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A comment on How to Survive as a Solo Dev for Like a Decade or So. Parent comment

Re:How to Survive as a Solo Dev for Like a Decade or So by mstade on Thursday May 04, 2017 @01:03PM (#14266552)
I kill two birds with one stone: my apartment is actually two in disguise. I have two front doors, one leading to a third of the apartment (it's a rather large 4-bed) which is quite literally closed off from the rest by simply locking the internal door that connects the two. It may sound silly to have to literally exit the apartment to enter the office when it's literally next door, but it does have some value. Also it makes it much easier for tax purposes. Consequently a third of my rent is paid by my company, because it rents it as office space. Maybe it sounds weird or immoral or whatever, but it truly is office space and 100% legit, it just happens to be I'm also the landlord.
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Re:How to Survive as a Solo Dev for Like a Decade or So by lscharen on Thursday May 04, 2017 @01:38PM (#14266914)
I totally get it; I also need a separate space to switch mindsets.

Your setup reminds me of an article I read many years ago on these sorts of "tricks" to stay disciplined when working from home. One of the tips an individual used was to

  1. Walk out his front door
  2. Lock it
  3. Walk around the block
  4. Re-enter the house
And he was now in "work mode". At the end of the day, he reversed the process by walking around the block in the opposite direction in order to "get home".

Seemed quite brilliant to me at the time.

edit: Just noticed that enraged_camel engages this exact technique below.

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Re:How to Survive as a Solo Dev for Like a Decade or So by jdswain on Thursday May 04, 2017 @04:22PM (#14268432)
I used to do something similar. Go out but to a coffee shop and do my emails and planning, then go home and start the real work. I just found it too hard to go straight from breakfast to working at home without some sort of routine to switch to a work state.
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Re:How to Survive as a Solo Dev for Like a Decade or So by mcbain on Friday May 05, 2017 @01:01AM (#14271217)
When I was working remote for 12 months I did the same kind of thing. I had the added extra of living alone as well.

It forced me to get up, shower, put clothes on, see some kind of sunlight, even have a tiny bit of face to face interaction with another human at the convenience store/cafe/sidewalk, and then get home, log in, and probably just procrastinate for an hour or so anyway - but at least I was clean and dressed.

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Re:How to Survive as a Solo Dev for Like a Decade or So by hartator on Thursday May 04, 2017 @01:48PM (#14267017)
What's enraged_camel?
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Re:How to Survive as a Solo Dev for Like a Decade or So by grzm on Thursday May 04, 2017 @01:53PM (#14267078)
HN member 'enraged_camel: https://news.ycombinator.com/user?id=enraged_camel

Your parent is referring to https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14265636

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Re:How to Survive as a Solo Dev for Like a Decade or So by Nition on Thursday May 04, 2017 @05:07PM (#14268840)
I'm not sure about the US but here in New Zealand, even if you just work in a room in your usual home, you can claim that percent of your home's costs in your business expenses.[1] So I definitely wouldn't say you're doing anything immoral tax-wise.

[1] http://www.ird.govt.nz/business-income-tax/expenses/homebus-...

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Re:How to Survive as a Solo Dev for Like a Decade or So by mstade on Thursday May 04, 2017 @07:43PM (#14269893)
Yeah it's the same here in Sweden but its much less hassle audit wise to just show a separate unit with the company name on the door than a single room. Or at least, that's what my accountant told me, and the grapevine seemed to agree at the time I looked this up.
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Re:How to Survive as a Solo Dev for Like a Decade or So by velodrome on Thursday May 04, 2017 @05:30PM (#14269014)
Yes, the US has the home business deduction.

https://www.irs.gov/publications/p587/index.html

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Re:How to Survive as a Solo Dev for Like a Decade or So by BatFastard on Thursday May 04, 2017 @05:45PM (#14269149)
But most accountants suggest you don't take that deduction since they tend to be audited at a much higher rate.
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Re:How to Survive as a Solo Dev for Like a Decade or So by Tushon on Thursday May 04, 2017 @06:49PM (#14269568)
I'm gonna call a hard citation please on "most accountants don't recommend" you taking a deduction that could get you a boatload of reduced tax liability.
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Re:How to Survive as a Solo Dev for Like a Decade or So by fnayr on Thursday May 04, 2017 @08:19PM (#14270122)
Well I definitely got that recommendation too. His exact advice was that I shouldn't take it unless the office was it's own sealed off room that was NEVER used for ANY other purpose. He certainly scared me out of taking the deduction.
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Re:How to Survive as a Solo Dev for Like a Decade or So by dfcab on Thursday May 04, 2017 @10:06PM (#14270601)
Agree, was told same. The requirements are strict and just not worth the hassle. Hope laws can be updated as working from home is more commonplace nowadays.
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Re:How to Survive as a Solo Dev for Like a Decade or So by pault on Friday May 05, 2017 @08:24AM (#14272852)
That's funny because turbotax always suggests this.
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Re:How to Survive as a Solo Dev for Like a Decade or So by charlesdm on Thursday May 04, 2017 @07:39PM (#14269868)
If you're scared about an audit, you shouldn't be in business.
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Re:How to Survive as a Solo Dev for Like a Decade or So by blackguardx on Friday May 05, 2017 @12:39AM (#14271140)
I think many people use their home offices for other stuff than just work. Maybe it's a spare bedroom for guests or maybe they sometimes place computer games in it. If you get audited, you will have to explain all this. It won't be fun and if the audit doesn't go your way, you are looking at legal trouble.
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Re:How to Survive as a Solo Dev for Like a Decade or So by jsmthrowaway on Friday May 05, 2017 @12:12AM (#14271061)
Fear isn't the only reason to avoid one. They're also quite inconvenient.
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Re:How to Survive as a Solo Dev for Like a Decade or So by icedchai on Thursday May 04, 2017 @08:06PM (#14270048)
I've been taking it for 15 years. I've never had a problem.
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Re:How to Survive as a Solo Dev for Like a Decade or So by koonsolo on Friday May 05, 2017 @10:12AM (#14273536)
Same here in Belgium
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Re:How to Survive as a Solo Dev for Like a Decade or So by cortesoft on Thursday May 04, 2017 @01:31PM (#14266846)
This isn't really different than renting an office, just that your office is REALLY close to your apartment.
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Re:How to Survive as a Solo Dev for Like a Decade or So by ethbro on Thursday May 04, 2017 @03:20PM (#14267846)
Also, really close to the fridge. Which helps on budget as well.
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Re:How to Survive as a Solo Dev for Like a Decade or So by coldtea on Friday May 05, 2017 @02:46AM (#14271568)
It's totally different in that you don't pay an extra rent. The office is just a room in the house with "which is quite literally closed off from the rest by simply locking the internal door that connects the two".
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Re:How to Survive as a Solo Dev for Like a Decade or So by lukas099 on Friday May 05, 2017 @10:14AM (#14273552)
I'm assuming the rent for the double-apartment is greater than it would be for the single-apartment, so you are paying extra rent.
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Re:How to Survive as a Solo Dev for Like a Decade or So by coldtea on Saturday May 06, 2017 @05:45AM (#14279523)
Tons of houses people already live in have an extra entrance or backdoor -- it's just a locked door between the other rooms. They could live in the same house and pay the same rent without using one room as a separate office -- as millions do.
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Re:How to Survive as a Solo Dev for Like a Decade or So by mstade on Thursday May 04, 2017 @01:36PM (#14266901)
Exactly, which is why it's also 100% legit.
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Re:How to Survive as a Solo Dev for Like a Decade or So by brianwawok on Thursday May 04, 2017 @01:16PM (#14266704)
Was it built as an inlaw suite or something? That sounds like a sweet setup.
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Re:How to Survive as a Solo Dev for Like a Decade or So by mstade on Thursday May 04, 2017 @01:36PM (#14266897)
I have no idea. It was built quite recently, in 2005 I think, and on the lease it just says "space available to let" or something like that. I've lived here since 2006 or so, but only recently started using the apartment like this. It's perfect!
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Re:How to Survive as a Solo Dev for Like a Decade or So by dexterdog on Thursday May 04, 2017 @01:23PM (#14266769)
A sweet suite if you will.
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Re:How to Survive as a Solo Dev for Like a Decade or So by elliotec on Thursday May 04, 2017 @01:32PM (#14266859)
Oh, I will
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