I was fortunate enough to have paid mat leave through my work plus the baby bonus (this was in 2007), which all helped. What I did though was stock up on things like washing powder, soap, shampoo etc... when on special, so I didn't have those expenses when doing my weekly shop. At the moment I have been trying to put DH overtime he gets paid into a 'bills' account so that we will have money saved for bills (he is on less income this time around).