Thinking of going self employed question

Charityworker

Can you have income from a lot of different sources. So for example if I sold on ebay, sang in a pub and got paid, walked someones dog and got paid and cleaned someones house and got paid could these all go into the same cash book and would HMRC have to know that I have 4 different services on the go or would I put them all in the same cash book and just call me 'self employed'. The reason why I ask is that I am looking ahead to april 2012 when WTC is stopped for anyone working under 24 hours. My husband has just been made redundant and I work 16 hours. We are both frantically looking for something 8 hours a week or more but with no luck yet. So if I did 8 hours a week of a mixture of things and logged it all in the same cash book would this count?

HappyMJ

Yes it all counts. You can call yourself anything you like so think up a job title that covers all that and it's fine.

PatrickD

Yes, is the short answer. You can have as many streams of income as you wish. As for the actual accounting procedure, I'm not an expert, I use an accountant, but as long as you're keeping account of your income and expenditure it should be up to you as to how you do it. It may be prudent to search on the internet for some basic bookkeeping ideas.
Good luck!

Pat

Charityworker

Ok thanks. I do basic book keeping at work so I know how to do a cash book. I just wasn't sure if each "hat" had to have a different cash book. Thanks for your replies.

Charityworker

Oh sorry, I've just thought. If my husband worked self employed as well does he have to have a separate cash book for him or can we put it in the same one as a couple?

PatrickD

Maybe if he is running a business separately in his name only, it might be better to keep separate accounts for him. Again, it might be worth having an introductory meeting with an accountant and ask him for advice.

Pat

Poosmate

I thought about doing this sort of thing if ever I was made redundant. I think there's lots of little things you can do for people and if your prices are right they will recommend you to friends and neighbours.

I think about all the things that I'd love to have someone do but not be charged stupidly expensive call out and labour charges. Like handyman/handywoman type things - sometimes I really miss having a bloke around the house to do those blokey jobs around the house in no time at all.

I think I'd start very cheap (minimum wage) and charge by the half hour (£3.30?) - doesn't sound much for someone to come and do a 15min job that would probably take you ages to do yourself does it? You should be able to do that if you have other income streams that are working for you whilst you're out doing "real" work (i.e. Ebay). Also, I'd be looking at servicing properties just on my own housing estate initially so I could get there within 5 or 10 mins.

Also, if you enjoy doing something, the way I see it is that you'r getting paid for nothing so say you enjoy singing you could see that as a night out for you and hubby - you do the singing (cut some discs) and hubby can sell them to the audience. If you're dog walking, you're getting paid to exercise so you get your half hour on a Sunday morning workout time back.

Look at "working" opportunities not just as paid employment but as what you would do in life in general anyway. In other words, don't just see it as a job - there's more to life than money.

Good luck anyway and I hope you don't live in my neighbourhood otherwise we may be in direct competition one day! lol

Poo

Charityworker

Thanks for that. Pet walking/sitting is something I've been thinking of doing for a while. I can also sing but don't have much experience just lately (years ago I did) of singing to public. Maybe once I get going I'll be OK. I can also proofread and have done a few friends books, virtual secretary, the list is endless. My husband is brilliant at cleaning, my house is spotless and he has just finished work as a cleaner. I recon we could scrape together 8 hours or more between us quite easily.

Another idea I had was could you get paid to hold someones video camera at an event? I got married 3 years ago and couldnt afford to hire a videographer. So I bought myself a video camera for £80 and took my own wedding video. Problem is on the day no one wanted to do the videoing for me. This meant I did most of the videoing myself (at my own wedding!!!!!!) and the bits were I couldnt video (like when I was taking my vows) are not on the video. I would have jumped at the chance of paying someone say £50 to attend my wedding and just video it for me and give the video camera back at the end of the day. Much cheaper than hiring a videographer at £750 a time. You could also do christenings, parties etc. Maybe I should start a new thread?