Good post Harry but stop worrying what special K thinks we all understand now that he talks ■■■■ and most dont give him the time of day 
psv8:
Good post Harry but stop worrying what special K thinks we all understand now that he talks [zb] and most dont give him the time of day
There’s nothing I enjoy more than a battle of wits with an unarmed opponent. 
Definitely a good insight Harry.
Thanks 
dar1976:
Definitely a good insight Harry.Thanks
No problem.
The biggest drawback I’ve found with being an owner-operator is that it doesn’t leave you much time to search for the latest and best “facepalm” gifs on the internet, but then I suppose we all have our crosses to bear. 
When i started i owned the vehicle [very cheap] but sold my xr2 to pay insurance from then on it was overdraft ,the bank wanted me to have a loan but i said no thanks luckily it paid off.
Dan Punchard:
When i started i owned the vehicle [very cheap] but sold my xr2 to pay insurance from then on it was overdraft ,the bank wanted me to have a loan but i said no thanks luckily it paid off.
I’m sure RobK will be along tomorrow once the Jeremy Kyle Show finishes to tell you where you are wrong. 
Harry Monk:
For the benefit of the OP, and the ever-present RobK, I will just expand a little on earnings. Then it’s up to anyone to decide if earnings are reasonable, or if they wouldn’t get out of bed for them. Being a long-term benefits claimant, RobK is probably already firmly entrenched in the latter camp, but here goes anyway.A month will either have four invoicable weeks or five, depending on where the days fall, there will be eight four-week months and four five-week months in any given year. 52/12 = 4, carry 4.
In a four-week month my company pays me wages of £600. This is below the PAYE and NI threshold so I don’t pay either, although I still get a NI credit. It pays me £25.38 night-out money and £2 a day meal allowance, together these comes to about £550.
Then, because I lent it the money to get started, it makes me a loan repayment every month of £1,000. Obviously I don’t pay tax on that, because it’s a loan repayment. So the company pays me a total of £2,150 nett for a four-week month.
In a five-week month, my company makes a £2,000 loan repayment so that’s £3,150. I’ve been going for eight months now but because I’m on “Thirty days end-of-month” terms, I didn’t start paying myself until September (but will still get paid for two months after I stop) and over six months I’ve paid myself £14,900 which is an average of £2,483.33 a month. Plus, virtually every item of clothing I have bought since I started, every tool, a telescopic ladder, a laptop, lunch at the Toby Carvery today blah blah blah has been paid for by the company even though I make extensive personal use of them, and the company has a stronger bank balance every month.
Plus, I enjoy doing what I do. Possibly I could earn marginally more driving a Tesco lorry on unpopular shifts but that would seriously interfere with life’s other obligations, children, girlfriend, sleep etc and that would make me very unhappy and quite possibly even ill.
But even if the OP was content to do something he loved for £18,000 a year then I would still have more respect for him than for a £71-a-week dole bludger who has never achieved anything other than sniping at folk who have more gumption and a stronger work ethic than him.
Have to say Harry your open way of thinking of things is a credit to you and you deserve to succeed!Im in the same bout as you ,but I have to say I’ve learnt more from you and your posts than I would have paying someone to do it for me.
Your the type of person/ company that this country needs to move forward.
^^^^^^^this +1
Harry’s been kind enough along with quite a few other OD’s to pass on his knowledge and how he’s done things - it’s very rare to be handed the sort of facts that have been handed out so read it carefully and you’ll get it right - i’ve learnt hell of a lot and taken a whole heap of sound, practical advice away with me to form my own opinion 
For the OP read what harry says if you think that you can do it from a it makes sense financially standpoint then fair enough go for it but it’s gunna be difficult - just hoping you’re in it for the long haul.
my firm made bigger than expected profits last year according to the guy that runs my books - don’t know how cos it turned over more or less the same as the year before - so who’s shooting the books ■■? not had any letters from the taxman either which for me is a bit strange - i’ve been called up every year for last 6 years to explain my figures to them so now i’m getting like really worried and i’ve got the people from the TC’s office coming to have a look at my yard / books etc… on tuesday - just hoping they like what they see cos am away all next week so my g/f is having to stand in for me - hope she says the right things…
I have a question for Harry M and the other OD ers on here - if you buy outright a used truck (in other words not leased or still under manufacturers warranty) do you take out an insurance in case the diff blows or headgasket fails etc and can you factor in the loss of earnings or spot hire if this happens?
Socketset:
I have a question for Harry M and the other OD ers on here - if you buy outright a used truck (in other words not leased or still under manufacturers warranty) do you take out an insurance in case the diff blows or headgasket fails etc and can you factor in the loss of earnings or spot hire if this happens?
R&M packages are out there but can be costly
Harry Monk:
For the benefit of the OP, and the ever-present RobK, I will just expand a little on earnings. Then it’s up to anyone to decide if earnings are reasonable, or if they wouldn’t get out of bed for them. Being a long-term benefits claimant, RobK is probably already firmly entrenched in the latter camp, but here goes anyway.A month will either have four invoicable weeks or five, depending on where the days fall, there will be eight four-week months and four five-week months in any given year. 52/12 = 4, carry 4.
In a four-week month my company pays me wages of £600. This is below the PAYE and NI threshold so I don’t pay either, although I still get a NI credit. It pays me £25.38 night-out money and £2 a day meal allowance, together these comes to about £550.
Then, because I lent it the money to get started, it makes me a loan repayment every month of £1,000. Obviously I don’t pay tax on that, because it’s a loan repayment. So the company pays me a total of £2,150 nett for a four-week month.
In a five-week month, my company makes a £2,000 loan repayment so that’s £3,150. I’ve been going for eight months now but because I’m on “Thirty days end-of-month” terms, I didn’t start paying myself until September (but will still get paid for two months after I stop) and over six months I’ve paid myself £14,900 which is an average of £2,483.33 a month. Plus, virtually every item of clothing I have bought since I started, every tool, a telescopic ladder, a laptop, lunch at the Toby Carvery today blah blah blah has been paid for by the company even though I make extensive personal use of them, and the company has a stronger bank balance every month.
Plus, I enjoy doing what I do. Possibly I could earn marginally more driving a Tesco lorry on unpopular shifts but that would seriously interfere with life’s other obligations, children, girlfriend, sleep etc and that would make me very unhappy and quite possibly even ill.
But even if the OP was content to do something he loved for £18,000 a year then I would still have more respect for him than for a £71-a-week dole bludger who has never achieved anything other than sniping at folk who have more gumption and a stronger work ethic than him.
Not trying to have a pop at you Harry and I may be missing something and if so I appolagise.
You pay your self £600 a month wages
You pay your self around £550 a month in night out and meal allowance which is tax free
So you have 1150 going in to your personal account every month in wages.
The other 1000 or 2000 is a loan repayment as you put your own funds in to start it up which you obviously want back.
What happens when it’s paid back do you pay your self a more realisric wage and be liable for tax?
I’ll either take money out as a director’s dividend, which attracts a lower rate of tax or I’ll lend it back to the company and put a second truck on the road. Or I might just cash it all in and go and live in Thailand for the rest of my days, I don’t think anybody knows what the economy will be like in two or three years time so it’s too early to say.
psv8:
Socketset:
I have a question for Harry M and the other OD ers on here - if you buy outright a used truck (in other words not leased or still under manufacturers warranty) do you take out an insurance in case the diff blows or headgasket fails etc and can you factor in the loss of earnings or spot hire if this happens?R&M packages are out there but can be costly
All I have is breakdown insurance which was an add-on to my motor insurance and cost £250, for a minor breakdown such as a starter motor someone like Lantern Recovery would come out and fit a new one (I’d have to pay for parts) and for a repair which couldn’t be carried out at the roadside, I’d get towed in to Renault or wherever. This did happen in October when I had a clutch release bearing fail and I’m guessing that would have cost £600-odd, although again I had to pay for the cost of repairs.
I factor in £500 a month for maintenance/ repairs which I’d say anybody with a s/h truck needs to do.
Thailand…? now thats a thought.V.wise decision. If the OP would take a short cut & invest his £10k on booze & gals in the land of smiles he would get a better return on his money? He could learn a lot from capital H Harry. 