Why can't I do this? Please could someone look at my info and tell me what to do :(

bexster1975

Glentorran99

Get yourself over to the old style board and tell them you spend £177 a month for one adult and one child on groceries - they will put you right

Bexster:)

twirlywooo

Big client died Sorry, I shouldn't but that made me smile! She was 95, so it was expected - but building up the income stream to rival that is equal to about 30 smaller clients (it is a home help recruitment business: cleaners / support workers / nannies etc)

I am trying to advertise in the usual places, and I am hoping it will pick up soon, it is just this period waiting / hoping for that to happen that is terrifying. Plus, I am so broke I don't really have the money to throw at paid advertising at the moment, it's a bit chicken and egg isn't it?

I have emailed capital one for interest rates, vanquis appear to have locked me out my account and I can't find paperwork for barclaycard so will give them a call now!

kazwookie

Hi

Does the child's father pay anything towards the child? if not it might be worth chasing him up for £

What is the franchise business? it would be worth going through your contact with them, or getting someone else to, and see what the termination time / charges are, again for this 'office'.
As some one has said you need to get your client base up, maybe social media etc could help for this.
Just an idea but what if you did nothing for the franchise, but found yourself a job else where earning more, / and get rid of the car / what legally could the franchise do to you?

Good luck

glentoran99

bexster1975 wrote: »

Glentorran99

Get yourself over to the old style board and tell them you spend £177 a month for one adult and one child on groceries - they will put you right

Bexster:)

Might just do that, Our shop for two adults and two kids was £170 last week

bexster1975

Oh dear! Superhuman powers needed to bring that client back then that's a shame. I confess I know nothing about your industry but completely agree re chicken and egg. It is why I have waited so long to go fully self employed as it is always a gamble and I'm certain very stressful. Brilliant getting on to capital one and Barclaycard. I know interest rates may seem scary, but very smart people here will need them to help you " snowball" your debt if they know interest rates. Do people ever advertise a need for these services on places like gumtree? Just a thought from thin air. Also, where you are staying does it have a spare room? I only ask as you can earn about £4500 tax free by renting out a room. I know its not your place but if you spoke to a family member about your situation, they may not object to you renting out a room for a while. I understand with a child you may not be comfortable doing this though.

You are already doing better than you think

Bexster:)

twirlywooo

Hi yes, I get £250 a month from my ex. He also puts an additional £150 a month away for us which I tend to get in a lump sum (he lives abroad now so gets hammered on the exchange rate and prefers to transfer in one big go) this is rubbish for someone like me who cant budget to save her life!

bexster1975

Glentorran99

Definitely you should. They can do amazing things over there. Almost £720 a month on food is a lot. They are very nice over there and won't savage you for what you spend, but they will be shocked!

Have seen similar sized family shops at well under half your spend, and if you only cut £200 a month off that's like a raise of £2400 a year!

Good luck with it

Bexster

clint_S

glentoran99 wrote: »

Might just do that, Our shop for two adults and two kids was £170 last week

What on earth are you buying? We average £70 - £80 per week for two adults, two teenagers and an active 7 year old. I don't think I even spent that much at Xmas.

amorge

twirlywooo wrote: »

Oh Thank you!

Ok, hang on and I will go through the points!

I am in receipt of working tax credits - my wage was £700 higher up until a few weeks ago but my biggest client has just left. I am tied into this franchise business for another 4 years and I need my car to get to clients house or I would love to get rid of it!

I don't know what car maintenacne costs are..... it broke down last month and cost me £600 to repair, but I wouldn't know on a monthly basis what to say for this category?

Tv / council tax / internet / house insurance/ all bills are included at the moment until April 2016 - I am living in a relatives house while they are away. I am really so fortunate right now, but need to be in a better position for April as I will need to move out then.

Mobile phone: I would love to reduce this. Do I just call them and explain I am struggling?

Interest rates on cc's..... I don't actually know. God this is shameful. I know they are all high in the 30% regions, but am not sure what exactly. I will see if I can dig this out.

Food: I cook from scratch at the moment - I have included babywipes / shampoos / cleaning products in with this. I still think I can get it down a bit though, I was trying to be honest about what it was currently rather than taking just a good week.

Petrol: I need the car for work so this, if anything, will go up as I try and get new clients. My son is at nursery school 30 mins away too, so from Sept this will be an additional cost, until I can manage to move us in April.

Additional Child care cost as £130pm is really incidentals. My mum does my childcare for free so I try and take her for a meal, pay back soft play costs etc. It is cheaper than official childcare, but could be cut back to a degree too.

Right, i will try dig out interest rates and call vodafone. Thank you all so much. I am feeling so scared. I hate being self employed!

Try and roughly work out what the car costs over a year and then just divide by the 12.

i think the extra childcare can be cut right down, get your mum round for a nice dinner instead. My local leisure centre do a 'leisure card' for parents in receipt of both WTC and CTC and it reduces a swim to something like £1 a go; might be worth seeing if yours does something similar for a cheap saturday activity.

With Vodafone - yes I'd give them a call now and explain you need to reduce your monthly contract amount due to finances, they will probably say you have to wait until half way through, get the date and add to your calendar so you can do it on the day

x

bexster1975

Clint_s I think grocery shopping is very much just different strokes for different folks. Thank you for highlighting an example of a similar family though who can do groceries on half ( or less!) the spend.

Bexster