Can you financially survive another lockdown?

[umpteennamechanges]

I've put this in chat rather than Coronavirus as I don't want to get into whether another lockdown is right or wrong...

If you are self-employed can you financially survive a January lockdown?

What about a lockdown in Jan and then another lockdown after a few weeks of relaxation?

We have seen an email from Jeremy Hunt saying our area (Hants) will go into Tier 4 from 30th December (I would be expecting this now anyway irrespective of the email).

We've already used the maximum mortgage holiday allowed.

We've used all of our savings.

We've cut back to the bone.

We've taken in a lodger.

We've set up two new businesses.

We are also doing temp work.

But if we have to close our gym again we won't be able to make our mortgage payment next month.

And we're out of options now really, I can't think of much else we can do.

Is anyone else the same?

Hi op

I'm not self employed to a degree however my monthly wage depends on commission and extras. Ive lost 6 months of that so far and even the 4 months being back working its under regulations so lack of commission again.

The car vet bill and oven blowing up during the lockdown wiped out our savings we keep for emergencies and due to redundancies two years ago we haven't built up any savings as yet.

I've worked for the same small independent business for 24 years and am seriously worried.

I don't think the business can sustain another lockdown so il be buggered

Self employed fitness instructor. Since 23rd March when first lockdown started, I've worked 3.5 months only, am now tier 4 so again no work and talk of tier 4 till Easter - gyms always last to re-open. Too recently self-employed for govt help.
3.5 months money out of a year probably.
No I can't.
I looked at a job in a local care home in the 1st lockdown but wasn't offered it. I read that 18 of their residents have died and 45 of their staff had covid. The only jobs I see advertised are in care. So dilemma is to have no money or work in a setting with significant risk. I'm over 50 otherwise no risk factors but still don't particularly want to get it having come this far without.

I feel for you OP

I could financially survive one or two more lockdowns (if I was very careful) but if all of this goes on past the spring then I’ll be really scuppered without financial assistance from the government. Are you able to pay your tax bill in Jan? I can if there isn’t another lockdown. If there is then I’ll struggle to pay it as might need some of that money to live on as have used up my savings. I also applied for a part time care position and also a job in a local takeaway but didn’t get them.

gyms always last to re-open

I sympathise, but you're forgetting that some industries have not opened at all since March - namely nightclubs, weddings, conferences and other events like festivals.

Spectator sports and international holiday travel also barely functioning. Some of these expect to be closed well into 2021 plus are often seasonal so unless they get much of the May to September season, which is looking unlikely, they won't have a chance of doing much until Spring 2022, so that's almost no income in 2 years.

Plus not a lot of help from government as many have been the wrong sort of self employed and not through their own choice usually.

Well, as long as my husband and I keep our jobs we'll be ok. It'll be tough, but it'll be ok. He lost his job a month ago but walked into another albeit 30k less per year

DH and I both self employed but are able to work during lockdown, albeit if schools are closed it will be harder. We both have less work coming in than usual but luckily have been eligble for all 3 grants. For us it is more of a longterm anxiety for the future of our sector leading to a lot less work in the future than immediate concern about finances. I feel for you OP and all others directly impacted.

I’m not self employed. We can survive another lovely. But we are well aware that all the fun things that make life enjoyable, local restaurants, keeping fit, theatre and cinema, concerts and live gigs. These cannot survive and I’m not sure I’d want to survive in a world with no joy.

I can't. Just did another 2 month mortgage holiday in anticipation, but that will take me to the maximum I can do.

DH and I both employed and wfh on same pre-covid salary. DMIL and DSIL are both self employed. DMIL is WFH but as it is freelance, earnings can vary. At the start of the pandemic, the work dried up and I remember having to put aside a few thousand in case she needed it. the works seems to have returned but i wonder if the same will happen again if there are more lockdowns. DSIL has been hit badly as she is a musician but has found online teaching work as well as teaching in schools. But all adhoc and badly paid and she doesn't qualify for any of the government support schemes. She is on UC at the moment to supplement earnings.

Could you remortgage to extend the term and therefore have lower monthly payments?

I sympathise, but you're forgetting that some industries have not opened at all since March - namely nightclubs, weddings, conferences and other events like festivals

yes of course, I feel massively for those affected too.

Main income is self-employed work and it has almost completely disappeared since March. Earned about 2k so far.....

We are living off the seiss payments and UC.

Some family are in the arts/events and haven't had any income at all.

It is truly shit.

At least with another lockdown they might bump the seiss payments up again (they were threatening 20% for the last 3 months...)

We will manage just about.
Entertainment and music family.
We have had to find new ways of doing business and become teaching performers.

If schools close, no. Dh was made redundant after the 1st lockdown and I'm a supply teacher and don't get paid if I don't work. I was furloughed but not sure if that'd happen again.

We can as we're NHS. But we know how lucky we are and how shit it is for others. We have close friends who have lost jobs in IT and hospitality.

Can I ask OP where the email came from RE moving into tier 4? From government to business owners?

Just had a google as I'm in Hampshire but can't see anything relevant (except cases rising exponentially)

Yes as I am a care assistant in a residential home. I have no traveling costs. I have worked throughout both lock downs and tired now.

Self employed fitness instructor here too......it’s utterly crap and I don’t see much changing next year for our industry.
Thinking of you OP :-(

It's on the fence really, not within major compromise that I'm not sure what that will be. My husband is on a fire and rehire with British Gas to severely compromise their jobs, like absolutely horrific terms! My business hasn't run at all this year so we were banking on that being back up and running but If he accepts my business probably won't be able to run fully as his hours will increase exponentially (for less pay and no pay) and having disabled children I can't leave them. So that will be a massive struggle for us. However if he doesn't go in after the rehire he doesn't have a job and my business can't run because we are in lockdown so that's it, we are dead in the water. Our savings etc went into the business as it was a new business (and hence can't claim anything either) so probably wouldn't make the next months mortgage payment.

I'm not self-employed.

Assuming that Jeremy Hunt is giving accurate information, the only crumb of comfort is that you are given a week's warning, which may be of small help.

I too am in the fitness industry and feel for you. I've received very little in the way of government help (less than £100 per month and nowhere near enough to pay my business expenses, let alone pay myself anything) because my business is relatively new and didn't make any/much profit to start with. I took on a temporary job during the first lockdown but gave that up once I was able to build my own business back up again as doing both was too much to manage. Now it looks like I'll be back to square one again. DH's salary barely covers our bills as we had already taken a massive drop so that I could leave a very stressful career and start my business. We are managing - just - but will be paying off the debts we've incurred for a very long time.

It's all so crap but I am determined to find a way. I'm thinking about applying for one of the many census jobs that are being advertised, assuming that goes ahead of course. If I could do that then I'd have a little income and the flexibility to do some work on my business, whenever that is allowed again.

What frustrates me more than anything is that my business is based on exactly what we need to be doing at the moment to improve health and wellbeing - getting people exercising outside, in the fresh air.

I would be thinking about what you can do to diversify and bring in new sources of income. You said you've started 2 new businesses, but are they making money? Dh has a business (I'm lucky to be employed with a good salary, so we have a fall back too), but his business primarily sells to restaurants, private chefs, caterers. None of whom have been very busy this year. He's shifted his marketing approach to private clients and never been busier. Can you start up work with personal training, outdoor boot camps, online classes? My yoga teacher has been teaching remotely by Zoom all this time.

I’m self employed but I work for someone else if that makes sense. I’m a housekeeper. I have worked through lockdown and my job is fairly secure. So I have Been okay. And I don’t foresee that changing I hope.

Like someone else on here, I'm NHS thus have been working overtime since March, and my DH's job is secure.

We are very fortunate (apart from having to get up a bit too close and personal to Covid from time to time!..).

But I want to express that I really feel for people in much more precarious work situations than we are, and that I have attempted to shop local and use local services wherever I can throughout 'all this' and will absolutely do so once the worst is past.

But I'm sorry it's such a shit and worrying time for so many.