Self employed budget advice please

[OnMyWhistle]

Hi, I’m trying to organise my finances better. Currently, everything is paid but I am frequently borrowing money from one bank account to pay into another and often get charged by the bank because I am just not organised enough. I’m self employed and I think I need to somehow separate my work and personal finances so that I pay myself a wage – does that make sense?
DP and I earn roughly the same – he pays the (hefty) mortgage and I pick up everything else. We get a little help from tax credits, plus I also get child benefit for 3 and child maintenance from my ex.
I have done a detailed MSE budget. On paper there is plenty of money to go around with some left over but it never works out that way in reality. As I’m self employed my money arrives in bits and pieces, weekly, monthly, into the bank, cheque, some larger payments every couple of months – you get the idea. What I need help with is how to organise monthly Direct debits, pay for food shopping, fuel, kids school stuff and activities, dentist, hairdressers, yearly payments like ground rent etc and then put a monthly sum aside to cover Christmas and birthdays.
Ideas so far include:
Using multiple bank accounts with debit cards
Have everything paid into just one a/c, pay myself a wage then divide the rest into envelopes?
Get a credit card and pay in full each month
Use some sort of app to track spending

Or something else? I’d welcome advice from other self-employed people on how to get organised – I’m giving myself a headache!

I have a current and savings account. I try to start each month with £x in my current account. If I get a big payment in I transfer out to savings then if I'm not expecting a lot in a future month I transfer some back over. If I sort it all on 1st of the month then it's like having a monthly salary.

either have a separate account that you use for the business and do a monthly drawings to the household accounts (remember that there are no "wages" in self employment)

or use a credit card for everything and pay it off in full every month

It's very difficult to manage and will be harder when your personal and business accounts are the same.

Please open a separate business account. Have all your work related expenses come out of there and all invoices paid into there. At the end of the month pay yourself a reasonable wage. Even if you keep some money in the bank you can use it as a top up if you have a bad month.

Account fees are allowable expenses deductible for tax purposes so shop around for something that works best for you

Best of luck!

And even though *talkinpeace' is entirely right that there are no wages with self employment I find that referring to it as a wage sometimes helps the mindset of budgeting!

Im trying to set up my own buissness called tax credits but they are refusing to make any changes until i have stopped claming income support
However its impossible to get through to income support
I am now back on phone to tax credits and cant get through
Feel like im banging my head against a brick wall

Thanks everyone for the advice, Ive made some changes and I'm going to trial using a credit card and paying in full each month.