Oooh I'm glad I came across this thread! Although I am employed 28-30hrs a week, I have just registered as self-employed. I'm going to try and start up as a freelance translator in addition to being employed (if it goes well and I enjoy it, maybe I'll think about leaving employment). All the tax and contributions crap is incredibly confusing, but the bulk of my work at the moment is editing my resume and trying to get clients... the finance side of things only becomes problematic if and when I actually make some dough!!