How are you affording it?

Me and H2B were looking at our finances the other night. Both SSIAs are going on the wedding ( they don't amount to a huge figure, we've only been paying the max for the past year) The time in between the SSIAs finishing and the wedding we are going to continue to save the € 254 each and put that into the wedding. Then..................................... we figured if we keep saving at that rate in just over 3 years after the wedding we will have enough to pay the mortgage for nearly two years. I get 22 weeks paid maternity leave from here so that will keep us going a bit longer before we have to dip into savings but basically unless the mortgage goes through the roof ( where is the fingers crossed emoticon ?) one of us presumably me) could give up work for 2 years and we would stay afloat. Fantastic. Now how the f**k do we pay for no 2, 3 or 4????????????? I don't see us saving that much every month once we have Junior1 and i don't want to have to go back to work for another few years ( probably longer each time) in between babies. How are ye all managing it?

Well my friend who works full-time with 2 kids under 4 and another on the way, has an Au Pair living with them. She pays her €125 per week and supplies her meals. One would find it hard to find a place for 1 child for that price not mind 2. It about time our bloody goverment made it easier for us mothers

I dont get paid from my job while out on mat leave so will be on social benefit for the 26 weeks and I am really hoping to take some if not all ( depending on how the finances are !) of the unpaid leave... we are saving like bejaysus between now & when babs is due and my SSIA matures in April.... other than that I dont know how we would pay for further children but I will worry about that when it happens...I am also hoping that transferring my tax credits to my hubby will make some difference to his take home pay ... has anyone any experience of this ?

A friend of mine is paying 1350 creche fees per month for 2 tots under 5 and thats very reasonable!! Many will pay 200 per child per week or even over that. If a family member will help out its a godsend. I think if you can give up work till they start school and then get part time mornings/school hours say9 till 2...then you dont have to have a minder except for the summer months...maybe work your holidays around that. To be honest if you have two under five its actually not really worth your while to work unless you are on over 35-40k per year when you take into account say running costs of getting to work etc.. Its mad. But thats the cost of being a parent.

By continuing to work! Seriously though we couldn't afford for either of us to give up work. We did use our SSIA monies to buy a property but i see that as an investment in our future. DD's creche costs €850 a month and even allowing for the reduced travel costs etc of DH staying at home we couldn't manage that gap is just too big. Even if we had another child, it still makes financial sense for DH to continue works, crazy or what! As for an au-pair we looked into that but the hours an au-pair works is quite limited so won't suit but i would consider getting one once DD starts school. However,We hope that my income will have increased sufficiently by the time DD starts school that DH will be able to cut back and work part-time but we will have to wait and see. Regards, MK

See that's the thing, I don't want to work at all when they are small. Don't even want to think of creche fees and au pairs and all that. i want ot have 3 or 4 babies in 6 or 7 years and go back to work when they are all packed off to school ie 10 or 11 years off work. but with a mortgage to pay it's impossible.

Magpie, Ah, the dilemma of modern Ireland, how do you keep a roof over your head and have the number of children you want. Is it feasible to move to a smaller house and a smaller mortgage or could you move to a less expensive location. I'm sure the answer to both questions is no. If you manage to come up with a solution, let me know as my DH would love to quit working Regards, MK

I think everyone faces this dilemma. Our first is due in December, and there's no way I could afford to not work, although I'd love to be at home with her. I'll be paid for the 22 weeks from work, and planned to take some of the unpaid leave if we could afford it. As it turns out, I'm being made redundant after paid mat leave, so I'll have a bit of time at home. But I will definitely have to get another job if we want to keep paying the morgage (as if we have a choice ) We did sit down a couple of months back though, and work out whether it would pay us for me to go out to work after having a second baby, and by transferring tax credits to DH, we would be approx E120 per month better off if I went out to work......now if it comes to that, I think we'll manage just fine without the E120, and I would stay at home. We're down the South and salaries are not great, so I don't think I would ever be earning enough for us to be financially better off by me working after our second. Will have to cross that bridge when we come to it though....

Re the Tax Credits, if you're giving up work, you give up tax credits. You don't get to transfer them over I always assumed that you could do that, till my sister informed me otherwise. You'll need to go back to work part-time to get credits, and can then transfer all credits over to your dh. I'll definitely have to go back to work too. My mam has offered to retire and look after babs though, so we're incredibly lucky that way (she'd be retiring soon anyway).

Grumpy, Thats not technically correct. You are entitled to transfer your personal tax credit to your spouse regardless of whether you are working or not. However, you can't transfer the PAYE credit even if you are working, this is a non-transferrable credit. You can also transfer a maximum of €9,000 of the standard rate cut off point to your spouse thereby increasing the amount taxable at the lower rate of 20%. Regards, MK