Netmums family money diaries: parents to twins during lockdown
Balancing a family budget is always tough and never more than when you have twin babies during the coronavirus outbreak. From nappies and Calpol to rent, childcare costs and bills, we asked a family to share a money diary with us, detailing how they spend every single penny of their hard-earned cash over a week.
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Meet the family
Mum of two: 33, works full-time in the charity sector, currently on maternity leave
Her husband: 34, has a full-time job in retail
Children: Twin girls, nine months old
Lives: London
She says: ‘Since having our twins, we're more worried about money than ever before. Although we're in a very privileged position – we own our own property, both have jobs (my husband hasn't been furloughed) and have both sets of our parents nearby for support – money is still a concern. We didn’t operate on a tight weekly budget pre-kids and when they were babies, I didn’t have the headspace to budget. Those early moths were just about surviving! I wanted a £3.50 coffee, I bought one – I needed those small comforts.
‘People will often comment on our situation saying, ‘Two for the price of one!’ Unfortunately, it’s two for the price of two, which was a bit of a shock.
'We're both anxious about how coronavirus will impact our long-term income. We've double checked our savings, as we realise there could be desperate times ahead. We would have liked to move to a bigger place soon, but I don't think that's going to happen now; not for a long time anyway. The situation is so worrying as no one can predict what's going to happen to the economy and how it'll affect us.'
Our income:
Earnings: ‘I earn £31,000 a year (when I'm not on maternity leave) and my partner earns £40,000 a year.
'Our total household income was £71,000 but I'm in the last three months of my mat leave, so currently don't earn anything. I'm applying to go back part-time and feel anxious whether they'll allow me to do that and how we'll cope with the reduced pay.
'If they can't take me back part-time, my chances of finding other part-time work in the charity sector at the moment are greatly reduced. And even if I do get my request, will childcare be open? Our only other option is my in-laws, but they're both over 70 and fall into the vulnerable category.'
Take home pay: ‘After tax, we bring home a combined income of £4,057 a month.’
Benefits: ‘We get £137.60 in child benefit a month. As I'm no longer receiving any maternity pay, this means I'm bringing at least something in to the household (we decided at the beginning that it should be me who claims it, as I will be spending more time with the girls).
'So far, it’s just gone into our everyday bank account, but once I start earning again I am planning to put it towards specific things for the kids.’
Our expenses:
Childcare costs: £0 per child, per month
‘Our girls aren't in childcare yet; the plan is to send them to nursery when I return to work, if they're open by then!
'We can only afford to send them two days a week, as it's £70 per day. They will hopefully be with their grandparents for another day a week, lockdown permitting. The other two days, they’ll hopefully be with me.’
Housing costs: £1,200 a month mortgage repayment (approx), £130 utilities, £135 council tax
‘We bought our first home last year and were only able to afford it due to a sizeable contribution from our parents. We live in a small two-bed flat. It would be fine for one child, but with two we'll definitely struggle for space sooner than we anticipated.'
Food costs: £325 a month
‘We aim at a food budget of £75 per week, which includes solids for the girls.
'Since lockdown, we have a set of meals that we rotate. I do a menu plan for the girls and cook all their food myself, which saves money. I enjoy it, but it’s very time consuming.’
Transportation costs: £60 road tax, £50 insurance, £120 fuel, £300 public transport (£250 of that is for my husband who commutes) all per month
‘We have a Ford C Max, which we bought second hand for a few thousand pounds just before the girls were born. I probably use it the most.'
Phone bill costs per month: £135 mobile phone for both of us, plus home phone and internet
‘We both have the same phone contracts that we had before we got together! I’ve probably had mine for about 10 years!’
Savings and pension: £15k in savings (lifetime of savings and gifts from grandparents)
‘We have a pension but it’s really not very much and I don’t really monitor it. We can’t afford to save at the moment – I’m actually living off the savings we have while I'm not receiving maternity pay.
'We would love to be able to afford a holiday but the reality is we can’t justify it. I guess that matters less at the moment, as no one is going anywhere anyway!’
Kids' clubs and activities: £70 a month approx
‘For the first few months of my maternity leave, I took the girls to baby clubs regularly, mainly as a way to meet other parents. I found them very expensive – sometimes I’d be paying about £15 for a 45-minute music session, which I’d just spend juggling two crying babies and not enjoying.'
Other regular spends total: £271.98
‘Netflix and Amazon (£8.99 and £7.99p/month) are considered essentials in our household!
'I mainly pick up hand-me-downs to clothe the babies, but occasionally have to supplement with a bulk buy from Asda or H&M. I find it hard to resist the pretty baby clothes, but stick mostly to multipacks and offers/sales to keep costs down, and I also know they don't care what they are wearing!’
My weekly* money diary
Total spend: £49.67
*This was the week leading up to national lockdown, which commenced on 20th March.
Monday – nothing spent.
'Before lockdown, on a Monday, I would go to my parents, and either to leave the girls there while I did errands or let them babysit while I wentto sleep. Sometimes, I would go somewhere for coffee and cake – but just that could cost £6, so I didn't do it often.
'This week all my plans got cancelled as cafes and clubs started to close … '
Tuesday: £24.58
'I bought a £2.80 coffee while on my daily walk with the girls. I popped into a pharmacy to pick up some medical essentials like Calpol, in case one of them gets poorly while we are in lockdown (£9.96). I also topped up our food cupboards (£11.82) with cereal and pasta, as things were getting a bit frenzied.'
Wednesday: £1.29
'I picked up ONE packet of Paracetamol for my husband’s parents, which was all that I was allowed to buy – stockpiling has started in earnest now.'
Thursday: £13
'Another £13 on food top-up from the local shop. Things are starting to get tricky to get hold of and we wanted to be prepared for imminent lockdown.'
Friday: £10.80
'We went for a walk with a couple of local friends and picked up the coffees - £10.80. Looking back, a few weeks on, it feels weird to think we were meeting up still.
Lockdown update
'Our spending has definitely gone down – fewer travel costs and no eating out. We were actually hoping to save a bit of money in lockdown, but if it continues, we'll probably have to buy more things for the girls to entertain them and/or contain them as they get more mobile!
'Our needs have changed during lockdown. Our money is mainly going on food (we fortunately had a stockpile of wine – a necessity right now!) I've tried not to spend unnecessarily. I went through my summer wardrobe and I'm making do with what I've got but I'll have to spend money on new work clothes eventually.
'I can't buy gorgeous secondhand baby clothes off eBay right now so we're spending more on new plain babygros from the supermarket as they're growing!'
Using a budget planner can help you to plan your finances in advance and keep track of bills and expenses. We like this one that's available for £6.99. See more details here at Amazon.
How do you spend your money? Tell us by emailing moneydiaries@netmums.com
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This article contains affiliate links, which means we may earn a small amount of money if a reader clicks through and makes a purchase. All our articles and reviews are written independently by the Netmums editorial team.
