Hey everyone.
Long story short, I lived in a pretty abusive home till 25 until I got kicked out (and, to be frank, decided to move out) and have been working a freelance job as an independent script writer for a media company since mid-July.
I know little about taxes, but I've been reading up on them since getting this freelancing gig, and while it's been great, I'm starting to wonder whether it's a feasible long term option considering how much taxes freelancers have to pay.
With the freelancing gig, I can make up to 48 - 60k a year. But, considering taxes, that means I have to put aside roughly 30% of my paycheck (anywhere between $1,200 - $1,700 monthly) to pay off each quarter. Most days I wake up around 7am and work anywhere till 5pm on an easy day, 9pm on a hard day. All of the work is assignment-based, meaning I'm paid via the assignment completed, not hourly.
I've made a file (it's an image) of my monthly payments and what I would need to live off of, and, after inputting what I'd need to set aside for taxes, I'm a bit nervous. The ISA loans you see there are 10% of my income. It's a loan I took out to complete a bootcamp to get into a Software Engineering/UX Design job. Unfortunately, once I was kicked out, I had to get whatever I could to survive so took this freelancing gig.
That aside, after looking over my sheet, it made me pretty nervous and had me thinking, should I get a more stable/salaried job? And if so, where/how do I fit in the time to doing so since I'm working all the time to make ends meat?
I can't afford an accountant right now as money is tight and I'm currently living off my savings aside from my current incoming paychecks, so, please don't recommend that.
For additional tax info, I live in Houston, TX.
For the upcoming September quarter, from July 1st to August 31st, I made a little over $3,000 that quarter, so, from my estimate of having to set aside 23 - 30%, I'll have to set aside anywhere from $690 - $900.
That all said, I'm just looking for advice. Is all of this correct? Do you have any advice for a confused adult trying to figure out his finances and just life together after moving out of an abusive household? One of my biggest wants is to be financially stable and secure in the next year, and going into freelancing was the quickest way of doing so. But, after figuring out taxes, I'm just nervous.
I don't really know what to do or what the smart move would be. If this is feasible, do I keep going this route? Or, if it's not, do I go and try and find another job that's stable?
Submitted September 07, 2021 at 01:14AM by chrysanthemym https://ift.tt/3DW1jrR
