>The nice thing about being your own boss is that, to a point, you decide how much you work. If I wanted the summer off, I'd just not look for clients then.

This sounds good in theory, but I'm not sure how well it works in practice.

The trouble is that to be a good contractor, you have to be around when the client finds bugs or wants improvements. I suppose you could say to them "Sorry, but after six months, don't bother to call," but I don't know how they'd take it.

The consultants I know all work harder than most employees. There are a couple of reasons: 1) The more you work, the more money you make (unlike employees). 2) It's tough to turn down jobs when you can't be sure when the next one's going to come along (this doesn't apply when you've been doing it for a sufficient time, I suppose).

I said before that I have (almost) more than enough work to handle right now. Yet when I got a call today, did I turn the guy down? No way, Jose! :)

Of course, I'm pretty new to this, so bear that in mind. :)