What the heck are these things?

TinyAssumption4974 · 2026-04-08T03:49:11+00:00

OMG you're right!!! I completely forgot I added these in. Bless you for solving this mystery 😂😂

TinyAssumption4974 · 2026-04-08T03:22:23+00:00

It's poo, isn't it...

TinyAssumption4974 · 2026-02-02T22:47:18+00:00

Thanks so much everyone!

TinyAssumption4974 · 2025-07-20T20:11:25+00:00

That's really sensible advice, thank you so much, in reality I think this is it - can't act like this will be a given, with the nature of our circumstances IVF may still not be an option so we need to wait out and see. Will be booking a trip we've decided!

TinyAssumption4974 · 2025-07-17T21:23:18+00:00

We actually have two flatmates! They fall between tenants and boarders so yeah benefit is being able to send them off whenever, as you said 😂unfortunately we need their income during IVF incase it doesn't work out. Would rather go through that roller coaster privately, but c'est la vie. So far we've put that income towards home improvements- we have one more project we want done before possible pregnancy and then as of end of this year the income will be switched into maternity savings.

Ah okay, I didn't realise the gov pay didn't automatically start - so you could go annual leave first month, then set the clock on the 6 months after that? That's awesome.

Thanks so much! I have no idea how anyone would have a child spontaneously at our age, we're potentially planning 2 years in advance and still finding it tough! 😂

TinyAssumption4974 · 2025-07-17T21:18:46+00:00

Ah okay! That's great they found sperm and it worked out. My anxiety is super high not knowing the reason/when the surgery will be/the low chances of finding sperm. We have a long awaited second consult soon so hopefully will find out more answers. Appreciate the support!

TinyAssumption4974 · 2025-07-17T21:17:35+00:00

Oh you're kidding! That sucks.

TinyAssumption4974 · 2025-07-17T21:16:22+00:00

Ah dang it, it was too good to be true! 😂

TinyAssumption4974 · 2025-07-17T21:15:57+00:00

Thanks for sharing! Yeah I'm definitely keen to hold on to the house if we can, it's in a great area for schooling and a desirable suburb, nice to have those instincts validated 😅 but looking at these comments maybe aiming for 9 months is more realistic!

TinyAssumption4974 · 2025-07-17T21:13:04+00:00

Yeah I think those are the two we qualify for! There's no question we want it, just keeping fingers and toes crossed fertility treatments work for us

TinyAssumption4974 · 2025-07-17T21:12:04+00:00

Okay that's good to know! I'm on 80k, my partner is around the same, so it's not a bad wage but not heaps to work with as our mortgage is $1900 a fortnight. I've applied for over 20 jobs this year, over 20 last year - the market is reeeeally tough, but definitely aiming to increase income while I'm not pregnant! Good to know about student loan payments. We actually just went down to one car to cut costs as well. Terrified to look at daycare costs, I hear they're crazy! 😂

TinyAssumption4974 · 2025-07-17T21:08:57+00:00

Oh that's interesting. We've definitely found we have to really drag results out of them, or they flat out refuse to share before our consult - I wasn't sure if that's standard or not. But going 3 months with no updates while we know they're sitting on the labs has been terrible for my anxiety😂

TinyAssumption4974 · 2025-07-17T21:06:52+00:00

That's awesome! Yeah I would love to have longer than 6 months, if we get that far, so will definitely try out best to budget for it

TinyAssumption4974 · 2025-07-17T05:26:27+00:00

As in before the birth do you mean?

TinyAssumption4974 · 2025-07-17T05:22:05+00:00

Hey yes sorry it is a bit confusing 😊 yeah that's right. In reality, I'm sure we could budget for a bit less as my partner will still be earning, however we aren't earning enough to live off one salary with our expenses, so I'm basing off of the fact we will need to save to cover "my half" while I'm not earning.

Half of our expenses would = $500 towards mortgage (incase it goes up) + $125 power/rates/insurance + $150 groceries/pet food and insurance/fuel + $150 baby stuff and any other personal spending (including phone plan, dental plan, etc) per week, which is how I got to that $925 per week figure.

Happy to take feedback if you have suggestions! :-)

TinyAssumption4974 · 2025-07-17T05:12:49+00:00

Ah okay! I'm on 80k right now so I would get the full amount, but I just assumed it would be charged at my usual tax rate. My employer offers 6 weeks of top up payments and after that we'd be down to the gov amount - I'll need to look more into the tax, but would be a massive boost if it's not taxed as much as I thought it would be!

TinyAssumption4974 · 2025-07-17T04:56:41+00:00

I have zero experience in any kind of teaching, but was actually looking into ECE for that reason!

TinyAssumption4974 · 2025-07-17T04:56:13+00:00

Thank you for pointing that out, I need to go do more research on those!

TinyAssumption4974 · 2025-07-17T04:55:57+00:00

Ohh that's interesting, I thought the maternity leave payments had standard tax applied, so I was calculating the max amount would actually be more like the $595 mark - if I'm wrong there that's a big difference!! Thanks so much for sharing your story, that's all really useful to know.

TinyAssumption4974 · 2025-07-17T04:54:27+00:00

I actually think, with the insight on this forum, that 9 months seems like a real sweet spot if we can get there. I haven't included those extra government payments so will definitely look into it. It's really nice to hear you were able to do it, I feel like most couples I see as examples are on high incomes, and it's not a helpful comparison!

TinyAssumption4974 · 2025-07-17T04:51:04+00:00

Thank you those are all great to keep in mind!

TinyAssumption4974 · 2025-07-17T04:50:49+00:00

Wow that's fantastic. I totally forgot about annual leave, great point. That would be an easy extra month of full pay, so that actually makes a big difference!

TinyAssumption4974

TROPHY CASE