Saving for maternity leave

KelliColindres · September 2015

I am a teacher and I plan on taking twelve weeks off after the baby comes. My school district said that I will not be paid for three months. I want to start saving now. Any helpful ideas on how to save/not completely stress about the lack of a paycheck?

skruhmin · September 2015

I suggest starting a budget and trying to live as much off of your husband's paycheck as possible. Dave Ramsey is excellent for figuring out how to budget for exactly what you need. Start cutting out the unnecessary things - eating out, entertainment, etc. Try to use cash for as much as possible.

ARogers26 · September 2015

We are Dave Ramsey people too. The new everydollar app is awesome for budgeting.

adotgorman · September 2015

This may not be an option for you, but I upped my contribution to my 401k because my employer matches. I will take it out and use it to cover my expenses for 12 weeks. This is what I did my first pregnancy and was able to stay home with my kids for a year and a half without taking from my husbands income. Then I went back to work.

Smom901316 · September 2015

adotgorman said:
This may not be an option for you, but I upped my contribution to my 401k because my employer matches. I will take it out and use it to cover my expenses for 12 weeks. This is what I did my first pregnancy and was able to stay home with my kids for a year and a half without taking from my husbands income. Then I went back to work.

Is there a penalty for that ?

jenn43 · September 2015

I am also a Dave Ramsey follower- we are saving any extra money we can for my maternity leave. Once we started keeping a budget, we were able to free up a surprising amount of money to save.

And @Smom901316 I believe there is a 10% penalty for drawing from a 401K if you are under a certain age, plus you pay your normal income tax rate.

lightrox · September 2015

Smom901316 said:

adotgorman said:
This may not be an option for you, but I upped my contribution to my 401k because my employer matches. I will take it out and use it to cover my expenses for 12 weeks. This is what I did my first pregnancy and was able to stay home with my kids for a year and a half without taking from my husbands income. Then I went back to work.
Is there a penalty for that ?

You can borrow from it like a loan with no penalty as long as you pay it back with in the agreed time frame. I had to do it once.

ARogers26 · September 2015

If you leave your job permanently or even switch jobs the loan is due in full!! Beware the 401k loan. I'm at the 30% tax bracket so that would be a loan at 40% interest. Credit cards are lower than that!!

kynbar5 · September 2015

I would also add that when you get ready to start purchasing things for the baby, there are a lot of things that I personally feel aren't as needed as stores or ads will have you believe. Maybe look into that and I think the "back in my day" thread there were a few comments about the things you need and can actually do without.

RosyK · September 2015

Start buying a package or two of sixe1-2 diapers with every check now. That will be an added expense now, which I know isn't your goal, but it's an extra expense you won't have to worry about later on when you're not working. Wipes too.

meg_2006 · September 2015

You should be able to use whatever personal and sick days you have left, so keep that in mind. You should also still be getting paid for any holidays/spring breaks as you won't technically be taking those days off.

Also keep in mind if you currently have a habit of putting a certain amount in savings, you can always forgo that for the three months you're off. You'll also be saving on gas. I also try to freeze leftovers and make extras of some meals (like soups) to have after baby. It makes my life easier and we have way less grocery bills.

Like someone said above, there's a lot of extra "baby stuff" you really don't need. Crib bedding is the biggest one I think of. Just get some sheets, a one of those mesh bumpers, and a crib skirt if you want. Much cheaper than buying the whole designer package of cheap quality bedding.

jess9802 · September 2015

DH and I got married in July 2011 and were planning a baby right away, so I didn't change my withholdings at work until January 2012. It meant a big refund in the spring as well as more money each month in my paycheck. All of the extra money went into savings. I ended up having paid maternity leave but had $4k in OOP medical bills and that money covered it all.

pomplemoose11 · September 2015

I'm saving all my vacation time and luckily my work pays short term disability at 66% so that will help. We will have to save the remaining percentage of my pay as well as the $4000 that having the baby will cost us. If we can save enough I'm going to try to take 6 months off instead of 3.

KelliColindres · September 2015

Thank you everyone!!! It is time to start saving!

adotgorman · September 2015

@Smom901316 you pay 10% but because my employer matches really already 50% was theirs so I didn't mind paying the 10% to take out.

katy0990 · September 2015

Do you have short term disability? I am also a teacher and I switched districts at the beginning of this school year, so technically this pregnancy is a pre-existing condition, but I still get 25%of my pay for 2 weeks (4 if c-section or if I can get a doctor's note that the extra 4 weeks I hope to take are necessary)

ACleanLife24 · September 2015

I am hoping to take 9-10 months off... This works with my school programme as returning in Jan will have me start research with the year behind me (I am doing all my classes and takING some finals while on mat leave)....

I get full pay for 6 months but nothing after.... my stipend is not a high salary so after I return and pay for childcare I will only take home £250month.... so really for months 6-10 we need to save up an extra £1000 by Sept 2016 which I was able to do by nannying in August....

Money will be tight with baby but we already have a house and car... All our our debt (except my us student loans which we don't pay on while I am in school) will be paid off by the time baby is here

Mcbb224 · September 2015

ACleanLife24 said:
I am hoping to take 9-10 months off... This works with my school programme as returning in Jan will have me start research with the year behind me (I am doing all my classes and takING some finals while on mat leave)....

I get full pay for 6 months but nothing after.... my stipend is not a high salary so after I return and pay for childcare I will only take home £250month.... so really for months 6-10 we need to save up an extra £1000 by Sept 2016 which I was able to do by nannying in August....

Money will be tight with baby but we already have a house and car... All our our debt (except my us student loans which we don't pay on while I am in school) will be paid off by the time baby is here

Oh my!!! Where do you live? I want to move towards you!! Lol

I will be changing my status with my job and enrolling in long term disability and I will get the first 3 months with 75% pay and then the 4th month 65% with pay then decide if I want to stay out of work longer and use my vacation and personal time off since I will still continue to accrue while I'm gone!!
My DH and I are also currently saving to put down a deposit on a home! We are apartment living right now and absolutely do not like it! We want our own space for our baby and our other baby (dog who btw is huge and wants a yard to run and play in). Lots of saving going on here!!

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