It’s been a long time since I received maternity pay and thankfully, for me at the time, I was made redundant just as I was about to take the leave. As horrendous as this sounds (and there were quite a few tears at the time I can tell you) it didn’t work out too badly. I was working for a big financial company who were very, very worried about the implications of effectively dismissing a heavily pregnant woman and subsequently they threw money at me until I went away. I look back now at that dreadfully worrying time and can see how much better it worked out for me than if I’d simply been paid maternity allowance but I limited myself so that it lasted and know exactly what it’s like to live on a sudden decrease of money.

It meant that instead of one year without working I could survive for much longer and this was a luxury but I wouldn’t have survived long if I’d kept my lifestyle of spending as if I was earning exactly as I had been. I’d worked out how to live on the maternity pay for 12 months so I instead took my new figure, issued myself the exact sum it would have been with maternity pay and made it last for 3. I have, if you look at it like that, lived on a maternity pay for a lot longer than some. It’s not an immense amount of money but it IS totally do-able, you just need to be savvy about it and make a few changes along the way.

I went from having a fairly well paid salary where I could pick up expensive make-up, pay for pricey nights out and buy myself little incidentals on a whim to surviving on very little and having to be quite frugal but it doesn’t have to be doom and gloom. Believe it or not it was one of the most fun and brilliant times of my life so far. I made amazing new friends with my gorgeous little bean in tow and as we were all in the same financial boat we made it work together. Things have a way of working out in the wash I always think and being a new Mummy (which is a lot to deal with without having to watch the pennies) it’s life changing enough and daunting at the prospect of doing it all on a shoe string so these would be my top ten tips for surviving those baby days on a maternity pay in replace of your usual salary.

• Make friends who understand:

It’s great to keep in contact with the old pals you’ve already had many adventures with but fabulous to make some new ones who are going through the same things at the same time as you. We don’t have to throw away the people who’ve always been there for us but instead just broaden our friendship groups and with these new pals you can share tips and experiences without having to explain why you might not be able to afford living as you used to. Going for coffee at each other’s houses instead of the local coffee shop saves a fortune as well as cementing those new bonds. Walking for hours to burn the baby bulge together also costs nothing and simply exchanging deals, info about maternity pay, ideas and other tips can save you pounds in the purse. The places I met my gang of Mums was at our local Sure Start centre, the park and even in the Doctors surgery as we all waited to weigh our new bundles of joy each week. Just make chit chat, go on, be brave – I couldn’t function without some of the friends I made in these days even now!

• Don’t sign up for expensive baby classes but look around and Google local free or inexpensive ones instead:

There are loads of big business type classes that run nationally but in my experience the best ones are the ones which come free with places like Sure Start or locally run church groups which often cost just 50 pence. I attended a church group on Mondays which cost a pound but they provided 2 hours of entertainment and a free cup of tea with a biscuit – now that’s value! I’d thought I might have to be a church member to attend at first but couldn’t have been further from the truth; they welcomed all with open arms and hey, with a wink to the top bullet point, it was a great way to meet other Mums as we all sat in a circle singing ‘the wheels on the bus’ while sniffing baby bottoms for foul stenches and trying desperately to cover up our leaky boob patches!

• Change your weekly shopping style:

You don’t have to change WHERE you shop, although this could be the answer, but instead change the way you do it. Pre-babies when doing the supermarket run and I would pick up bits and bobs each day as I fancied. These days I meal plan at the end of one week, making use of anything left over and still in date from the week before, being organised enough to know exactly what I will need for the next seven day’s worth of food. I would also try to make food last so buy a chicken perhaps to roast on a Sunday and then use the left over meat for sandwiches the next day before boiling up the carcass and making a soup with some cheap and cheerful seasonal veggies. Just being organised about it means we now waste less food, spend FAR less money and never have to think on a daily basis about what to have for dinner because it’s already sorted. Another foodie tip for saving would be to buy bigger packs of mince or meat and make one for the freezer as you cook meals so that a stock of healthily cooked family meals is in the bag! And it’s not just food you can make super savings on either, look around for special deals where buying in bulk can cost you less in the long run and take advantage. I also would look on-line for these things and if one shop had a BOGOF on washing powder while another might have a deal on cat litter I would simply visit both to maximise the savings. I’d power walk with the buggy around my area going from shop to shop to pick up the best buys and a bonus to this was all the exercise!

• What about the other things you buy:

It’s not just the supermarket shopping which I swapped for a more purse friendly attitude but I took a different view on everything. Where I used to buy expensive make-up and clothes ALL the time, these days I save the treats for an occasional splurge while most of the time have swapped for less expensive products. If you shop around you can find make-up which is just as good and costs a fraction of the price. I still buy lovely expensive treats from time to time and there are some products I couldn’t compromise on but I have found others to be just as good if not better. Aldi and Lidl both do a fantastic range of skin care while Superdrug have a makeup brand called Mua with eye shadows that cost a pound but are every bit (I promise) as good as my old favourite Clinique ones. Back in the supermarket again now (sorry) and I find so many lovely clothes without even having to traipse around the city shopping. I adore the Tu range at Sainsbury’s and hey, if it’s good enough for Gok wan then it’s definitely good enough for me!

• Coupons, coupons, cut them out:

I’m not entirely sure why I used to be such a coupon snob but I remember having a conversation with a friend about how embarrassing it was to cut them out and actually USE them. Well I’ve totally binned that attitude and if there’s a saving to be made I take full advantage! Days and meals out rarely are paid for without one and I find the best places to find them are in local newspapers and advertisers. Often if you look on the back of a bus ticket you will find a local coupon for saving and there’s a national book which can be bought called ‘The Spree Book‘ which is local to areas and has thousands of pounds worth of money off vouchers. They are sold by nurseries and schools and because they are a charity, you not only make savings for yourself but in the initial purchase (our latest one local to Norfolk cost me £20), you are donating to the educational establishment you buy from.

• Look at your lifestyle:

It’s really easy to just carry on as you are for months and years without properly looking at how you live your life and where the money goes. There are some things that you can’t change on a whim like your mortgage but what about everything else like the providers of your electricity, your land line rental and T.V company and also, your mobile phone. Often we just let these things roll over into a new contract but we absolutely don’t have to and shopping around for better deals can be the answer to a lot of money saving! We were spending a fortune recently on our internet, T.V and land line package but not making the most of any of it. We realised that we mainly watch streaming and regular terrestrial television while we don’t even know our land line number because we never use it. So… We cancelled our extortionate monthly tele/phone and internet deal and switched for a cheaper line rental and internet package but continued to pay for Netflix at around £8 a month and we watch normal vision on our smart T.V’s built in box. We are literally saving hundreds of pounds a year and we haven’t even changed what we watch it’s just we don’t have the same options; as we ignored most of those anyway we’re quids in! You can also shop around for your other providers to make your home run more economically and I think it’s totally worth doing on a regular basis just to make sure you’re not paying more than you need to!

• Why buy new baby things:

There are some items like a baby mattress and car seat which we know are best to come new for safety reasons but it’s good to remember that a lot of the bigger baby buys don’t come cheap, are used very little and can very safely be bought and used second hand. I was strangely into wanting everything new when we had our first baby but by the time I had my second I wasn’t quite so precious. Now the mattress is one thing but the actual Moses basket really didn’t have to be new and yet I spent nearly a hundred pounds on mine to then watch my daughter refuse to be in it at all! And… Even if she had been a good sleeper who’d wanted to snuggle on her own (absolutely wasn’t my baby) then why did she need such an expensive place to do it when they are only recommended until 6 months of age or when they can roll over. Florence did the rolling thing at 4 months so even if we’d used it every day that was some expensive bed huh?! My advice for items like this such as bouncy seats, door swings, play mats and the like is that they only use them for a limited amount of time so getting one second hand probably doesn’t mean it’s going to be threadbare and the same goes for the clothing which they shoot out of almost daily, when they’re that tiny you can almost SEE them getting bigger by the second! Wash everything and hey presto, could be as good as new I reckon! I always think local Mummy Facebook selling groups are a brilliant way to pick up fantastic bargains like this!

• Entertain yourself in less expensive ways:

It’s lovely to spend money on going out but let’s face it, with a new baby how often does the opportunity arise anyway? Instead of making dates to go out to the cinema (how much does this cost these days now – wowsers!) and rather than dining in expensive restaurants, why not treat yourself at home and make the savings as well as having a fun date with your other half. Cook together something yummy and sit down to a movie on the box. You don’t have to worry about feeling tired, pay for a baby sitter or even get the wobbles as you wonder how your little darling creature is getting on without you. It’s win/win I say!

• Holiday differently:

Just as with everything else we take our vacay time a little differently than we used to. A staycay is more our style right now and with children why not? Getting up at the crack of dawn to meet a flight with a small human who then might cry the whole way there isn’t as much fun as it was pre-kids when the only thing interrupting the flight silence was the sound of the tonic opening before you poured it onto your gin. And… Actually, a holiday in the UK can be just as great. Caravans and holiday parks might not sound much fun but they are what you make them and with family friendly festivals even the most reluctant of camper can enjoy tent time if you can only go on and just let yourself. We have some fantastic places to visit here in good old Blighty so my advice would be to choose somewhere you’ve never been before, pin a mark on a map if you fancy and just set off in your car to enjoy. The benefits are many because really, as long as you’re together that’s all that matters right and just think, if you run out of Calpol there will always be a Boots wherever you visit! Airbnb it, stay in a chalet, choose a low cost hotel on the coast… However you do it I bet you’ll have fun and although the summer sun of a faraway place might still call you from time to time you can save up for those far away trips and make them all the more extra special!

• Don’t sweat the big stuff:

Often we worry about things far too long in advance and worrying about how we will make ends meet when pregnant can be a massive panic when we’re really not in a fit state to be getting het up about anything. You have to look after that little bump so try to be calm about the finances and spend time working out productive ways to make those important savings without worrying about them. As I mentioned, things have a way of working out in the wash and as long as you give some thought and time into putting the clothes in the washing machine to begin with, the mechanics will do the rest. You might worry about how you will afford Christmas but then it will happen and you’ll have worked out that you didn’t need to spend £100 on each other! Father Christmas can neglect the adults a bit as long as he remembers the kiddos need some magic and you could easily sit ruminating over exactly how you will get through the rest of the year on only your maternity allowance but once you get into the swing of things, watching the pennies so that the pounds look after themselves, you’ll soon get into the swing of living on a slightly shorter string You can embrace it, know how to do it and just get on with things. You won’t even notice because nothing needs to be worse because of it! Be calm, be strong and forward think and plan… That’s the ticket!