Self-employed since 2001 - best move I ever made having worked for local planning authorities from (well we won't go back that far )
I limit my income to the VAT threshold to avoid another layer of bureaucracy, having suffered the management/training/accounting/re-inventing-the-wheels courses that drove to me distraction prior to 2001 and meant I bearly had any time to do what was I was trained for. House and cars paid for and I am now thoroughly enjoying working as much as I want - albeit that mostly means I'm in the office 7 days a week buts that more to do with my conscience in making sure my customers get value for money. Yes, I enjoy the way I work now although it can 'heavy' at times but I am part of a network of similar ex- council professionals so we can bounce things off one-another.