help!! so skint struggling with expenses

pixienix

Annisele wrote: »

I'm afraid I'm getting very confused with those figures - I can't turn them into a weekly income of £60 from taxi driving.

If I just pull out the car related costs:

Monthly income after tax................ 240

Petrol/diesel........................... 100
Road tax................................ 10.75
Car Insurance........................... 157
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 300 really? that looks very high
fees to office for work................. 360 xda rental and bookings fee

If that's the case, then your monthly income from taxi driving is £240, but your costs are £928. So, presumably your £240 is your take-home pay (it'd actually be £260 per month if you're earning £60 per week; there are a bit more than four weeks in an average month). How much do you actually earn, before taking into account tax and expenses?

How many hours a week do you work? National minimum wage is £5.80 per hour - as you're self-employed you don't have to be paid that. You'd get £60 per week on an NMW job if you worked 11 or 12 hours a week - is that an option for you?

Can you negotiate on the £360 fees to your office? If work has gone down, then those fees ought to be negotiable.

my takings on average working week 9.30am til 3pm mon-fri (27 1/2 hrs pw) before expenses is £370

i started taxi driving 10 years ago, the reason i chose to do this was the flexibility, i dont have to ring up and explain why i'm not coming out to work if one of my kids is sick or has a teacher training day etc and i used to be able to afford to take school holidays off with the kids, i have lived on just my tax credit and child benefit during holidays since last october as the bank accont is empty and im starting to panic because the long summer hols are looming closer.
the office charges £20 a week to stay on their books when im not working.
i would quite happily do any job as long as it pays the bills and feeds my kids, nmw job would be fine as long as i can do it around school hours, i've been looking for months and still havent found anything

pixienix

pixienix

Emmzi wrote: »

re: working vs not working - how old are the kids?

one is 8 and the other is 10 in june

Emmzi

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/MoneyTaxAndBenefits/BenefitsTaxCreditsAndOtherSupport/On_a_low_income/DG_175842

I read that as you could claim income support until october on lone parent grounds, then move to JSA thereafter, within current rules.

pixienix

Oneday77 wrote: »

If your self employed are you declaring all the taxi expenses ie fuel, maintenance, insurance, office fees and comms cost. They should reduce your tax a fair bit.

On the CSA front if they have you paying £100 a month they must think wages wise you clear more than you do. Ask for a review

i havent had to pay tax for the last 2 financial years, my income was too low and my tax bill was nil

csa- ive asked for a review but the wont reduce the amount as £15 a week is arrears £10 is the payment

pixienix

Emmzi wrote: »

I read that as you could claim income support until october on lone parent grounds, then move to JSA thereafter, within current rules.

that will be the last resort emmzi, i had my kids i should provide for them, not you, the tax payer! sorry but that is my beliefs!
i'd rather find another way out of this mess if possible

pixienix

MrsE wrote: »

If you're making £60 a week you would be better jacking it in & getting a regular job.
My DH is a cabbie & it has been quite since Jan, he has moved offices, which is a shame because he really liked the other area but it was time to move on.

believe me i would jack it in today if i could find a regular job that i could do around the kids, i've been looking and found nothing and i'm not being fussy about what i do either, i'll do anything as long as it pays the bills and puts food on the table

bluebag

pixienix wrote: »

that will be the last resort emmzi, i had my kids i should provide for them, not you, the tax payer! sorry but that is my beliefs!
i'd rather find another way out of this mess if possible

I can understand why you want to work and support your children, but sadly you didn't make the system,you just have to try your best to work with it. There is no point in working to lose money.

Trying to do the right thing isn't always the 'right thing' if you understand what I mean.
Sometimes it means you have to accept what it is, and not how it should be.

Whatever you decide to do I wish you all the best, it's hard out there.
bb

Emmzi

pixie, if you keep on "working" and making a loss at it, it does no one any good.

Go on IS and use the time to really work at finding the RIGHT job. Right now you are throwing your cash away in a SE role that isnt working.

I'd rather your kids had food now, and a happy, employed parent in a few months time. While your motivation to keep ploughing on is laudible it is not logical.

babymoo

You say that you have 2 kids who live with their dad who you pay CSA to. Do you received money for the girls that are living with you? This is confusing me slightly. I don't know much about the issue don't have children so not sure how it works but I would have thought it would work both ways.

PasturesNew

Taxi drivers I knew years ago would lend their car to car-less drivers to make more money. Is that an option for you? Of course there'd be more costs and a risk, but does anybody do that these days? Could you?

Or, is it possible to rent your plate out, or something?

Would it be possible to give up the taxi and work the radio, maybe not now, but next time the job's available?