r/selfemployed

So I'm not really sure where to start, with this post and with self-employment. I got fired last month because my boss is losing his mind, and I'm tired of it. I'm tired of having to depend and rely on other people who turn around and screw me over; I'd rather bust my ass paying my own way then go back to a 9-5 that can get yanked out from under me the week the guy above me stops taking his meds.

I'm in a lucky enough position to live at home; I have a little bit of cash left over (about 4 digits), but bills are gonna eat that up before long. I have some skills with digital media and furniture restoration; I'm a fast learner and I like to think I'm good with people. No one I know is self employed, though, and I have no idea where or how to start. I'm looking for resources and information right now. How did you guys end up getting started? What lines of work are there, and how do you know which is right for you? Is there anyone I should be listening to or anything I should be reading? Any advice is appreciated right now.

I am a sole trader decorator - can I pay other sole trader decorators or general maintenance to give me a hand and they then log their own tax return?

Also - can a sole trader stay self employed if they only ever help another decorator on and off?

If it’s only in clients homes/domestic etc I don’t need to be cis? Never do building sites or construction.

Paye wouldn’t work as the work wouldn’t be frequent enough or guaranteed.

Frequency would be an odd month here and there if I take on a bigger job.

Every Sunday i sit down with coffee and review my finances because i actually enjoy doing it. The funny part is i realized recently that i rarely make any decisions afterward. I look through everything and go right back to my week. It feels like I've built a really good reporting dashboard instead of a really good system to take action from. How much do time do you guys spend reviewing vs actually taking action on your finances?

Hello everyone I’m a 27/M working in the banking industry as a financial analyst. Honestly this is my first “big boy” job as I was previously paying my way through grad school and got my MBA. I felt proud.

During those years I worked as servers/barback/medical field/doordash/etc. It was a grind to say the least and I’m glad I do not have to do that. So I landed a mid level role at a regional bank and it pays 78,500/yr plus I get a discretionary bonus which pays at 15% base so total comp is a little over $90k. Not bad.

But truth be told, the work is dead ass easy. I wish we could work from home and it’s totally applicable to do so but management as “separation anxiety” and we have to come into office. And as my first real job, I don’t have any leverage to really complain.

Then recently I had a one on one with my manager and suddenly he said something that struck a revelation in me. He said:

“We want to get our money’s worth out of you and we expect you to do x,y, and z…”

Some reason, that phrase “get our moneys worth out of you struck, not that I think my manager is a jerk in fact he’s quite flexible and I like the guy actually.

But like newtons law every action has an opposite and equal reaction, I also thought, “then I want to get my monies worth as well.”

So it’s got me thinking 🤔 “with this easy of a work load, it wouldn’t be so difficult to get another job/contract on the side and generate additional money income would it?”

I have my MBA, I am a CSM (scrum), and PMP approved my application and all I need to do is take the damn test which I am holding off right now.

So guys I need help, which roles/contract positions do you think would best suit to get MY MONIES worth?

For my job, I mostly work with excel, plan budgets, create general ledgers, do variance/regression analysis, analyze financial trends/patterns/anamolies/etc, create simple dashboards and visuals in powerBi for the executives. The role itself is a financial systems analyst since we are actually a fin-tech company merged with data and FP&A (financial planning and analysis).

So I’m a little stuck, the drive is in me, but I needs some guidance and direction thx🙏,

Shalom!

I’m a UK sole trader using cash basis and just want to double-check how tools and equipment should be treated for Self Assessment. My understanding is that most tools and equipment I’ve bought for work can be claimed as normal allowable expenses in the year I paid for them, rather than going through capital allowances (with any personal-use proportion excluded) for example I subcontract 5 days a week and 1 day a week I work on my own projects meaning I would claim roughly 80/85% of the total expenses. Is that correct ?

or are there circumstances where tools and equipment would still need to be claimed as capital allowances when using cash basis?
Thanks in advance folks

I am leaving my full-time salaried job in the next few months, with a plan to explore other avenues of work. I have saved for this anticipated time out of employment, however for security and schedule I do plan to pick up some part-time hospitality work etc.

My current job revolves around monthly processes, and although I gave my one month notice in June, for business continuity, my employer asked me to stay on longer, which I have agreed to on a part-time basis.

They have assigned a new person to the role, who I have been training. Although as the work revolves around monthly processes, picking this up is taking them a significant amount of time (as there is only one opportunity to review the tasks per month).

Although my personal circumstances mean I intend to leave permanent employment, I have offered to provide flexible, contracted training support for approximately 2 days per month in order to provide business continuity. My employer are currently finalising the checks regarding IR35 and internal procurement policy, but this looks like it will go ahead.

I plan to invoice monthly for my services, but I'm not sure what is appropriate as an hourly rate. My current role is salaried, with holiday and sick pay benefits, but works out to £25 per hour. Would £50 per hour be too much?

I know I should increase the rate to account for self-employment and the specialised training role I'm going to be providing, but any suggestions on an appropriate amount would be appreciated.

I keep my business and personal accounts separate, but making decisions still means bouncing between both because what happens in one always affects the other. I'm less concerned about bookkeeping and more interested in seeing the full picture before deciding things like owner draws or major purchases. Is anyone using software that handles that well?

So I recently got a freelancing contract from US and I am little bit confused on how I get my pay from them. So let’s consider I get thousand dollars per month from them without any tax. So how do I handle the finance of this amount? How should I file proof of work and I got suggestion that the payment must happen in skydo or wise for business so that there will be financial transparency and from my side, what should I do like? Should I file any ITR for me from my bank side? I am really new to this, so please help me out.

The line gets genuinely blurry when you work from home and your tools overlap with personal life. A software subscription that covers both client work and personal projects. A laptop that does both. A home office that is also just a room in your house. The IRS has rules about exclusive use for home office deductions and I get the theory, but in practice most freelancers I've seen discuss this online seem to be making judgment calls and hoping their logic holds up under scrutiny.

What I'm trying to work out is how strict that separation actually needs to be documented. Is a percentagebased split on a dualuse expense something you calculate once and apply consistently, or does it need to be logged with some kind of usage record? I've read conflicting things on this. Some people say keep it clean and simple, others are tracking hours per device.

The home renovation angle complicates it further for me. If a home office improvement is part of a broader renovation project, how do you isolate the deductible portion without it looking like you're just tagging personal spending as a business cost? That's the part I haven't seen a clean answer on anywhere.

If you've had a bookkeeper or CPA help you set up a system for this rather than just eyeballing it at tax time, what did that actually look like in practice?

Hello,

I am looking to start my own business in March next year but I have one question, Should I start as a sole trader or a limited company.

I already have my client lined up so the work will already be in place as I will be taking contracts from the company I currently work for.
I was wondering this for tax reasons and how I would go about paying myself, I still live at home with my parents therefore i will be saving as much as I can and am not fussed about paying myself a big wage every month.

Another factor would be costs of setting up the business and paper work. What can i expect from both?

Happy to answer any of your questions to help me come to a conclusion on this. Thanks.

I started a business about five years ago. Thankfully, the business is doing well. I have no employees, and not much overhead. I have built this from the ground up and I am at a point where I can turn work away if I want to. Too busy. Good problem to have I suppose. I’m very grateful. I have worked hard to get it to this point.

What I did not see coming is what happens when your business does well.
It’s not just the higher taxes, which were a major shock the first year I got hit with a larger bill in April.
I am in NY and we no longer qualify for health tax credits. So insurance is super pricey. My kid’s tuition has gone up based on Fafsa and not qualifying for state programs.

It feels like there is no real getting ahead in the middle class world. Once I feel good about busting my butt to build my business and make more income, the expenses also go up.
I’ve done several things such as an HSA account and my wife and I have IRA and Roth IRA. 529 for the kids.
But it just feels like when you start to feel ahead, you get hit with higher premiums and bills.

So. I pose the question:
Where is the sweet spot?
Why am I working extra hard just to feel like the treadmill is now moving faster and uphill?
Or am I imagining things?
I would venture to guess that I am banking some more money. It just seem to mostly go out the window.
But is there a limit I do not want to exceed? If I stay below a threshold do I ultimately get to keep more of my earnings?

I realize I am fortunate. I was not born with a silver spoon. I work hard and I am super grateful for the way things are currently going. I know this is not the case for everyone. And I do not take it for granted
Thanks for any advice

Hi guys,
My mental health has been deteriorating for a few years now. Last year I took 2 or 3 stints off work at a month a time, pretty much wiping out all savings I had. Since then it’s just been getting worse, I am not motivated, suicidal is on my mind from the seconds my alarm goes off. It’s a battle to get myself out of bed and into work.
The past few weeks I’ve been earning less and less money and I’m now on my arse. I owe money left right and centre, credit card maxed and can’t increase my overdraft anymore.
I could do with some time off to try and sort myself out but have no idea if there is help for self employed people?
I’ve been on anti depressants for a couple months now but they don’t seem to have made a difference.
Would really appreciate any help. Fed up of being a failure and the dark thoughts are peaking.
Thanks in advance I need help!

I'm in india and fiverr is asking me to fill a w-9 from when I'm trying to create a gig, but there is no link I can find where I can submit it, I checked ever

Running a small boutique for a few years now and the one thing that never gets easier is health insurance. Coming from a corporate background where HR handled everything, I had no idea how brutal the individual market was until I was actually in it.

Right now I'm paying more per month for my own coverage than I used to pay toward rent. And the deductibles aren't even that good. I looked at marketplace plans, looked at shortterm options, even went down the health sharing ministry rabbit hole for a while before deciding it felt too risky for my situation.

What I keep running into is that the options are either expensive and okay, or cheaper and kind of terrifying. There's no middle ground that actually makes sense.

For those of you running smaller operations, especially retail or service businesses where you're the only employee or close to it, what have you actually landed on? Did you find something through a professional association or a local chamber? Did you just accept the high premium and build it into your pricing?

I track my finances pretty obsessively so I know exactly what this is costing me each year, and it's genuinely one of my biggest line items. Curious what other people have figured out.

Bit of a long one, sorry.

I’ve worked for myself for a while now, and the thing that never got easier was how in the dark I felt about my own money. When you’re employed, a fixed salary lands and you roughly know where you are. Self-employed, it’s the opposite — income lumps in unevenly, expenses come out at random, and there’s always tax lurking somewhere in the future that isn’t really yours to spend. Some months I felt flush and overspent; others I was scraping, and I could never tell which kind of month I was actually in until it was too late.

I’ve got a background in software, so after one too many of these I started building the thing I wished existed. Not a tax app, not another budgeting app — just one place that tells you the truth about your money when your income isn’t a tidy salary:

**•**	Connects to your bank (read-only — it can only see your money, never move it)  
**•**	Shows what’s genuinely **safe to spend today**, once it accounts for what’s coming — bills, expenses, the quiet weeks  
**•**	Works out your **real income** after costs, not just what landed in the account  
**•**	Quietly **sets aside your tax** as you earn, so Self Assessment isn’t a January ambush  
**•**	Flags **money leaks** — forgotten subscriptions, sneaky price rises, double charges

The idea is one honest number instead of five apps and a gut feeling. It’s called Fettle. It’s early — I’m building it now and running a waitlist while I talk to actual self-employed people, to make sure I’m solving the real problem and not just the one in my own head.

That’s where I’d really value this community. A few honest questions:

**1.**	What’s the part that actually stresses you — the irregular income, the tax, not knowing what’s safe to spend, chasing expenses, or something else entirely?  
**2.**	Would you trust an app with read-only access to your bank, or is that a hard no?  
**3.**	If you’ve already got a system that works for you, what is it? Genuinely want to know what people land on.

Not selling anything today — it’s not even fully built, and honestly the feedback’s worth more to me right now than signups. Happy to answer anything about how it works.

Full disclosure, I’m the founder. If you want to follow along or join the waitlist, it’s at fettlemoney.co.uk — but no pressure, the questions above are what I’m really here for.

Hey everyone,
I’m looking to start a new business and I’m trying to find something with a low startup cost but good long-term potential.
I’m open to just about anything—service businesses, online businesses, local businesses, AI-related ideas, or something unique that most people overlook.
If you were starting from scratch today with limited money, what business would you get into and why?
I’d love to hear what’s working for people right now and what you’d avoid. Thanks in advance!

This came up recently and I'm still not totally sure what the cleanest answer is. A client wanted something more formal than an invoice before signing a longer contract with me. Not a tax document exactly, just something showing I have stable income as a freelance operator. I've seen people mention profit and loss statements, bank statement summaries, even a letter from an accountant. What I can't figure out is whether there's an actual standard that holds up, or if everyone is just cobbling something together and hoping it reads as credible

The mortgage angle makes it worse. I've been loosely looking into what home loans look like for selfemployed people and the income documentation requirements seem to vary wildly depending on the lender. Two years of Schedule C seems to be the baseline everyone references, but I've read conflicting things about whether a strong single year matters at all if year two is still building

If you've had to prove income for a loan, a lease, or even just a larger client contract, what did you actually use? Did a CPA put something together or did you handle it yourself? Curious whether there's something more reliable than showing a stack of invoices and hoping whoever is reviewing it understands how freelance income works.

I’m being hired as an Independent Contractor for an events company based in California. It’s required that I setup my own company with insurance and and EIN. I have a background of 15 years in events so the role isn’t new to me but setting up a company and billing a client is. Any advice on setting this up? Things to remember to make sure is in the contract?