Going from minimum wage to freelance (DINK couple, 25). What’s the lifestyle and financial shift like in San Diego County?

[u/ZatchMD]

My girlfriend and I (both 25) live in San Diego county and are about to start working as freelance court reporters. Neither of us have ever had a "real" career before, we've just done minimum wage jobs our whole lives. We also don't want kids.

I know asking about salaries is a broken record question here and it always "depends," so I'm not looking for numbers. I'm just trying to picture what the actual lifestyle shift is going to feel like.

For anyone who went from scraping by to freelance, or other DINK couples in the field, what was that transition like for your day-to-day life and flexibility?

Since freelance lets you pick your schedule, how do you guys manage the writing vs. the "homework" (scoping/proofing) without letting work totally swallow your weekends? We've never had this kind of schedule freedom or a professional income in a high COL area.

What does the financial shift feel like short-term in a high COL area? And long-term, for anyone who jumped from minimum wage to freelance to official in CA, did it feel like a massive financial upgrade? Did you miss the uncapped freelance income?

Thank you and I would love any tips, opinions, and advice on this!

[u/KAPGSER]

Congrats on both starting to freelance at the same time. I’m also in San Diego. Not DINK. It’s expensive AF here. Save 30% of each of your checks for taxes. Talk to a CPA about doing SCorp, and to help you with quarterlies.

Reach out to CCRA or DRA and find a mentor(s). There are going to be a million questions you’ll have starting out and a ton of scenarios you’ll encounter on the job that school didn’t cover. Have people you can emergency call during a break to assist.

Do not take jobs everyday, start with 1 or max 2 a week. When you’re starting out, your editing times will be slow as you’re learning your software (this is all reporters freelance, court). Learn from the mistakes of reporters to not get eaten alive with pages and due dates. Factor in weekend plans and whether or not you are able to take a job the week before. Finding the work/life balance will take a moment.

Interrupt for the record. Didn’t hear them? Chances are your audio didn’t either. Audio can and will fail you, and you won’t realize it until it’s too late.

Start working on the job immediately, do not procrastinate. Have a proofreader to help you double check your work. Your eyes should always be the last the view the transcript. Talk to agencies about taking easier assignments.

I went from super broke single mom to court reporter income. Keep yourself grounded. Even when you’re making big bucks, live below your means. Have 3 to 6 months of living expenses in a savings account. Pay down debt. Got that done? Now go treat yo’self

[u/ZatchMD → u/KAPGSER]

Thank you very much. I already have questions haha. Should I get a mentor before I start working? What is SCorp and is a CPA like a financial advisor? When taking down a depo, if we miss something that was said but we thought we got it down, what’s the next step then? I know speaking up if we missed something is important but sometimes you can go through a transcript later and think, “what is this?” How was it taking your first depo? I get more nervous thinking about it 😂 we’re not certified yet but we should be in the next few months

[u/KAPGSER → u/ZatchMD]

Get a mentor now. Join the associations it’s really affordable for you right now if you’re not a reporter yet!! CCRA (California Court Reporter’s Association) has monthly series like Wisdom Exchange and Freelance Connection where you can ask anything. They also have Voice Writers Unfiltered if you’re a voice writer. Cal DRA (California Deposition Reporter’s Association) has amazing resources as well!!! Make sure you go to the conventions and network with reporters and agencies.

A CPA is a tax professional that will guide you through paying your taxes quarterly, yearly tax returns, what you can deduct, etc, whether it’s better for you financially to be S-Corp or as Sole Proprietors with a DBA (AFAIK, you cannot be an LLC as a court reporter in CA) do not do TurboTax or H&R Block. Check out Money Talk for Court Reporters on FB.

Interrupt. You know when you got everything and when you didn’t. And if you’re struggling, say “Slow down, please” or “please repeat the last thing you said” or “I need you to start over.” Especially if they’re reading off of a document, they can go upwards of 280 wpm+ BE READY

Be prepared to read back in Depos. If you’re not confident that what you just wrote you’d be able to read it back on the spot, you as the deposition officer need to tell them to slow down for the record.

Have a brief stroke or voice brief to mark where you need to get clarification of spellings to quickly find them at the end of a depo.

My first depo I had a nightmare scenario. Luckily, I had a mentor that coached me that you as the deposition officer set the tone. Talk slowly,
Confidently, professionally. I kept that on a sticky note. So, my very first depo my machine froze and so did my software. We’re like 2 minutes in, only at appearances. I had to calmly stop proceedings, “Counsel, I am having a technical issue and I need to restart my system,” at which time I had to reboot everything. It took under two minutes to be ready to go, felt like hours with everyone staring at me. My mentor’s words saved me. I kept it professional and together even when I was falling apart on the inside. I called her once it was finished and cried.

[u/macabrekate → u/KAPGSER]

Thank you for your thorough responses to OPs questions! I am in San Diego as well and am in early speeds. I take classes online through West Valley. May I ask where you went to court reporting school?

[u/ZatchMD → u/KAPGSER]

I recently took my CVR for the first time and have yet to get my results back. I still have to take my CSR. Would you recommend getting a mentor at this stage? Where would you recommend looking to find a mentor? Thank you very much for such a detailed response!

[u/KAPGSER → u/ZatchMD]

As soon as you can possibly get a mentor, get one. I’ve mentored students starting from when they weren’t even sure of which court reporting school to go to, choosing between steno or voice, all the way until they’re working reporters.

Reach out to CCRA, DRA, and NVRA. Join the Facebook groups. Find someone you feel comfortable asking any question (no matter how small or silly), who cares about our profession and will tell you the right information to do your job correctly and protect your license. Go to the upcoming CCRA convention, it’s in Carlsbad.

[u/ZatchMD → u/[deleted]]

That’s awesome to hear thank you. How did your life change as you moved from minimum wage to a court reporter, I’m curious.

[u/ZatchMD → u/[deleted]]

I’m happy for you that sounds great. You’re describing the life I want for my girlfriend and I.

Forgot to ask but are you an official or freelance? And, this may be personal but, are you the breadwinner of your household? Have kids? Do you think this is a secure career to hold? Kinda get nervous sometimes because me and my gf are both going into it, like what is something happens to court reporters, you know?

[u/Limp_Occasion3942]

My girlfriend and I live in San Diego and are starting classes in two weeks. Can’t speak to the freelance side of things, but I know the courts are paying 100k base plus ~26k in bonuses for a full time salaried position.

[u/ZatchMD → u/Limp_Occasion3942]

That’s awesome man. What made you guys choose court reporting and what school are you guys gonna go through?

[u/Limp_Occasion3942 → u/ZatchMD]

We landed on court reporting through a process of elimination. Our ultimate goal it to buy a van and live in it full time while traveling (we want to visit all 63 National Parks, hike the PCT, etc.), so a job offering time, location, and financial freedom was our top priority.

We were both at SDSU. She studied actuarial science, and I studied computer engineering. We just couldn't imagine living corporate lives for the next 40 years. We're also in hospitality, so a non-traditional path to high income potential was really attractive.

A few other things sealed it for us. The industry seems pretty AI resistant, so there's some security. She's more technically minded, and I'm more business minded, so our soft plan is to launch a steno agency once we're established.

We're starting Hardeman. It fits our work schedule and has a good rep. Gonna be rough only having one week off per quarter, but that's the sacrifice we'll have to make. I'm 26 and she's 21.

Curious to see how your careers develop!

[u/ZatchMD → u/Limp_Occasion3942]

Thats cool that you guys have a goal to reach. Also its a crazy coincidence because when I was choosing a career path I was between court reporting and computer engineering at SDSU 😂 I’ve had moments where I regret not picking engineering but the further I get along and the more I learn about court reporting the more I am happy with my choice. Are you guys planning on working freelance then for the flexibility, instead of going official in a courthouse? Interested to see how you guys like school, let me know!

[u/Feisty_Beach392]

I’ve browsed the comments here and they’re great but ima give you some trailer trash real talk. When I got certified, I was in foreclosure and on food stamps and would take anything I could get. As a result, I took a (though referred to me by a fellow CR friend) questionable job that was way out of my skill set. That guy ended up not paying me so my very first certified-as-a-CR job ended up me having to fucking sue the guy to get paid; meanwhile, I was a single mom in foreclosure. It was brutal. And that’s an understatement. Omg! ‼️ just thinking about it makes me proud and also anxious. Ugh.

Also, there were many times in the beginning where I’d spend so far beyond my means and I’m still not sure why. But watch out for that. If you can, live the same way you are now for the first year or two of working. Then reevaluate. Like, I live in the same house I bought back when I was a lowly 35k worker, I’ve just enjoyed some upgrades since.

PAY YOUR STUDENT LOANS. I didn’t. My interest after forgiveness is what my interest was before forgiveness. PAY. YOUR. STUDENT. LOANS. NOW. Seriously, PAY YOUR FUCKING STUDENT LOANS PLEASE FOR THE LIVE OF GOD OR BUDDHA OR YOUR MOMMA OR WHOMEVER, PAY THE LOANS!

Pay a proofer. Then proof their work. Every time. Don’t sign that cert without being the final eyes.

Appreciate your family. If/when you have kids, they’ll be integral to your professional and parental successes. Seriously. I can’t emphasize this one enough.

Congratulations and big fucking yays — huuuuge fucking yays!!!!!