Anyone have a partner/oh with their own business?

red_devil

As above does you partner/oh etc have their own business? If so do you help and how is it going? How many hours do they work etc?

Kittendreich

My OH is self employed and I work full time. I will help out with the business if necessary, but try not to as it is his business to run as he wants and I already have a full time job so don't think I should have to work for him too on a regular basis.

It can be hard as our lives are so different, but financially my wage covers all the essentials (just!) so if he doesn't earn at any point we are not in difficulty (just a but bored!) and anything he earns can then be used for 'extras'.

4Chickens

Mr 4Chickens has his own business. I do his invoicing, paying his bills and year end books etc. He is a sole trader so it doesn't take a lot of time.
I work 30 hours per week as a book keeper and we just bumble along. However, when we go on 2 weeks' holiday we have to save up to cover his loss of income as well as the cost of the holiday.
My income would probably pay the mortgage, council tax, gas and electric. If he lost his income we would have to learn to live on love and fresh air after our savings ran out.

Is there any particular reason that you are asking the question?

Lara44

My OH is self-employed but does something I couldn't really help out with. It can be hard when he gets a big job as I might not see him very much for 2 months, or if I do he's knackered / stressed / wants to kill the client (delete as appropriate). He is a great problem solver and enjoys it, so is the go-to guy for anything that's really complex or outside the norm. Not seeing him much gets boring after a while, especially as his big jobs tend to fall over the summer, so I spend too much time at the park on my own But, that's just the person he is, and he enjoys work so much even despite the struggles.

The other thing about self-employment is that it feels very precarious money-wise. Even when my OH is doing well he is always worried about the next job. He earns more, but we put into the joint account 50/50, so normally he has something to save each month. It means he's not very willing to spend money, which I don't usually mind as I am MSE :rotfl: But when we really need something and he won't go halves or put into the pot it really annoys me. At the moment our dishwasher is broken but we have to wait to have it fixed. What's your story Red Devil?

red_devil

my partner is self employed. Just wondered about others. He works 6 days a week but no travel to work.

red_devil

red_devil wrote: »

my partner is self employed. Just wondered about others. He works 6 days a week but no travel to work.

not much time off though on the plus side he has a job. Business not to good at the moment.

4Chickens

I forgot to mention the hours Mr 4Chickens works. He does Mon, Tues, Weds, Fri and Sat at 12 hours a day. Thursday is his day off on his own as I work 5 days a week. Sunday is our day togther.
However, on top of this he also covers emergency call outs, so he can work anything from 60 hours per week to 80 hours per week.
When he is off on a Thursday he often does all the housework from top to bottom which is great for me as I can then concentrate on laundry, changing beds and any other big jobs like washing curtains or some decorating etc on a Saturday.

Tropez

Yes, my partner runs her own business.

I don't help in any way as her business is in a highly skilled industry, requiring qualifications that I don't possess.

As for how much she works - it varies but is usually between eight and twelve hours a day, with a half-day on one weekday and weekends off.

charlie792

Well my OH doesn't have his own business (yet) anyway but he does do freelance stuff at home. He works 9-5 fulltime (although often ends up staying later, and for no extra pay ) and then he comes home and does his freelance stuff until about 11.... There isn't a huge amount of things at the moment I can help him with, but for example I sat there last night and read out all the text that needed to be changed whilst he typed it up. He is planning on setting up his own company though in the next few years and he's already said that Im going to have to deal with all the accounts side of things, which Ill be happy to do (for the right price of course )