Dragonfly

Thanks for the positive outlook on it all! I totally get where you're coming from, and it does seem commonplace to at the very least have a stable job that 'pays rent', with freelancing coming in after that to pay for entertainment / luxuries.

In regards to tax etc, I'm not sure where you're from but I'm in the UK, so it may be that the way tax is handled is totally different based on region.

For now until I fully understand the math behind it, I'm dividing all income into 3:

• 1st third will be moved into a savings account, which will be used to pay all taxes etc.
• 2nd third will be moved into my personal bank account, allowing me to use it as I see fit, most likely on bills and other bs life throws my way
• 3rd third (lol) will be left in the 'business' account, which will go towards my monthly Adobe CC subscription, hosting bills and other business outgoings.

I hope to move various expenses such as mobile phone bill into becoming a 'business expense', so long as I earn enough to consistently pay it off. :)

Oh, of course, after nearly 15 years of regularly posting on forums I still assume people are from the US. OK, forget trading tax tips heh.

That's quite a few accounts you're running. I think the setup's good for organizational purposes, but for practical management purposes, most people never have more than 2 (Savings and Everything Else). I personally keep 1 at the moment, but it's not like I'm so loaded with money I need ways to divide it. But for all the plans and cards and payment scheduling setups and insurance and simply keeping track of activity, general or suspicious, 2's my limit. I don't want account management to become yet another part-time job.

So... hrm, seems you've given in to CC. I refuse; I'm still on my student copy of CS4. I was going to get CS6, but Adobe suddenly pulled all packages from the stores in favor of CC, despite so many still being available and no (practical) reason to not let them gradually sell out the remaining inventory. Simply for financial purposes, I always make one-time purchases wherever possible, as it secures having the thing for as long as I want instead of constantly living under the threat of losing it. And especially in the case of CC, some programs I don't use for months at a time, so that would be all kinds of money wasted just because I can't always predict what work I'll be doing. And if I'm running low on money, why face losing the thing that's supposed to make me money? It's such a terrible plan, I'll just stop now before I take over your entire profile :P

At any rate, I know the US has all manner of ways to categorize things as 'business expense' and other brands of write-offs, so talking with somebody knowledgeable and experienced can get you a lot of advantages you'd never know of (because, at least over here, the government isn't exactly into advertising such things). Like, that guy I mentioned devised some method for a school jazz club to get a drumset and then do some kind of write-off, possibly charitable-donation-based, to essentially get all the money back on the tax return. Who would ever guess?

But yeah, you're with the vast majority in having a generic pay-the-rent job. And it's so much better to be able to split between those two jobs, than to be stuck full-time in a job that's simply terrible and barely getting you by. Plus, I also did a music major in school, so hopefully I'll eventually be able to put out some material and get a little supplemental income off digital music releases as well :P

I still do the same, I naturally assume everyone is from the US until told otherwise! :P

I did think my bank setup might be a bit over the top, but it should assist me in keeping track of what money goes where quite comfortably. I intend to use some kind of finance tracking software / webapp too, I'll be researching into various options next week. Free or insanely cheap is preferred.

As for CC, while the overall cost (over time) is greater, the barriers to entry are greatly reduced. My 'starting budget' isn't massive, so CC at £50-something a month is a comfortable cost vs. a few hundred up front. I do fully understand where you're coming from though!

As for getting an accountant of some description, yes, that is also something I was going to look into next week. I know a few sole-traders so I can ask for some reccomendations of local accountants and the costs involved.

Good luck with your music endeavours! :)