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For those of you who are working...

Buckles0528Buckles0528 member
in 1st Trimester
What do you do with your paychecks now that you are expecting?  I am working full time but will not have any mat leave benefits and we are still discussing my possible staying home (in no way shape or form am I anywhere near making a choice and probably won't be for another year!).  Right now I am all for taking 100% of my checks each pay day and putting them into our emergency fund.  We can theoretically live comfortably off my husbands salary and want to see how much we rely on my pay.  People I have talked to about it said I'm being crazy, we should be using at least part of my checks to pay for things we want done around the house before the baby (none of which are needs just wants) and having fun before baby comes.  So I am curious, what do you do??
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Re: For those of you who are working...

  • Buckles0528Buckles0528 member
    Not bragging at all.  He's in the military, his pay grade is public info for anyone who can google.  And I don't find asking for advice from friends and family about finances an issue, it's pretty normal to us.
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  • suzysurparissuzysurparis member
    I get paid maternity leave and all baby-related health care costs are 100% covered, so we're not particularly changing our financial focus. DH's salary can probably cover all of our monthly bills but we're both very conservative spenders anyway (I bring my lunch to work, take public transport, we're doing our home repair and redecorating ourselves, we dont go out to eat/drink much, and most of our vacations are visits to friends/family so no hotels and usually no meals to buy). I recommend really looking at how much unpaid time you'll be taking off work and how much money you need, plus consider the cost of diapers, formula (if applicable), clothes, crib, stroller, etc if you're not expecting to get those things as gifts. Also, are you going to have a daycare/sitter after you go back?

    While I don't see a problem discussing your personal finances with friends, be ready to accept their advice without acting upon them. If you will eventually need to do the house repair/maintenance (even if it's not essential now), it will be easier to do that before the baby arrives. However, it's not necessary to do a crazy pre-baby fun unless you want to. Really, you'll probably want to go on a crazy post-baby trip when they're about 6 months old and you can have the grandparents watch them.
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  • taahirataahira member
    I agree I'm not one to talk about our finances with anyone. I believe what you have or don't have is between you and your DH. However if you are comfortable to discuss finances with friends or a bunch of Internet strangers, I would take everyone's advise with a pinch of salt. I'm sure everyone has their own idea of what they would do if their paycheck was not needed for bills etc. Only you can decide on what works for you and your family.
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  • delujm0delujm0 member
    I'm not planning to stay home other than a 12 week maternity leave (of which 7 weeks will be 100% paid). We have more than enough savings to cover the other 5 weeks of my leave. So I'm just doing exactly what I always do with my paychecks...paying bills and contributing to savings. Could we live off of DH salary only? Absolutely. But we're not planning to so we don't need to test it out.
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  • SlurpeeLoveSlurpeeLove member
    Since the OP's question wasn't regarding whether you share the information with your family and friends, I'll stick to the actual question.

    We only JUST found out that I'm pregnant, so we're still figuring a few things out.  But we have been working towards paying debt.  Most of our paychecks go towards living expenses.  Whatever is left has been going towards paying down debt.  Now, I'm considering splitting it 50/50 so I have something saved for when the baby arrives.
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  • BSTmamaBSTmama member
    Since I am the only one working we haven't changed anything. We are however very disciplined when it comes to finances. We have 6 months of expenses saved in case of emergency. I highly recommend reading Financial Peace by Dave Ramsey or listening to his pod casts. You will get lots of great ideas. But YES you are on the right track.....seeing if you can truely live without your paycheck. There is nothing wrong or "braggy" about that. Feel free to PM me......I have tons of helpful hints to help make the transition smooth.
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  • foxbaby9713foxbaby9713 member
    Not one thing wrong with your post! I will be staying at home when the baby comes, so over the next 8 months my husband and I are taking my pay checks and paying off some bills! Definitely a great idea to save!
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  • effthisnoiseeffthisnoise member
    Since I plan to stay at home, we'll be saving my paycheck for the next several months. It'll be nice to have a little bit of a cushion if we need it and it's a good way to test out how well we'll do on just my husband's salary. I anticipate that we're not going to be perfect at lowering our spending at first, so we'll have time to work out kinks in our budget.

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  • missphilmissphil member
    edited November 2014
    All I know is that ever since i've been TTC and stopped drinking coffee, i've been saving a buttload of money. =)
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  • Buckles0528Buckles0528 member
    missphilippine said:
    All I know is that ever since i've been TTC and stopped drinking coffee, i've been saving a buttload of money. =)
    this is how I feel about not buying wine :)
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  • ABride619ABride619 member
    The same thing we'll be using them for when the baby comes? Bills? Lol We combine our income and pay our bills with it. Anything left over goes into savings or is used for fun stuff. The only thing that will probably change is having to pay more for hospital bills/insurance/and starting a savings account for the baby...
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