Mum self employed, financial difficulties - What help is available?

icantsurf

My mum is a self-employed mobile hairdresser. She earns about £200 a week, so about £10k/year. After bills we have about £100.

We were scraping by, but my brother got into financial trouble and now we are sinking fast. I have about £3k in savings, but it won't last very long.

I'm 20 and am on the introductory ESA rate of £50/week (For CFS). My brother is turning 22 and can't claim JSA until November because he quit his job or something, he now lives with my mum and me.

My mum used to get tax credits for me because I was under Connexions, but now I am on ESA apparently that will stop. She is welcome to my ESA, but I don't think it will be enough.

Are there any benefits or support available to us? My mum tries to be brave and keep working, but if we would be better off going on benefits in the current climate I see no shame in it. Is there any support for her to learn new skills? She is trying to find another job, but not getting any responses.

I will try and get information on mortgage, etc. and if there is any other information that would be useful to you.

Thanks

bestpud

£250 a week is not that bad an income for three of you tbh.

You should be fine with £100 after bills. Have a look around the boards for help with budgeting and cutting outgoings.

Your mum needs to kick your brother into touch! As in 'get a job or there is the door!'

icantsurf

I've tried to get more detail, it's hard to explain it all by proxy. I don't really understand most of it.

I think this was last week:
£164 after business expenses
£90 after bills left, excluding £60 loan and dog insurance (I think it was)
Also at the moment brother's car insurance and things
She said something about spending more than we were bringing in.

That's including tax credits but excluding my ESA, so I'm not sure what the difference will be.


I don't really know what more we can do. We can and will try budgeting moreso, but other than food we only really buy necessities. My mum bought some flowers the other week, that is about the extent of our extravagances. I don't mean to seem ungrateful, but I guess we haven't made the most of our expenses.

It is difficult because my mum's income fluctuates, her customers are growing old and, frankly, dying off. I have lots of allergies so food for me can be expensive, I get very hypoglycaemic even eating massive meals so I am quite a big drain.

My mum won't stand up to my brother because he has a bad temper and a bit of a drug habit, and in the end he is still my brother.

I guess this has turned into more of a rant. If there aren't any kind of benefits this might be the wrong category to post in. It's just a bit frustrating watching as we circle the drain, and I feel kind of helpless.

Can someone link to straightforward guides that might be able to help us? I'm not very good with information at the moment, so while this site is a great resource it is very overwhelming for me.

Is there anyone we can contact to get financial advice? I still think it would be good if my mum could retrain. I guess even a job at Sainsbury's would probably be useful right now.

Sorry for the rant, I appreciate anyone taking the time to read this

angel13

i dont know about benefits but as your mum is already self employed she could consider doing mystery shopping to earn some more cash as she already does her own books. you could also do this and at your age there are various selected jobs offered to you
look in the mystery shopping thread - OP has all the links and any questions there are tons of nice people to help
ive only been doing it since april and ive had meals out, night away in hotel and other perks as well as making some money. also if you go out for a meal helps cut down the grocery costs at home as well

angel13

as for a part time job at supermarket you could also get one of these and not just your mum. as an adult it shouldnt be just your mum being left to work to pay all the bills IMHO. I had a baby and a home of my own at your age and I managed to get through it.

Bennifred

It might be worth you Mum talking to someone at the Citizens' Advice Bureau - they will know what options are open to her.

I agree that both you ane your brother should be making every effort to get any job, part-time or otherwise, to help pay your way. You are both adults now, after all.

p.s. Why/how is your brother running a car if he has no income?? He should sell it and contribute the money to the household! And brother/son or not, your Mum shouldn't have to put up with being bullied by someone with a bad temper and a drug habit:mad:. How is he funding that??

krisskross

Sounds as if Mum is still supporting 2 adult children as well as herself on one fairly small income.

She wouldn't get much on benefits, just JSA if she was entitled and that is only about £65 a week.

Do you get DLA or any financial help because of your illness other than ESA?

bestpud

Temper and drug habit or not, if you both continue making excuses for your brother because he is your brother/son, the your financial woes look set to continue!

So first things first, stop the car insurance - too lazy to work = no car, simple as!

Sorry but I have little sympathy for people who pander to their bullying oaf of a child and then expect the state to help them out.

Joyful

A good place for your Mum to contact is https://www.moneyadvicetrust.org They will be able to advise if she is entitled to any more help.

James123_2

A few thoughts ....
Working Tax Credit is awarded up to an income of £6420 and then reduced by 39% above this figure. I haven't done the number-crunching, so I'm not sure whether you'd be entitled. However, tryhttp://www.entitledto.co.uk/ which might help you to work things out. For a lot of things you might just be above the benefits threshold - such as council tax relief. Your Local authority website should have a ready-reckoner as to whether there's help here.
As a self-employed person your mum should be able to claim a large percentage of her turn-over in costs. It might be worth looking again at her mileage allowances (if she's a mobile hairdresser) & other expenses - heat/light etc if she's home-based - or, indeed, a mixture of both. Talk to your tax office - it's what they're there for!
As regards your brother, it would seem that the other posters have got him sussed.
Good luck anyway.

bitsandpieces

Definitely get advice from CAB or similar on what benefits (e.g. DLA) and tax credits are available. It sounds like your brother has been sanctioned for a long time for JSA - it might be worth discussing that, as well, and whether it's worthwhile appealing (not saying it is, but it doesn't hurt to ask at CAB).

In terms of budgeting, a person can typically can eat a healthy diet pretty cheaply: cutting down on processed foods and replacing some of the meat you eat with more non-meat sources of protein (if you eat meat/processed foods to begin with) can both save money and be broadly healthy. If you have particular needs, you'll obviously need to be more careful. It's well worth asking your GP for a referral to a dietitian: so you can work out a diet plan which fits both your needs and your budget.

If you're struggling to pay for essentials, it may be time to make hard choices about non-essentials (e.g. your brother's car). Which sucks - and hopefully things will quickly improve - but may be necessary for now. You could discuss some of the options with CAB.