Join in if you are self-employed and work from home

sammy115

Horace, I am cleared out now....sorry i hadn't noticed my full inbox!!

sashanut

Hi all

Just got tired eyes from reading through the thread - great idea - I too am self-employed & have found it quite difficult dealing wth debts etc as we face the same problems as others without a regular income.

To introduce myself; we have been s/e for the last 10 years or so, when we both left our well-paid jobs :eek: I was so releived as I had been bullied at work for years but hadn't the guts - or the management support to quit

At first it was great as the work that DH did kept the money rolling in; we bought a big house, car etc & did pay our tax although didn't save for it so it was always a shock to the system. One sensible thing we did do was put some cash into private pensions, but we did spend (& waste) a lot of money, makes me feel ill to think about it now. However, like idiots we spent on CCs & once the work & money dried up we ended up getting into lots of debt, which we still have but are trying to deal with now. For the last 2 years our earnings nosedived from £££s p/m to £500 (or less). With a mortgage payment of over £1000 p/m plus all the other bills it has been a nightmare till I found this site.

We are asset riich but cash-poor & although have the big property (& 2 others) the bills are likewise big ones. The good news is that I have stopped hiding my head in the sand & am facing the debts; also our earnings have been going up steadily although we have large overdrafts in addition to the CCs we are making progress & have always paid the mortgage. Of course when I have posted an SOA it doesn't apply as we have not much idea from month to month how much we'll earn.

In addition to the above work (my DH writes on-line courses) I also in the rich days collected dolls (LOTS of them) & have a website where I sell them. One of my main problems is that somehow I can't motivate myself to update the website, although I do try to answer emails (mostly), I also sell on eBay when again I can be bothered! I cook everything from scratch & we are living out of the freezers as I have had a Xmas job at M&S for the last 2 years (in desperation at the £500 month) & filled the freezers with food at staff discount:T .

This is another problem as I'd rather cook (but not clean) or garden (we have a massive garden) than do anything with the above website! Plus I used to have a cleaner & a gardner & of course can't afford them these days so I have to (prefer) to do the work myself. Big kick up the rear needed from you folks please, have to get breakfast for DH & DD now, but will be back later ....another thing I do rather than work!:rotfl:

starxtrouble

Hi everyone.

Been lurking on the MSE forums for a few weeks now and discovered this thread through Martin's weekly email. I am a freelance translator, translating stuff (mostly legal docs) from German into English. I'm studying to be a solicitor, and am currently trying to find a training contract, but as the type of firm I want to work for recruits 2 yrs in advance, even if I do get one this summer (just missed out the last couple of yrs) I have a couple of years to fill before I start. I have clinical depression and panic disorder and I also suffer from migraines. When my six month contract as a legal sec finished last summer I moved in with my boyfriend, to a larger town than I was in before as I thought I would have more chance of getting a good legal job here. Unfortunately in this climate, nothing happened. After a couple of months not getting anywhere with legal jobs, I registered with a load of agencies for temp/perm admin jobs, and swallowed my pride and went to the jobcentre. It took me a lot of courage to do so, and to not have a panic attack, and I was nearly sick when I left! And after all that they told me im not eligble for JSA as my bf earns too much and I havent paid enough NI over the last few years :mad: In the last few months Ive had 3 sets of temp work, one for a 2 weeks, but I had a awful Word document to sort (300 odd pages with reverse track changes!!) which gave me a four day!! migraine and the firm told me not to come back, then I got a long term temp job but after having 2 days off in the first 2 weeks (one migraine, one panic attack) I explained my health situation to the agency and the client, and the client told me not to come back :mad: the the agency dropped me like a hot potato. Then a couple of months later I got a month long admin job, but after again having 2 days off in less than 2 weeks I thought I was letting them down too much and left due to my health. The docs have increased my meds but it doesnt always work Im on a veryyy long waiting list for CBT. So,,, after all that!:rolleyes: ill finally get around to telling you about my self employed ness! (Sorry I have a tendancy to go on!!)

Im currently on the new version of incapacity benefit, which just manages to pay most of my credit card bills. I have a deal with my 2 career development loans that i am paying them a small sum each month instead of the combined 360 total. I'm allowed to work a few hours a week on this benefit, so I have started translating. I have had a few jobs so far, but it takes up a while to establish clients, as it does anywhere I suppose. My debts are,,, lets see 15k student loan, 3k od, 16k career dev loans, and about 13k credit card. I also feel responsible for some of the 7k credit card my bf has run up as he pays for virtually everything. Luckily he has no other debts. He is very supportive and understanding of my illness. It is just so frustrating that I cant work full time. I hope im not coming across that I'm only self employed as its the only thing I can do atm, as I am enjoying it. My aunt is an accountant so shes going to help me with my tax return

Well thats a (long!) introduction to me, and my problems, lets hope we can all motivate each other do get on with stuff! I spend most of my time sending my details to new language agencies. (its hard when you have the whole world to cover!!) Im focusing on German and UK agencies atm, otherwise Id be a bit overwhelmed, theres still thousands of them thou!!

I'm loving everyones posts especially Wordsmith's one about when you moved to Ireland and couldnt contemplate taking your goose with you in the car!!

Oh plan for today, chase company who were supposed to pay my invoice last week... i reallly need the money... incurring lots of 22 'reserve fees' at the bank, sign up for more mystery shopping sites, and put stuff on ebay. Whilst waiting for the Ikea man to deliver me a replacement bed.. the wood warped and the slats and teh mattress nearly fell through in the middle of the nite!!

Horace

Welcome Sashanut

The folks on here will keep you motivated especially if you tell us what you are going to do today - ie. update website, sell dolls and not do diversional tasks such as making breakfast. Have you thought of selling your dolls at a specialist auction rather than on ebay? You will have to pay seller's commission but you find an auction house where their fees are low.

I know someone who had their own business and spent money like it was going out of fashion and their business went bust, they still haven't learnt their lesson:rolleyes: So I take them as an example of how not to run my business - no big flashy cars for me, well not yet anyway and when I get a new car it will be Honda Jazz so again nothing too big and certainly not gas guzzling. I micro-manage my business so I know exactly who I have to pay and what money I have in my bank account at any one time.

Well, its time I got dressed and started work...see y'all later.:D

sammy115

Have to echo what Horace has just said.....cashflow is king when it comes to managing your own business....forget profit and loss (well not entirely) but you must get a decent cash flow forecast together, especially if you have debtors and creditors.....

newjustine

Hello everyone
I'm reading all of this forum with interest. Here's how I came to be here: I startled myself by giving up my job as PR Officer in the press office of a national UK charity in December 2008 to move in with my handsome Dutch Miller in the Netherlands. He runs his own small business, but is acting as a consultant project manager for a massive project which will last until June, so I don't see much of him during the day at the moment.
I'm sitting on some modest UK savings from the sale of a flat, but I really don't want to spend them. And interest rates are so rubbish at the moment. So I'm hunting around for freelance work. Luckily I've had little bits of writing and research to do for my former employer (pays for my ebay clothing habit - I'll never buy anything new again that isn't discounted at least 50%), and the odd freelance client from a few years back, but I need more contacts and clients - anyone need anything writing or editing?
I've actually got an interview this afternoon for a writing job, working three days a week, which would be perfect, but I'm procrastinating doing my background reading... a feeling that I think is familiar to all of you!
So I'll tell myself out loud, "Get on with it!" and sometimes it works. Good to see all of you thinking about it, if not actually doing it! Looking forward to reading more too.
Tot ziens!

Wordsmith

I am running late so am just passing through briefly.

Welcome aboard Starxtrouble and Sashanut! I will reply to your two beautifully written introductions when I return this evening.

Ooooh, Mudbath - a challenge. Unfortunately (because I would really love to dream up a challenge in return [insert Mr Evil laugh, which I must work out how to spell]) I can't take you up on it. I am doing restaurant bookkeeping/payroll job today and tomorrow (usually only one day a week but I was away a couple of weeks ago and am going to be again next week so feel I have to go in and do a bit of catch-up) - hopefully cheffie will have forgotten I'm going today so I can spend a quiet day in the office without hassle ... and the chances of that are? Also, I have to confess my idiocy about misreading my flight times and let him know I can't do wages next week. He had a good laugh at me last week when I turned up late because I had got lost on the roadworks detour. No, really, it wasn't entirely my fault.:o Friday morning I am working in someone else's office and Friday afternoon and all day Saturday and Sunday I am in the shop. So, no time to do my own accounts - honestly, why can't the Revenue just see that I am too busy for them?

Anyway, this was supposed to be a short message - the perils of being a friendless, gobby touch typist.:D So, it's off to work for me. I'm late. :eek: And it's a 20-mile drive, but it is nearly all along west Ireland coastline.

Have a good day, all.

Wordsmith

Welcome, Newjustine! Another writer/editor! Wot's up with us lot?

Now I really am going.

lindylouandcrew

Hello,
I work from home as a Personal Travel Advisor and have done for the last seven years. I'm self-employed and I started homeworking after my fifth and final baby was born. I tried returning to work in a well known high street agency but the child care costs were too silly for words so decided to give homeworking a go. For me it's been the best solution for many problems. My three oldest girls were teenagers when I started and too old for child minders which meant they came home and helped themselves to the contents of the fridge, invited friends in or made plans to go out without consulting me. I've was able to put a stop to some of that or at least control it a bit. It also made sick days, teacher training days, school hols, dentist appointments etc easy to manage. The younger two have been able to have friends round to play after school and of course they like to be taken to and from by mummy.
The downside is irregular income, hours, invasion of your home life, motivation and isolation sometimes.
My O/H had been in the same situation since Christmas when his firm closed down. Fortunately he has been able to create some work opportunities for himself and we now share the office. Somedays that works better than others if you know what I mean.

downshifter

Goodness, what an interesting crowd of people are contributing to the site. It is so helpful reading other people's stories. Thank you.

My plan of action today is to keep my head down, save any emails I might write till the evening before sending to give me time to think about them , and do some practical research for an enquirer which means driving to a town to look up records. Haven't been anywhere built up for over a week now! I really need to get out more!

I've managed to get thoroughly embroiled in internal politics in the organisation, a charity, I work for. They all seem to forget I'm just an external contractor and involve me in all of their gripes. I have little sympathy for their charity to be honest, it's not one that does good works, in health or social care, it just seems to act for their members' hobby. There are loose cannons all over the place who go away and do whatever they think is best, without checking it out, and the leadership is incredibly weak and admits it. Nightmare, and so much so that I really want out. I've tried to help them become more organised, for example, holding their hands while thrashing out a business plan - not part of my remit - but then the guy in charge feels undermined, even if I try to help him subtly, so I feel I should leave them to it. So if anyone hears of any organisation needing a librarian or desk researcher let me know!! I hate giving up on them but it's as bad as being back in a 'proper job'!! god I hope no-one can recognise me from this!!

On another tack, how do you get hold of decent office kit? I badly need a scanner/printer/photocopier but can't afford one at all. I have an all-in-one cheap thingie, but as I have to copy or scan great long journal articles, which might include detailed charts etc, it's completely inadequate. I certainly couldn't afford new, does anyone have a source for reconditioned or second-hand stuff?

Thanks.