Wow, you got bothered for being three minutes late? I used to be that late almost every day. My boss occasionally gave me grief about out, but usually only when I was over 30 minutes late.
Anyway, something similar happened to me when I was laid off in September 1990. The company decided to close their NYC branch so everyone had to go. Although I have an EE degree I was unable to get a job in my field without relocating, so I took any job I could get. The job I was laid off from was repairing taximeters. I was actually the only one the company wanted to keep, but it would have meant relocating to Virginia. Since I refuse to live any place I need a car, that was out. Also, they didn't even offer me a raise. There's no way I could have lived on my own taking home about $325 a week, even in a cheaper state like Virginia. Anyway, after getting laid off I started job hunting for a while. All that was available paid $8/hour or less (I had been making $10.97/hour plus about 10 hours overtime weekly). Besides that, being a night person I was sick of being tired all the time from trying to fit my life to a day schedule. I decided I was going to go into business for myself. As a plus, my former boss bought the NYC shop where I had worked. He wanted me to repair meters at home as an independent contractor. As time went on I started designing various electronic devices he needed. Even though I wasn't and still am not making much, I had positive cash flow from day one. Best of all, I was actually doing something I went to school for, albeit on a very limited level. And I could set my own hours (this is the best part since shift work makes me feel like a robot).
The main factor which enabled me to do what I did is that I live with my parents (still do, only my father is deceased). This took any pressure off as far as worrying about expanding the business rapidly. Also, I was able to save the equivalent of about two years take-home pay prior to getting laid off. I'm a saver by nature, so I took advantage of the fact that I didn't have housing/food expenses. I "pay" my way at home by doing whatever needs to be done around the house. Unfortunately, the fact that I lived at home has made me lazy as far as trying to expand the business. I finally got another customer last year so that I'm not dependent upon just one person. Also, I have several ideas in the pipeline which I will be putting into action. My goals are fairly modest-I just want to be able to make what I might on a regular full-time job. Since I calculate my rates based on earning roughly $40 to $60 an hour I will be fine if I can average 20-30 hours a week work. Because of my carpal tunnel syndrome (another reason I didn't look for work) I really can't work much more on a continual basis anyway. Long term I could probably do work where I could bill at $100+/hour but I obviously need to secure the customers first. I basically rely on word of mouth and my connections. eBay will be another resource I may use to sell any new products I make. Overall the only downside right now to working for myself is the limited income, but to some extent I only have my own laziness to blame for that.
As far as health insurance, I don't have any nor do I ever plan to have any any. First off, I couldn't afford it. Second, I try to keep myself as healthy as possible. Third, I do have enough saved to cover any reasonable expenses. I figure most of the time when someone my age (44) requires extensive medical care it's on account of an accident. If the accident is someone else's fault then they will be legally liable to pay for my medical care. If it's my fault I'm SOL but then I do try to be careful, and I'm not a clumsy person by nature. I personally think the need for health insurance is exaggarated. The people who need it most are usually the elderly who are far more likely to get seriously ill, and they have at least Medicare. The things most likely to affect a younger person, like broken bones or dental care, can be paid for out of pocket (I paid for $7000+ in dental care about 14 years ago).
Finally, let's talk a bit about taxes. Don't be in a hurry to set yourself up as a corporation unless you get fairly big (I made the mistake of incorporating when I didn't need to). You can file Schedule C as an independent contractor and save on the annual corporation fees. If your tax liability for the year is over $1000 you'll also need to make quarterly estimated tax payments (I personally haven't run into this problem yet). As for when to incorporate, my rule of thumb is when the Social Security taxes I pay will be significantly more than the annual corporation fees. By filing as an S-corp, and taking the corporate profits as compensation (i.e. no salary), you don't have to pay Social Security tax. However, you usually have to pay an annual fee to the state to maintain your corporation (it was about $500 for me). The upside to doing it this way is you only pay Social Security in years when you don't earn much. Because of the way the system is set up (biased towards low-wage earners), you get the most return of what you put in that way. You *don't* want to be paying Social Security taxes when you're earning $50,000 a year but it's a good idea if you're only earning $5000 or so. You'll still get your 4 work credits, and once you have 40 credits you'll get at least some retirement benefits. I'd also recommend opening an IRA each year. I do a Roth. There's no immediate tax writeoff but when I'm over 59.5 I can take out everything tax-free.
Overall, if you're the kind of person who can work well independently, and can manage money, then self-employment can be a good thing. Also, in your particular field jobs aren't very common so you might be left with three choices at this point-work anything you can get (i.e. underemployment), relocate (usually not a good option), or self-employment. All the best to you whatever you decide! After being self-employed for over 16 years there's no way I'd ever work for someone else again. I can't stand typical corporate nonsense like counting minutes, or politics, or commuting to work.
