maternity budget

Not sure about apps but prior to my first child we went through all our spending to see what we could cut out, cancelled any subscriptions we did not need etc, we started batch cooking to save time and money and would shop around for cheapest deals in supermarkets etc x

I didn't use excel and stuff but I did think about how much money we would need to cover when I went to smp pay and we saved that up before I went on mat leave. I'd recommend doing something similar. I took 9 months with my first, 6 months full pay then 3 SMP. So I just worked out what the shortfall would be for those 3 months and we saved enough to cover it. I was also the sole breadwinner that time.

I use an app called Emma to track my spending. I would suggest giving that a try so you can see where your money is actually going and what you may be able to cut out

My husband and I made one on excel - if you dm me I’d be happy to help!

God I wish we were paying only £1000🤣 in London paying £1300 for a small flat only, then bills, you know the drill. You are lucky you have your own place. We've been both working since 17, both got a degree and it's useless. Clearly we did something wrong on the way as money is tight and I have bad anxiety about the budget once on maternity. How can someone live from £700 month????!!!! Or less???!!!!!! Of course we have savings but I refuse to live from savings.. Savings are for our own house and emergencies.

I used mybumppay.com to do a budget. They have some free templates on the website.

I bought my budget spreadsheet from a YouTuber who sells it on Etsy. She goes by the name Home with Shan! I bought it one year and been using the same one over and over and it’s really good and has all the calculations in it already set up.

Me and my husband use YNAB and its the best budgeting app, we’ve cleared all of our debts through that app.