know it seems horrendous doesn't it, to make such a drastic drop. It's really worried me how we'll cope. After tax, my pension, my shares scheme and student loan I take home roughly £960 a month, which with OH's similar take home we manage not so bad, but £123 a week is nothing and it's going to be such a struggle. We have literally a grand in savings now and we've said that has to stay there no matter what for any eventuality. It's so hard not to get stressed about money but my hubby did some research and with rough estimates worked out we'd get about £30 a week child tax credits, plus £20 a week child allowance, so that brings us to approx £173 a week, plus my hubby's income. Still £100 a week less seems pretty daunting. Neither my hubby or I have ever claimed anything in our lives but in the instance we certainly will. I plan on going back to work in Oct so it won't be for very long but I can't seem to shift those feelings of guilt that we are gonna kinda be scrounging for what we can get in order to provide for our child. xx

~Bump Buddies with Jox~ ~Mamas little man due 24/1/10~

I'M VIABLE!!!!

well ive just rang job centre to ask what id be entitled too - and i have to be working at least 26 weeks up until my baby is due - and ill have only worked 19

so really im entitled to nothing unless i get my employer to lie and say i started earlier im gona get nothing at all.......

it seems these days u only get money if ure not working and just sat at home claiming benefits...............