Fat, forty and flat broke? No thanks!

yeovilmac

After reading so many wonderful online diaries, I thought I'd start one of my own. Well, it will actually start on October 1st as I need a few days to sort myself out and it will also mark exactly seven months till my 40th birthday.:eek:

Me? I'm a man, 39, 6'4" tall with dark hair, green eyes and a good sense of....oops, wrong forum...:whistle: , sorry. Anyway,where was I? Ah yes, well I'd better post my SOA first and let you analyse, I'll take your replies ( assuming I get some ) and put them into action before October 1st.

Right, I'm a self-employed courier that's just started my own business hence I get WTC and HB. Based on estimates, these levels won't be maintained next time I have a review.I'm single and live alone. I have four children, two of which stay every weekend from 3pm Friday till 6pm Sunday. They are cuter-than-cute identical twin boys aged six and I love them to bits...:kisses: ... that's me in the middle!!:rotfl:

Here's my SOA anyway, short description below. All figures converted into weekly amounts for ease.

INCOMINGS

WTC £46.25
HB £114.23
Job1 £70.00 - this is a regular weekly job, working every day
Job2 £40.00 - this is an ad-hoc job that averages out at this amount
Job3 £40.00 - this is a job I do for one month, four times a year and averages out at this amount

OUTGOINGS

Rent - £127.00 ( 2 bed flat in Bristol, ex council, huge, value for money)
C/Tax - £3.00 ( low as still receiving HB )
Gas - £8.00 ( arrears of £37 :rolleyes: )
Water - £12.00 ( arrears included in this amount )
Electric - £8.00 ( arrears of £151 :rolleyes: )

Sky - £7.00 ( package not including any movies, sports channels )
BT - £10.00 ( Broadband and Phone inc, on contract, arrears on top of £175 :rolleyes: )
3 Mob - £8.00 ( 400 mins, 250 texts a month, this will be from Oct, I'm on half price at the mo )
H/keep - £20.00 ( inc everything in this, i.e non-food items )
CSA - £6.00 ( low as based on last years assessment )
Football Season ticket - £9 ( paid over 8 months, averages out at this amount )
Football / training - £7 ( this is for the twins )


Fuel - £68.00 ( this includes private and business mileage )
Car Tax - £4.00 ( paid in 6 monthly chunks )
Car Ins - £8.00 ( quite high as includes business use )
TV Licence - £3.00

By my reckoning, this leaves me £2 each week left over. In reality though, there are other ad-hoc jobs I do which aren't in the figures,for instance, I'm going to Chester next week for a client which will cost £45 in fuel but will pay £115. I haven't included tax and NI in this either which will be a problem. These jobs happen several times a year and I never lose money on the jobs.

Looks bad, dunnit? Add to that an account with Provident for which I owe £800 and arrears to the CSA of £2,850 ( all paid to the mother but without receipts, only got the letter last month and it dates back to 1999 ) and I'm sinking fast. I take the twins football training at 5pm on Wednesdays and collect them from school at 3pm on Fridays so the self-employment lifestyle suits but I'm not sure how long I can manage it. I've registered for AQA so fingers crossed, that will help too.

No wonder I'm single isn't it?:( . The fat bit? Well I'm overweight and I'm determined to get down to my fighting weight by May 1st. my 40th birthday. Would be nice to have someone to share life with by then too and a little money to spend so I've had to swallow my pride and ask for help. Stupid thing is, I went bankrupt in 2005 and lost £20k of debts, things have been worse than this, but I can't go down that road again.

Can you help?

tigtag02

:hello: yeovil and welcome to [STRIKE]the madhouse[/STRIKE] DFW

You SAO does look pretty tight I cant see many ways to cut back which leaves the bringing in more option.

How new is your business? Are you likely to be upping the ante anytime soon with work coming in?

We are all here to help and support and a few of us are also on the weight waggon :rolleyes: ~ if you pop on over to THIS thread you can join in there too

trying-very-trying

Hi, I'm sure someone wiser will be along shortly to impart their advice.

Quick look, I would say the sky has to go, are you on the cheapest gas & electric? You could try changing, but use quidco for the cash back.

vyvyan_2

Hi and welcome ! :wave:

hmmm you've forgotten food etc. that'll help the waistline! lol

More constructive help will be along in a mo.....

yeovilmac

vyvyan wrote: »

Hi and welcome ! :wave:

hmmm you've forgotten food etc. that'll help the waistline! lol

More constructive help will be along in a mo.....

That was counted under my housekeeping total....

MRSMCAWBER

Hi there yeovilmac

Well for the food - which is allready pretty low - you need to pop over and introduce yourself to us all on the Old Style board.... bet the peeps on there can help you trim that - and your waist line down :rotfl: .... talking as someone who is in the midst of doing so myself you understand....:D

look forward to seeing you over there...SOON;)

candygirl

Hi come over to the murphys no more pies, dieting group.we are all really friendly and don't bite, honest;)

pania

hi yeovil and LOL at the start of your post!!!
you have the most important things sorted, our beautiful twins, your health and your sense of humour to it would seem. i honestly think that the bringing in more money option would be the best thing for you to consider? look at the on line survey sites and wrack those brains for other things you can do to raise money. what do you do for a living? do you have any hobbies you are good at to make extra money? any of your childrens old toys or clothes you can amazon ebay or car boot? you're doing very well on such a low income, be proud of yourself and concentrate on moving forward. big hugs to get you going.
P
xx

JCD_Capulet

Yeo, I'll not hear another thing about your weight, young man! Our bodies are just the shells that allow our souls to walk the earth (I'm not religious, but I guess to some degree, spiritual). Size, shape, colour ect is of no consequence. So you do what you please to make yourself happy, but don't let such unimportant things get you down

All the best in your debt free journey!
Joanne.

taxi73

Hi and welcome I agree with all the other posters and just wanted to welcome you

OberonSH

Hello from me too.

My first step would be to ebay/amazon anythign not nailed down, and get rid of some of those pesky little bits. Then I'd start my spending diary - note absolutely anything you spend - you'll be surprised how often that paper or choccy bar add up.

Have you contacted the monther about her backing you up on having paid the amount that's disputed?

I'd get rid of sky of you can. Yes it's only £7 a month, but that's the CSA payment taken care of.

Weight wise, I swear by the South Beach Diet, but that's my personal opinion. Good luck, and glad to have you with us.