Would it be madness...

[gables]

So not that similar then

You got me

Ok the similarity was I had debt and no gig to go to, but then did it anyway

[Sub]

Would it be madness to make the jump from permanent employment to contracting without a 'war chest' / savings fund. In fact with the exact opposite... say Circa £10k+ in credit card debt etc?

Half of me thinks its madness, the other thinks that the debt could be cleared (or at least severely dented) in a matter of months instead of years if I did.

No savings I would say isn't an issue, but you may find that you actually don't like things contractors doing - taxes, administration, uncertainty, risks. There are loads of things coming with bags of cash (making the bags bigger is another skill you'll need). It is not madness, but there are certainly some risks you'll have to accept.

[handyandy]

Probably the best answer was form NLUK but also it depends on your current salary and what contract rate you'd be going to. If you told me you were on a £15k scary and being offered £400/day on a contract and you were a very very good PMO or a fairly good BA PM or even C++ dev - I'd say go for it as you'd currently be well under market rate and be going to something towards the top end. But if you're earning right at the top of the range for the skills/experience you have then stay with the permy job and start sorting your spending pattern out.