Help needed - confused myself

costapkt

Not knocking you ,but how, on an annual income of 25776 ( your figures 2148 x 12 ) have you got into this mess ?(Could be times 13 if every four weeks)

moneymakestheworldgoround

Hi TotallyBroke,

Good point about boyfriend but at moment not possible. I dont want him living with my other children just yet, and he has elderly parents he cares for. Maybe with time, but not on the cards this year unfortunately.

I sell plastic storage boxes as my business. Normally get large orders, but people want them yesterday ! No one seems prepared to wait 7 days to receive order. Which I think is normal in business but hey ho.

Hi dancingfairy

Thanks for the tip about the library. I will go into my local one tomorrow. I will contact CCCS as well to have a chat. And the childminding is the total cost, not my share.

Hi costapkt

Not really sure is the honest answer. The rent and childminding is almost all the weekly tax money, so it doesnt leave any for food or bills. The maintenance - I have only had one payment in 14 months ( last month) so I havent had that available. No real excuse other than not monitoring the incomings and outgoings and proportioning cash properly.

Hi debtoxing

Many thanks for the offer of support - you'll regret that in days to come - I love to chat !

Fire_Fox

I think you need to separate your business and personal finances TBH. The business is viable if I am reading you correctly, whereas your personal finances are not in such great shape. I can't believe that combining the two is not going to cause you an income tax [strike]headache[/strike] migraine in April.

I don't think you should go onto benefits unless you want to, but I do think you should look seriously at a DMP. With four kids and a business you have enough on your plate without threatening phone calls and letters. Many people on a DMP make extra savings so that they are able to make early full and final settlements.

You priority debts in the mean time are your rent, council tax and food. The rest can have token payments and a letter asking for written communication only. I wonder if you can use the fact that you are pregnant to remind them that you are vulnerable. You need breathing space so that you can enjoy this magical time.

Debtoxing

Ah, go on - I love to chat too!

There's not much point fretting about how you got into the mess - you just need to work out how you're going to get out of it and not do it again. There's no correlation between income and debt - we have a bigger income than you, but we're in even more debt. Just too careless for too long in our case - no excuses, really.

Have you got the CSA chasing up your maintenance payments? OK, so I know they're about as useful as a chocolate teapot, but I feel obliged to mention it. I don't like men who don't support their children! :mad:

Can your boyfriend help you out at all in other ways? Is he drop-dead gorgeous? Could you perhaps start another business and hire him out as an escort?! :rotfl:

L.
x

moneymakestheworldgoround

Thanks for advice Firefox. In my head I had equated benefits with DMP which now you have mentioned it, I have realised I had disregarded this option for no reason ! Dumbo ! Also get you on the business versus personal. Definitely a major issue which I can rectify this month.

Debtoxing - Maintenance - now I am a soft touch. I have seen too many friends have horrible divorces and separations. For me, its all about the kids and if me and the ex can keep amicable, share a pot of tea, buy each other birthday cards, and have the occasional family dinner, then I am happy. He was going bankrupt due to losing his job. Trouble is I totally empathise with his financial situation and I understand that if you dont have the cash, not alot you can do ! So I asked regularly, but didnt push him. I also understand that when you get a little money, it is absolutely heartbreaking to have to give it all away the same day ! He now has another job, so he offered maintenance straight away. Fingers crossed he keeps it :rolleyes:

Boyfriend - not gorgeous otherwise he could move in tonight ! But heart of gold. My situation and kids and good relationship with ex is all a bit too much for him to comprehend. When I had dealings with baliff, he nearly passed out. So he can support me mentally but I try not to go into detail ! He has just got a job after a year out of work, which he has been in for a few months, but the boss keeps hinting at redundancies sometime soon, so he doesnt know what his future will be. He has small debts from being unemployed, so I think the plan is when he clears those, he'll help me :T

Lots of silly questions about the car on ebay. God I hate selling cars on ebay. Its up to £26 now - whoopie do !

I've asked for lottery ticket for my birthday - is that stupid ??

Debtoxing

Good on you for putting your children first - I totally understand why you wouldn't want to jeopardise your relationship with your ex. But now that he has got a job, make sure you're completely honest with him about your own situation - your children need the money more than he does, and he surely won't want to see them sleeping on the floor at your friend's house. Subtle blackmail is a wonderful thing!

A lottery ticket will be the best birthday present you ever get if it comes up trumps - it may be a long shot, but someone has to win it! If you buy them online, I think you can get Cashback via Cashback Kings.

L.
x

moneymakestheworldgoround

oooh, Cashback Kings, not heard of that one !

So much to learn, so little time :mad:

My things to do list is huge ! But then again I have suffered from depression for most of this year and my things to do lists were the first things to go - too depressing seeing a list of things that needed my attention.

SO its good news that I am making one :T

I also picked up a housing list application form. ( Is that what its called?) The rent is half what I am paying now and the waiting list in my area doesnt seem to be too huge.

Is this a compromise on the benefits versus flying solo, or is it the same thing as going on benefits?

I dont really understand council lists !

kissjenn

Apologies - This is a big post

Hi, hope you're keeping well with the baby.

My tuppenceworth, in no particular order, and just ideas so please don't be at all offended.

1. Separate the business and personal accounts - you can have 2 personal accounts if you don't want business charges.
2. Set up regular maintenance agreements with your ex and current partners. Amicable is fine but it doesn't feed and clothe the kids. Look at what you're paying out, a pot of tea every now and again is not sharing responsibility.
3. If regular payment is out, reduce your childcare costs by fathers getting actively involved in picking up kids from school or them paying directly for these specific costs.
4. Your business has cash flow problems but a projected profit stream of £3k per month? What is your profit per box? Assuming you buy in boxes and resell at 100% profit (made up figure) including tax and NI you will need to sell £7k-£8k pounds of boxes a month (this will go up or down depending on your margin). How many is that physically? Do you have room to store and ship? Do you have premises (not on the SOA) and if in a rented house do you have permission and insurance to run a business from home?
5. Use your maternity time to write a business plan...if you want I can help. It will let you see if your plans are viable or not before you commit huge amounts of time and money.
6. Speak to the council about Housing Benefit. You can get it while self-employed towards part or all of your rent. Same with Council Tax. This isn't the same as throwing in the towel, these are top-ups while you have the baby and get on your feet.
7. Hold off leafleting people about a business until you know what exactly you can offer. Worse thing is to offer a service you can't deliver. If baby is reasonably soon and with 3 others and no day-to-day help can you honestly cope with this as well?

I agree with the 3 plates theory - I'd consider

1. Understand and reduce your day to day expenses - what is due when
2. Speak to council about Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit
3. Start on a business plan. What, when, where, how, who.

Happy to provide any further help I can. Just ask.

Bunny_Mad

Im new to 'posting' so I hope I am doing this right!

Congratulations on your pregnancy.
I think you are making a super attempt to juggle everything right now & your positive attitude to getting things in order can only help. And hopefully once its done you will have a little more peace of mind.

There are GREAT people on this forum & plenty of good advice.
I agree with what has been said.

I completely understand the reluctantcy to go on benefits. Some people can feel a loss of pride (mainly because of the stigma some newspapers & tv programmes put on it). BUT you need to remember you will only be getting what you are entitled to. There are many people getting benefits they dont qualify for & they dont give it a second thought. So if it makes financial sense...do it. :0)

I would however add something to the advice which I think is a priority.
(I cant see that this has been discussed, but I apologise if I tread on anyones toes.)

Having worked in finance all my life (sadly always the 'bad side of finance' : Debt recovery & Fraud). I have a good idea exactly what the banks/finance houses want & need.

The first thing is to contact all the creditors, explain that you are in financial difficulty (they will already know this, but a little more info will help.) That you have considered bankruptcy, but are making a last ditch effort to get your finances in order & that you are in the process putting together a new 'income & expenditure form' which you will forward to them within 30 days.

(Most companies would rather get what you can afford each month, than let you go Bankrupt & only get pennies to the £.)

Explain that in order to complete the form correctly you need a correct balance as repayments will be worked out on a pro-rata basis.
(**I have to admit I cannot remember if DWP (repayment of benefits) would accept this. Perhaps someone else out there can advise on that, please?**)

Ask all of them if there is intrest/late charges etc still been added to your account? And if so, could they please stop them for a period of time, as they are only compounding the problem. (You may be surprised how many companies will do this for an agreed period of time.)

This is the type of letter we/I used to get at the bank either sent from the CAB or from the account holder themselves.
(You could ask the CAB for help, but Im guessing that they are jam packed with requests in the current climate, and as you appear to have your witts about you, Im sure you can do it. (After all you only need to write the one letter & send it to all the creditors.)

Once you have all the balances & have worked out from your 'personal' & 'Business' Income & Expenditure forms, what you have available to pay debts each month, you can calculate it on a pro-rata. That way each creditor gets the same amount of your 'pennies' for each £pound that you owe them. (I can see from your I&E/Plan that this isnt in operation at the moment.)

This is the fair way of paying creditors & they should not argue with it, if you went to court (VA/CCJ) this is how it would be calculated & they would get much less from you, if you went Bankrupt.

And as another post mentioned, explain that you are a pregnant single mum, with 3 children. And perhaps that ...... due to stress levels you request all further correspondence to be via Letter.

I hope this helps in some way, and gets the creditors off you back.
Good Luck & STAY POSITIVE.

moneymakestheworldgoround

Hi kissjenn,

No offense taken. When you post on this forum site, you have to be prepared to take the abuse and the criticism along with the help and support. Would be very boring if everyone was the same. However, your opinion was valid and well put so thank you.

I take on board the getting my business affairs in order. I will devote the weekend to this. I do have a business plan I did when I was starting out, so I will reuse this and amend it. I know where to come for help so thank you !:T

I also sat down last night and worked out when the utilities were due, for how much and consumption for the year so thanks for the prod.

I dont want to claim HB and CT. I did try this last year and although it took the strain off, I was spending more time getting things for the council than on my own business. An adviser came round for 5 hours one day going through a review with me, and 3 days later I still had a letter requesting more info ! I felt like I had no more info left to give. Also due to an error which we disputed fault on, I was left with rent arrears, CT arrears and HB arrears. Long story but I am in more debt after their help than before. All their advice has been is give up work and go on IS.

But thanks for the advice. Much appreciated.