She really is not making any friends with the many people who are working crazy hours to solve problems together. No doubt she has fans in the 9-5, let me check my job description first, crowd.

Ha! Just got an email from other vendor who agrees completely to not engage. Fortunately we both have support from TPTB. We really don't have time for politics. We have actual work to do.

I can't even being to put words to the rage inducing client I've been dealing with for months now. I'd rant, but I don't even know where to begin. Right now I just want them to get our travel reimbursement done, it's currently close to $40,000 of travel that they are behind on paying.

We really don't have time for politics. We have actual work to do.

Amen.

It really has been working for me lately to not engage crazy. It's not quite as satisfying as dropping truth bombs, but it shortens the time between stimulus and peace significantly.

Oh god, ND. I totally get the rage and stress.

I pushed to get a gov't contract check paid for weeks, frantic over a couple of enormous tax checks in process.

The check arrived at midnight. The two tax checks? Cleared exactly NINETY minutes later.

I nearly threw up.

Inefficiency may be more incompetence than malice, but the outcome is the same!

Right now I just want them to get our travel reimbursement done

At least this client has been really good about the payment side. I do have those that aren't. Most of our billing is subscription where they pay a set amount each and every month. I have one that for years I have to hassle each and every month. One of these days I am going to tell them to put me on autopay or find another vendor. You work your ass off for them, the least they can do is pay the damn bill.

Reason #8459 I love my husband. He wrote back to control freak bitch copying me and the other vendor and the big cheese of the organization. Started with thanking her for her keen interest blah blah blah. Said he and only only he was ultimately responsible for hits or misses on the project. Then proceeded to detail solutions. Bye Bye Miss Blame Game.

Your tagline seems even more appropriate in this situation.

All right, my mavens. Due to my change in work circumstances, I am basically now self-employed for the first time in my life. I know I need to start saving for quarterly taxes, itemize expenses, etc. Any apps or software y'all recommend for tracking? Should I formally registered myself as an LLC or something? Online resources you like?

Thanks! I'm a little worried about the additional responsibilities but I think it'll be fine.

I am the laziest self-employed person ever; every paycheck I just pull about 21%% out and throw it into a separate savings account (21% is what it generally works out for me; I'll see if I can rustle up the website I found where I worked out the calculations for that percentage).

And then I put reminder dates on my calendar to be sure to pay my quarterly taxes -- check to see if you need to pay estimated quarterly taxes to the city of NOLA or can just file in April.

That is literally all I do, but my work is super simple and I have no expenses other than a rapidly depreciating laptop.

t edit So my advice is most certainly not ALL the advice you need, but it's a decent foundation of the stuff you gotta do.

The biggest piece of advice I can give you is to find a good accountant to sit down with and have them work out what your estimated quarterly payments should be. You don't need to set up an LLC, you should be fine as a sole proprietor.

A good accountant is going to help make sure you are getting all the write offs/business losses that you can.

Start tracking your mileage. Buy a log and keep it in your car, the mileage can add up quickly and it is a great deduction when you are self employed.

Save your receipts, lots of purchases can now count as business expenses. It's hard to say specifically which ones will apply in your instance, that's why it's important to have a CPA who understands your type of work.