Self employed with no income, please advise!

Jeanie_Olivia

In February 2011, my mother died suddenly. Upto that point I had been working as a self employed social worker working through agencies. It took some time to get over the shock of her death and there was no work available locally, due to the cut backs in the budgets of the local authorities. Consequently I spent approximately 10 months out of work. As I had been self employed I understood that I would not be eligible to claim benefits (despite making contributions to tax and NI), I lived off my savings and began working again in October on a much lower income. My savings are gone and my credit cards are loaded to a level well beyond my comfort zone. Any suggestions to help out would be gratefully received!:(

chevalier

http://www.makesenseofcards.com/soacalc.html

Can I suggest you fill this in, to see for yourself if there is anywhere you can cut back.

If you want to can post it on here, and we can offer suggestions.

Sorry about the death of your mum, that must be really tough.
chev

amyloofoo

So sorry to hear of the loss of your mum, and the resulting loss of income. Things must have been very hard over the last few months and I really feel for you.

I agree with the poster above, please complete an SOA so people can offer you advice specific to your situation. If you're now on a low income and have no savings, it may also be worth looking into any benefits you're entitled to as you may be able to claim income support, tax credits or other benefits. This can be checked at http://www.turntous.org.uk .

Depending on the level of debt - have you approached your card providers or a debt charity such as CCCS. If you explain the situation then you may be able to negotiate lower repayments or enter a DMP. I can't really advise further without knowing more of the specifics.