Can you afford to take maternity leave?
April 8, 2009 by Jennifer Chait
Filed under Baby Savings
If you’re expecting, one major worry is likely maternity or paternity leave, and if it’s not a worry, it should be. Maternity leave rights in the U.S. and maternity leave pay seriously lag behind when compared to the rights and pay of many other developed countries. That said, if you plan before hand you may be able to afford to stay home with your baby.
PLAN AHEAD: While 50% of all pregnancies are unplanned, there are still many families who do plan their pregnancy, and this offers a nice chance to save. If you know you’re going to start a family soon, then start to set aside money each month specifically earmarked for maternity leave. If you’re having a surprise baby, you can still save a set amount per month for about nine months.
SUSPEND YOUR 401 (k) portion: Not forever, just for a few months. Your portion as cash in your maternity leave savings account can add up.
CONSIDER HOME EQUITY: If you need to, take out a home-equity line of credit. This isn’t the perfect solution for everyone, but if you need the money it’ll be there, yet you don’t have to use it.
SAVE VACATION DAYS: Because there are truly bad laws surrounding maternity leave in the U.S. most companies have no problem mashing all leave time (family leave, sick days, vacation) together in one package. Not cool. That said, the best thing to do in this situation is to start saving up vacation days and use them on leave.
WORK AT HOME: Not for the rest of your life, but if your job could be done from home (at least partially) you may want to talk to your boss/company, and see if you can jump back into work slowly with some work at home time. You can make money and still be home with your baby. NOTE – not for the faint of heart; balancing baby care and even PT work is tough.
FORGET BABY GEAR: There are plenty of baby items you won’t need. There are tons of people who will give you FREE gear at the shower. You really can have a baby and buy almost nothing – which is great because maternity leave, and thus time with your baby is far more important than gear. Make a list early on of wants vs. needs, and then wait until after the shower to shop.
RETHINK YOUR BUDGET: Frequent thrifty sites to gather saving tips, read books about budgeting, and rethink your spending habits. Some of us have nothing to cut – we budget tight anyhow. However, plenty of people buy many of extras. If this is you, decide if new shoes, your daily latte, and cable are more important than maternity leave and time with your newborn; if not, cut all extras.
How did you budget your maternity leave? OR is this a goal right now?
[image via stock.xchng]
Hi what a great blog ..so useful. My blog is also about baby budgeting, my last entry was on dressing your baby for less. i guess I am your sister in throftiness! I have just completed a book entitled How to Afford Time Off with your Baby which is being published in Sept by Vermilion (can pre-order on Amazon now) which gives 101 ways to ease the financial strain of baby raising. Glad to have found you thrifty mommy!