Originally posted by psychocandy
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How much was your warchest?
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I started contracting 15 years ago with £20k in the bank and I joined IPSE and started looking at forums like this one.
It made me realise that I needed to act like a true business and look at other revenue streams as a "warchest".
I invested my time in learning new skills such as WordPress as a sideline even though I'm not a techie and networked hard and got "fractional" IT consulting jobs helping SME's that I could do in the evening with just 1 or 2 days at the other clients office.
Your "warchest" should include other skill sets and technologies as well as ££ in the bank.Comment
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Originally posted by silverlight1 View PostI started contracting 15 years ago with £20k in the bank and I joined IPSE and started looking at forums like this one.
It made me realise that I needed to act like a true business and look at other revenue streams as a "warchest".
I invested my time in learning new skills such as WordPress as a sideline even though I'm not a techie and networked hard and got "fractional" IT consulting jobs helping SME's that I could do in the evening with just 1 or 2 days at the other clients office.
Your "warchest" should include other skill sets and technologies as well as ££ in the bank.'CUK forum personality of 2011 - Winner - Yes really!!!!Comment
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^^^^ This
Just out of interest I always exclude the cost of hookers, coke etc when I am thinking of falling back on the warchest and working out how long before I have to start looking at the BestBuy section in Morrisons.
Does everyone else do that ? £24k clear would therefore be about 2 years on warchest burning money but only about 6 months at the rate the missus normally spends it. Figures are for illustrative purposes only. I earn way more than that.Comment
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Originally posted by radish2008 View Post^^^^ This
Just out of interest I always exclude the cost of hookers, coke etc when I am thinking of falling back on the warchest and working out how long before I have to start looking at the BestBuy section in Morrisons.
Does everyone else do that ? £24k clear would therefore be about 2 years on warchest burning money but only about 6 months at the rate the missus normally spends it. Figures are for illustrative purposes only. I earn way more than that.
Nice thread by the way.Comment
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Originally posted by radish2008 View Post^^^^ This
Just out of interest I always exclude the cost of hookers, coke etc when I am thinking of falling back on the warchest and working out how long before I have to start looking at the BestBuy section in Morrisons.
Does everyone else do that ? £24k clear would therefore be about 2 years on warchest burning money but only about 6 months at the rate the missus normally spends it. Figures are for illustrative purposes only. I earn way more than that.Comment
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Originally posted by vwdan View PostAbsolutely - first thing I did before contracting was cut down on all mandatory expenditure to make our baseline requirement as low as is possible. I described it to my Mrs as a Boom & Bust life style and to be honest, turns out I prefer it. Means forgoing the expensive car lease and Sky TV, but we make up for it by lots of days out, holidays, expensive hobbies etc.Comment
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Originally posted by Old Greg View PostDown with fixed monthly commitments.Comment
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Originally posted by vwdan View PostAbsolutely - first thing I did before contracting was cut down on all mandatory expenditure to make our baseline requirement as low as is possible.
Mortgage, council tax, insurance etc.
If you're a multi-car family, make sure at least one is owned outright, so if things get very tight you can hand the other(s) back and reduce the burn rate.
You can then also use this as the figures to work up from when deciding how much you need to earn should you choose a lower paid contract or a permit job.…Maybe we ain’t that young anymoreComment
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Originally posted by WTFH View PostYup, that's the burn rate. What's the minimum you need coming in to pay the ongoing bills.
Mortgage, council tax, insurance etc.
If you're a multi-car family, make sure at least one is owned outright, so if things get very tight you can hand the other(s) back and reduce the burn rate.
You can then also use this as the figures to work up from when deciding how much you need to earn should you choose a lower paid contract or a permit job.Comment
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