Reply to When making more actually is a real tax disadvantage?

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[quote=Anonymous]OP here. Some answers:

1) Some people are confused about our childcare costs. To be clear, we have a child in elementary school. So our childcare costs are for summers and after school only. We have access to a very low cost aftercare program through school which helps keep these low, but what I discovered the first two years of freelancing is that not having reliable summer childcare cost me a lot in opportunities because the it turns out summer is a time when many of my clients want to focus on the kind of consulting I do for them, and I really need to be more available. So last year we paid for full time care in the summer and that really helped me push my business forward. But it was expensive and I didn't make enough more for the cost to be negligible.

2) I realize I shouldn't have said "tax" in my thread title as obviously it's both tax and other costs. I just did our taxes so that's why it's top of mind, more than the childcare piece. Though we've already booked childcare for this summer and I'm seriously questioning if I should cancel all or some of it and just accept making less this year, so that'a big part too.

3) I'm definitely trying to figure out how I can maximize deductions for my business because I'm sure there's more I could get. But even with those, there is a cost to me trying to maximize my tax approach (in terms of time and energy, or even money if I consult an expert which I feel like would help me do better) and it's just this constant push pull of how much I'm putting in versus how much I'm getting back. I feel like I work all the time, because I run this business, do all my own marketing/client relations/finances/etc., plus the work itself, plus I'm the primary parent, plus I do a lot more than half around the house because I "work part time" and "have a flexible schedule -- I was honestly hoping that by investing more in my business, I could get to a point where I could hire someone to come clean a couple times a month, and now that looks irresponsible because the income boost just doesn't seem to justify it. I'm just tired and I look at our finances and think "for what???"

4) Also, just to be clear -- my income through my business is entirely based on hourly billings. That's what makes this so start for me. I went from billing about 30 hours a month in 2022 (to be clear, not working 30 hours a month, as I do work for which I can't bill, but billing 30 hours a month) to billing 50 hours a month in 2023. These are both averages, obviously, some months are higher and others lower. Plus I did a lot more non-billable work in 2023 but didn't track it as closely. So when I look at my billings and then look at my actual income, I'm just frustrated. It feels like the raise my DH got was worth way more to our family without the added costs because he is still just doing the same job. And that frustrating when I think about how much harder I worked and how I was initially so proud of the extra income/work/clients.

I feel like I can't win. I've spent the day doing housework and on DCUM instead of focusing on work because I feel like, ugh, why am I even doing this.

Staring/running your own business is really, really hard. I guess that's the moral of the story. I know I need to push through, I'm just demoralized today.[/quote]

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