Which will you do?

What are you doing?I did a few calculations and i think id be better off staying at home with babs as my wages just cover bills as it is but h2b's will do that when im on ML and my ML will pay for us to just live on, shopping and petrol. If i go back to work we'll end up with less money than if i was on Dol or minding kids from home/.... what are u doing?

my wages are better than DH, so i would have to go back to work. a creche would not be an option for us as i work as a social care worker, which entails working overnights and at weekends. my DH works at 3.30 in the mornings, 2 mornings a week. we are hoping we can manage between us and that family will help us out.

When you take my tax free allowance into account it bulks up DH's wages a bit more, take out what I spend on lunches, incidentals at work, travel etc we're still out by a bit but just going to have to cut some cloth! Certainly wouldn't be worth it when no 2 comes along! DH would love to be the one staying at home though! I'm looking forward to it. I had a great childhood with my mother always being there and I'm lucky enough that it's an option for us...I hope!!

Its hard to know, at the moment I could probably give up and we'd survive on DH salary but tbh thats only cause the interest rates are so low now, our mortgage has reduced by €600/mth. no doubt they'll rise again so I would need to be working at that stage. My Mams going to mind babs which means we won't have childminder fees, although we will give her something every month. Im planning to take a year off in total to have the first year at home with babs and then maybe go back on a 4 day week if possible... but who knows what things will be like in a years time.

At the moment my wages barely pay my mortgage and I normally have to ask hubby for money every second month as Ive run out. I work nights and weekends and dh is a farmer who works 24/7 so dont know how we going to get child minded, our parents are elderly and I couldnt ask them. My job is permanent and pensionable so it seems daft to give it up. I dont know what to do. Just hoping it will work itself out....somehow.

I think there should be an 'intermediate' option. I need to go back to work but it won't be easy to pay for a childminder. If I went back full-time it probably would be too expensive so I'll go back 3-4 days. Ideally, I'd like to go back 3 but may need to go back 4 to ensure I earn enough that if I got pg again within a year I'd have earned enough money to be entitled to full maternity leave.

i ticked we earn enough, but its really just enough, what we would have had as disposable income till now will all go on childminder fees come January. We are lucky enough to have a side extension on our house that we rented out for a few years when we first bought. I am considering going the au pair route as it would be cheaper than child minder/creche- considering though, there are lots of pros and cons...