I'm about to go on maternity leave. Unfortunately (or fortunately depending on how you look at it) my income was too high this financial year to receive paid maternity leave. Totally fine I've done a very loose budget and I should be OK for 3 or so months. BUT I am taking this time to learn to budget, cut down costs where I can and try to adjust to not working because I don't intend on returning to work full time after maternity leave.
So far I've got costs down on our insurances, phone plans (internet is not negotiable because cutting back on price means slower speeds and that's just not acceptable according to hubs 😅) and car registrations. I've paid most of our bills ahead so I'll still contribute monthly but if I can't consistantly there's a reserve. This includes our investment properties. Credit cards are gone.
The biggest cost is our food bill. I work ALOT and I eat out alot because I often don't have access to kitchens. This obviously will be cut down when I'm not working and I'm trying to learn to cook haha! I've started doing meal planners to stay on track with shopping and only buying what I've got on the list. Unless there's a good deal on non perishables.
The plan is for bub to be using cloth nappies but I've bought disposables just in case. I've pretty much got everything I need for the arrival and bought it all on eofy sales or second hand. New cot mattress and car seats though.
Any other tips for budgeting with a new baby? First one so I have no idea what I'm in for but I'm assuming it will be very expensive! 😂 Oh I'm also in Australia, we don't necessarily have access to discounted foods or coupons like the US.
July 13, 2022 at 05:16AM
