Current Life Situation:

New mum, living with her partner, navigating the return to work as a self-employed personal trainer after maternity leave

Currently working reduced hours (averaging 24 hours a week) to allow time for childcare

Income: Between £2,000 - £2,600

Expenses:

Mortgage and bills (my half) - £850

Tax/NI contributions - £350

Work expenses: £100

Savings: £300

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A Week Of Spending

Monday: I had the morning off, so I went for a long walk with my 9-month-old and grabbed a coffee on the way (£4.80). Then it was off to work for the rest of the day - I’m a self-employed personal trainer, so I work on a one-to-one basis with clients as well as teaching classes throughout the day.

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Tuesday: I work longer days on Tuesdays but this week, I had an unusual treat for my Tuesday evening as I got to see a show with my friend in London! We booked the tickets ages ago and I decided to drive in the end (this was before the war and subsequent petrol crisis…). So, the car park cost £9.50 (much less than the train would have cost) and then we grabbed dinner on the way to the theatre (£13.50).

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Wednesday: This ended up being a more expensive weekday than usual, but as it’s my one full day off in the week, I had an overdue shopping trip booked with my mum. I was in need of some new jeans that fit properly postpartum so we were on a mission. It was another trip into the city, so we took the train in this time (£12.90) and I spent £25 on lunch and £58 in H&M - mission accomplished!

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Thursday: Another day at work and in the evening, I took my son to soft play to meet my other mum friends which cost £7 for entry. I stopped at Boots on my way home to get him some teething powder and medicine as he has been a bit stuffy which cost £13.50 altogether.

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Friday: It was almost a spend-free day until I had to fill up my petrol! £53 spent on a full tank.

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Saturday: The weekend has arrived! I had a quiet, chilled one today and I got the chance to visit my nan. She hasn’t been very well recently so I brought her some tulips to cheer her up (£6).

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‍Sunday: After a long week, I managed to squeeze in a home reset day for the week ahead so nothing was spent today!

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Total spend for the week: £203.20

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What has been the hardest part about maternity leave and returning to work while being self-employed?

When you’re self-employed, you get Maternity Allowance which for me, amounted to just under £800 a month. That is not enough to live on so throughout my pregnancy, I was putting aside as much extra money as I could to add to this.

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Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP) is paid by employers at a set rate, Maternity Allowance is a government benefit for self-employed individuals or those on lower incomes that don’t qualify for SMP.

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On maternity leave, once my baby arrived, I had to really watch my spending - even more so than before. I was always trying to make sure that I got out of the house, but it was quite difficult to not spend money, even just on walks through the town.

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I returned to work when my baby was just 6 months, working 10 hours less a week than I did before. I’ve really had to change my mindset when it comes to spending and I find the money I used to spend on meal deals and coffees goes towards my baby’s clothes and food instead. I've had to adjust to new habits, become a master of meal prepping and generally, have more awareness of where my money is going every day.

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What financial advice would you give to new mums?

Plan ahead! Save as much as you can during your pregnancy to prepare for maternity leave. Even better, if you’re thinking of having a family at some point in the future, then start putting money aside whenever you can. The key is little and often and just build up that pot of money so that you can actually enjoy your maternity leave and the pressure is taken off when you’re adjusting to your new life as parents.

‍P2P Tip - While you’re on maternity leave, your pension contributions are, most likely, going to decrease, meaning you’re losing out in the long run. If possible, discuss with the options with your partner - how can you keep up your contributions, could they cover them while you’re on a reduced income? Or, talk to your employer.

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*Names have been changed for anonymity purposes.