Would it be madness...

[NotAllThere]

I imaging the rates were better as well.

£26/hr in 1996. Halcyon days.

[BrilloPad]

£26/hr in 1996. Halcyon days.

I was on that in 1994. £45/hour by 1996. Nomura having a major c++ push was really good for rates.....

[Fred Bloggs]

I was on that in 1994. £45/hour by 1996. Nomura having a major c++ push was really good for rates.....

And here we are in 2016 and I was recently asked "Will you take £24/hr?". And it was a serious question too. That was seriously good money in 1996.

[VectraMan]

Can you borrow enough to keep going?

When I started I got an overdraft facility and took out a 0% for 18 months credit card when I was still a permie so I knew I could at least pay for things in the meantime. Fortunately the first gig only took a couple of weeks to find, so it all worked out fine.

[northernladuk]

Can you borrow enough to keep going?

When I started I got an overdraft facility and took out a 0% for 18 months credit card when I was still a permie so I knew I could at least pay for things in the meantime. Fortunately the first gig only took a couple of weeks to find, so it all worked out fine.

But they only give you credit of 2.5k or thereabouts and that's on a decent crack with no existing debts. It also adds another hit to your credit score. I don't think looking to borrow more money just in case is really a good thing (if it's even possible) for the OP.

[Cirrus]

Go For It!

War chests are things you get from contracting. I can't imagine how people would build them up beforehand.

If you've got £15k of debts then contracting is a god send - twice as much money suddenly gushes in and you don't have to pay out stuff for ages and ages so you've now got readies to juggle your payments.

By the way: credit card debt? - you need a brain transplant

[SueEllen]

War chests are things you get from contracting. I can't imagine how people would build them up beforehand.

Because not everyone is spendthrift and can't live within their means.

[Maslins]

If you've got £15k of debts then contracting is a god send - twice as much money suddenly gushes in and you don't have to pay out stuff for ages and ages so you've now got readies to juggle your payments.

In theory, the above sounds ok. However, no offence to the OP, but you need financial discipline for the above to work. If you've got £10-15k credit card debt, possibly that's not your strong point.

You run the real risk that even if the contracting goes well (ie you find a high day rate gig straight away, and they pay reliably), things get worse. As Cirrus says, you'll have money gushing in and don't have to pay out stuff for ages. Perfect opportunity to splurge the cash on unnecessary luxuries, and then find forget about £10-15k credit card debt, you've got £20-50k tax debt that you have no funds set aside for.

If you know will power isn't your strong suit, or you're currently in an ok permie role and have no good reason to believe you'll get a great contract straight away, then I think quitting to try contracting is a recipe for disaster.

PS it's always an accountant's role to be prudent, aka prepare for things that could go wrong.

[MrMarkyMark]

War chests are things you get from contracting. I can't imagine how people would build them up beforehand.

If you've got £15k of debts then contracting is a god send - twice as much money suddenly gushes in and you don't have to pay out stuff for ages and ages so you've now got readies to juggle your payments.

By the way: credit card debt? - you need a brain transplant

People do build up warchests from perm, I started with 3 months worth.
Obviously debts are easier to pay off when up and running. However, I would have to have known in demand skills to go 1st time contracting with 15K of debt in this climate.

[VectraMan]

But they only give you credit of 2.5k or thereabouts and that's on a decent crack with no existing debts. It also adds another hit to your credit score. I don't think looking to borrow more money just in case is really a good thing (if it's even possible) for the OP.

Possibly not a good thing in the short term but if you earn more and pay off the previous debt then it probably is.

No guarantees either way. You might lose your "permanent" job tomorrow.