One of the things I love about being self-employed is the amount of precious time it saves me. People don't realize some of the extra resources and time they put into having a job. That is one of the reasons making minimum wage at 7.25 an hour a while back. Infuriated me.
After taxes and all the resources and time invested. I was probably making less than 4.00 an hour. And that hour I "gave up" was permanently gone.

No Transportation Time

Back when I worked at UPS. I biked to and from work; It would take me 30 minutes to bike there, And 30 minutes back.
With a car that's still a 10-minute drive, So 1 hour of biking or 20 minutes of driving Every day!
UPS, Like most employers, do not pay for that.

• I worked at UPS For four years.
  There are about 262 Workdays In a year; Let's just say my Attendance was "perfect." It wasn't. But we'll go off that figure anyways. UPS paid me 12.70 BEFORE tax per hour.

By biking to and from work I used 1,048 Hours Of my time, Doing nothing but biking to and from work.

Each ride was 3 miles there. 3 miles back. So six miles per day. That's 6,288 miles of wear and tear on my bicycle. And Over 1,048 hours of my time. In the four years that I worked there.

So I lost 1,048 hours of my time, And if UPS had paid me hourly for my transportation they would owe me:

13,309.60 WOW! That buys me a car!! Of course, that's before taxes. I mean, After taxes, I would probably be left with less than $10.00, But you get it.

If you do the math on a car, You'll get a smaller number of "Time wasted." But the cost of repairs also goes up for you, As well as Gas, Insurance. That of course, your employer doesn't pay. I'm not necessarily saying the employer Should pay for that, By any means. But I'm just trying to get the point across that...

JUST GOING TO WORK IS EXPENSIVE AND TIME-CONSUMING!

Being self-employed you can stay home if you wish, Leaving is mostly a choice.
I never imagined that I could make so much "less" being self-employed and still get by easily, Because having a job cost me a lot of money.

NO Fast Food

This one won't apply to everyone, But most of us do NOT bag lunches, We go out to eat. It's easy it's convenient, and we are HUNGRY!

Fast food became a crazy addiction for me a while back when I was working two jobs.
I'd go to my first job at 3:00 P.m. Work until 9:00 P.m. then I had to quickly get ready, And I would have to get fast food. Carls jr/Hardees Or Mcdonalds. Then go into UPS At 10:00 P.m. I would then work until 3:00 A.m.

I worked five days a week at BOTH jobs; Then I went to college full time on the weekends. I'd get fast food; I'd be all dirty and tired from my janitorial job. Then I would go home, Quickly get ready, Then Jump on my bike, To head to my next job.

I had no time in between shifts to eat. Fast food was the only option. And it got to the point where I didn't even like the food anymore. But I was hungry so I ate it anyways.

I remember one day I added up how much I spent on fast food over the course of the year, And I was horrified.
I was eating a big chunk of money I worked so hard to make every day!
When you are self-employed, it's easy. If I get hungry, I can take a break. Cook me something to eat, Or heck, Cook a weeks worth of food, And just munch on leftovers throughout the week. It's easy, and It saves a lot of money and time. It's also better for my health. This also is the case with dinner, After my 3:00 A.m. Shift. I felt almost dead because the hour of biking and 4-5 hours of physical labor exhausted me. It was easy to go back to Mcdonalds and pick up more food Because I was hungry. Again.

Of course with willpower and practice, you can take bagged lunches to work every day and eliminate the fast food that you eat, But it's still more challenging.

You Aren't Paid, To Get Ready

Again, Not saying an employer should be required to pay for any of these extra things. But it's important that you look at it from a second perspective.

You might spend 30-1 hour getting ready every single day for your job. Your job might require a type of dress, Or shoes.
These are things YOU HAVE to buy; These are things you have to get ready and upkeep them.
All these things add up, Laundry detergent, Stain Removal. Or Replacements.

• With UPS I needed rubber coated gloves, And steel-toed boots, Which cost me over 200.00 per year or more, and I was never reimbursed. I also wore out my shorts and T-Shirts so fast I was constantly buying new clothes.

• As A Housekeeper I was expected To keep the two housekeeping shirts they gave me clean. So I washed laundry more often and had to remove small stains as I got them. I also was required black pants, and nonslip shoes, Which added up.

And Of course getting ready, If you are a woman. We may take longer to do our hair and makeup, But even if you are a guy, you still have to get dressed, Shower and such.
This adds up fast!
It's weird how little I have to buy clothes now that I don't have a job. My clothes and shoes last so much longer because I treat them more gently. I only have to replace my running shoes each year which costs me only 50.00

Conclusion

Start to keep track of all the extra stuff you need just to keep your job. Decide if you are getting paid what you are worth. You may think, I'm getting paid 20.00 per hour.
But are you?
You are probably making much less than you think.
If self-employment is something you want, Keep those extra expenses in mind, When you are thinking of quitting.
There are extra costs associated with Self-employment you should be aware of though...

• You pay more in tax Because you don't have an employer to cover that for you. (If you are in the U.S.)
• You have to provide your health insurance.
• No Retirement benefits from your employers (but you can still open an IRA on your own if that's something you want).