Freaking out :(

I have just been to centrelink and spoken to then about PPL and I will be taking it. I am currently casual doing 36-38 hours a week, have been for the past 2 years. So sadly, there will be no annual leave for me. The option has recently came up, but given I am leaving in less that 6 months to have this baby, there would be no point as I would only have accrued about 1.5 weeks annual leave anyway, plus my hourly rate would decrease.
So they just told me I will not receive any payments until AT LEAST 28 days after the baby is born and I will probably be leaving work around 2 weeks before my due date. So that means I am looking at 6 weeks with NO MONEY at all :( My DH earns about 50k a year so there isn't going to be much to survive on. I have a tiny amount of savings, but that is for baby stuff, cot, pram etc. I don't know what the heck I am going to do :( I was prepared for a few weeks of no money, but 6 weeks is just too long.

Does anyone know if there is anything I will receive immediately after the baby is born?
What is family tax? How much is it?

I'm not sure, but is there any way of borrowing any of those baby items initially? That way you can dip into some of the savings if need be.... Also, if you did switch to permanent at work so you could accrue annual leave, 1.5 weeks is better than nothing....

I suggest you start saving now. Look at what your expenses are, and reduce them if at all possible. You have 5.5 months to prepare for this six week period - you CAN do it! Even $50 a week saved, will help towards those six weeks. 20 x $50/wk = $1000 . This is readily achievable if you know you have to do it. Cheaper food. More vegies rather than meat. Don't have takeaway at all. Turn off electrical items that you don't use. Get rid of Foxtel/payTV if you have it. Don't use the car - start walking or using public transport. Don't buy gifts. Don't buy anything more for baby - you are given plenty of stuff, and otherwise there's op shops. Drink water instead of soft drink. No alcohol for DP.

All of these things will save you more than the $50 a week that I have suggested.

Best wishes.

FTB can take up to 6 weeks to process as well after the baby is born. Most of the time i have started receiving within 4 weeks but i have read alot online that time frames just depend on the back log and it seems to vary alot.. some receive within 2-4 week others are still waiting 6 weeks later. average i would say is at least 3 weeks after baby is born and forms lodged within days of babies birth

Definitely start preparing now! Change your spending habits, create a budget and stick to it.

Divvy has given some great advice, bottom line is you need to do something now, don't leave it and hope that things will work out.

Good luck :)

No advice on the centrelink payments as we never qualified for any but exactly what Divvy said - you'd be amazed at how much you can save if you are conscious of what you are/are not spending.

Make a list of all the things you have for bub and what you are still needing. Maybe speak to family and point them in the right direction of things that you need so that you can get things you will use instead of kazillion soft toys like we ended up with.

Good luck!

I agree, prepare now. You've got lots of time to save, and cut back on expenses. It's just you and DH at this stage so it shouldn't be too hard to do. We're a family of 4 and our income is less than 50k, and it's not too bad. Like everyone else has said, get organised now and you'll be okay :)

When times are tough it's amazing how you survive. We've just had the toughest month ever and we scrapped through. I know how nice it is to have brand new items for bub but if you'd consider some second hand items i know of a shop that buys and sells everything for babies/children. Not sure where in the south east you are but if you'd like to pm me i'll let you know where the store is. She is quite particular about what she accepts and chances are you may find something you're happy with... prams, cots, sheet sets, clothing and blankets. I'm quite particular about what i buy and like the fact that we're recycling what is actually very good products and helping other familes get a few extra dollars that they may also need.

Good luck, it is a benefit that you know this far ahead and have time to prepare.

We didn't get round to putting the forms in til DS was about 3 weeks old, and it only took a week for the payment of our first Baby Bonus instalment. I'm sure it would have been a lot sooner if we had done our bit quicker. From memory, you can fill in part of the forms in advance, and if you get a chance to read through the firms, you can find out all the bits of info you'll need, and have them ready to go.

Having said that, we were told it could take up to 6 weeks after submission of the forms, so you still need to instigate the savings plan that others have suggested above.

Thank you ladies! I just received a phone call from my DH, we need $120 to fix his car! It never ends :(

I am making a budget tonight. Mum came over today and she has put a cot and mattress on lay-by for me so that will help. I have a couple of friends that will lend me some stuff which will help. The items I have put on lay-by were half price thanks to Targets baby sale. I'm staring at $400 worth of bills, half are overdue. But I hope we can make ends meet.

Some great suggestions from people, I will keep them in mind :)

What Divvy said. It's generally suggested to start living on one income whilst you can and save the other, so you get used to it. It may take 28 days, it may take longer, depending on what else Centrelink have on at the time.

Also, dont assume you'll finish 2 weeks before your EDD. I thought I'd finish about 36weeks with DS1, but the SPD was so bad by 25 weeks I was on crutches and finished work at 32 weeks.

Treat PPL like a bonus, which it is, and learn to live on one wage, starting now.

I think L&B makes a good point. I finished much earlier than I anticipated. I think it was 32 weeks. And I had a desk job. From memory you work on your feet??? You may find your job is too physically demanding to keep going until 38 weeks.
I think you should try to save as much as you can. Living on one wage is a good idea.

Can u borrow a bassinet or cot off someone so u dont have to outlay for that straight away?
You will definitely get through it. 6 weeks flies when u have a newborn.

Little babies really don't need that much, boobs, nappies, some jumpsuits.

I bought a new carseat, but everything else was pretty much second hand.

Just a FYI, my baby bonus took 10 weeks to come in, so living on less is a great idea just in case things take longer than you have been told. As you get closer, cooking some extra meals is good financial and time ways for when bub is here.

I never thought of leaving work earlier :( And yes N2L, I am on my feet all day. I have organised that I will cut my hours back to 5-6 hour shifts, 5 days a week. So I won't be bringing home much by then anyway. I will try and do the one wage thing, but it will be near impossible :(

If you have any significant debts it might be worth seeing a financial planner to see if refinancing could save you any money. Just don't get trapped into reducing your repayments any more than you absolutely have to.

I was going to say the same thing as HotI, i think it's easy to get confused that you need all the fancy stuff out there but in the early days all bub needs is somewhere to sleep, some clothing, nappies and your love. In the early weeks also there isn't any real need to get out and about too much so just relax, try to do nothing and get to know your little one.

We only have a personal loan, thank goodness. No mortgage yet, I recently did a detailed budget to help us save for our house deposit so i know roughly what we need, but that didn't include possibly 2 months of no wage at all. So we are kind of organised. I'm just panicking about no wage, then to min wage then to part time wage and probably not full time again for at least 12 months after the baby is born. And even then we will probably be trying for #2 by then because this one took 3 years to get and I can't risk waiting another few years to try.
Oh sorry for the rambling, so much on my mind!

As other girls have said, it can take a while for the CL payments to come through and I have had all my bubs in July/August and because it's EOFY and CL is dealing with reconciling etc mine have always taken at least 6 weeks after lodging the forms to come through. So just be prepared for it to take quite a while.

You'll be fine, it takes a bit of adjusting etc but you will make it work because you have to! :)

Talking with DH about it now, so long house deposit savings (not that we even got around to starting :lol: )

Thanks everyone for all your advice. We will start the one wage budget.

When we had ds1 we went from 2 sad wages to 1. I ain't remember how much dh was bringing home now (13 yrs ago). Anyways every time we did the groceries. If something was on sale. Ie washing powder, soaps, shampoo even toilet paper. Buy it

We had enough basic household items to last till his first birthday. Toothpaste, washing up stuff, and of course baby items as well. Baby soaps and powder and disp nappies if you plan to use them.

There are quite a few FB pages that are like garage sales for baby goods. I got change tables, toys, rocking chairs the works for very cheap and they are fine, just no longer wanted.

Help you save some $

We have been on one wage since i was 16ish weeks preg with DD1. So over half my pregnancy we lived on around $50k with no savings for baby stuff and 2 loans. You can do it! And quite easily if you look at your lifestyle and change it accordingly!

I would write a list of what you need for bubs, and whenever someone asks what they can get, show them the list :) Some people may think this is rude, but I'm sure the majority will be more than willing to get something they know you need, rather than another soft toy that will be a dust collector.

Are you planning on using cloth or disposables? If it's cloth, look at hiring a newborn kit that will help get you through the first couple of months. If you're going to use disposables, keep an eye out for specials now. I've read lots of people swear by supermarket brand nappies and they are a lot cheaper than other name brands.

Don't splurge on bassinet, cot sheets or bunny rugs - you can pick up cheap fabric and make them your self, or get someone else to if you're not handy with a sewing machine.

You can make do without things like a baby bath (use the sink instead) and a change table (use a padded mat on the floor/bed/bench) until you have money coming in again.

Good luck, try not to stress too much. Once you have a plan in place you will feel so much better x

We spent $2000 on baby stuff. Total. And $800 of that was on cloth nappies.

If anyone asks if you want stuff, say yes. You can always pass it on if its no good. Get into op shops, eBay, buy and sell groups. New baby clothes and linen go so cheaply, often free. I'm done having babies and I'm just giving everything away as we outgrow it.

Our CL. Money took 9 weeks with DD1, and at 9.5 for DD2, we're still waiting.