When you find out you’re expecting, your focus is likely to be on getting your home ready for a new baby but you’ll need to make time to put your financial house in order too. A good starting point is to draw up a budget and make a list of all your current incomings and outgoings.

The list should include all regular, fixed costs such as your mortgage or rent, insurance, council tax, utility/phone bills and so on. Remember to include items that crop up only once or twice a year, such as your TV licence, car MOT and servicing, as well as holidays. With these figures in front of you, consider whether you could cut back on and then divert the extra cash into a savings fund.

Whether starting to save or increasing existing savings, it would be wise to include an emergency fund to cover any unexpected events such as illness or even redundancy. Financial advisers typically suggest that you should have enough savings available to cover household costs for six months.

Prepare for a drop in income

If you and your partner both work, maternity or paternity leave typically means a reduced income while either parent is off work.

Find out what your employer offers, and what state support you might be eligible for, so you know how much you’ll have to survive on while you aren’t working and can budget accordingly.

• If you need help with any of your financial planning requirements then get in touch with Lifetime. Our coaches and finance specialists are here to guide you through to the right outcomes: https://www.lifetime-fm.com/contact-us/