Two Nights
MONEY MEETS TAX · EPISODE 20
Irvine · August 2026
Money & Tax in this episode
A growing side business · Protecting limited time · Paying tax when no one withholds it
By the time Jiwoo fell asleep, the kitchen was mostly clean.
Mostly.
There was a bottle drying beside the sink, two small bowls Evan had forgotten to put away, and one sock on the floor near the dining table.
Daisy picked it up.
“How does one sock get all the way over here?”
Evan looked over from the counter.
“She travels.”
“She doesn’t walk.”
“That makes it more impressive.”
Daisy smiled and dropped the sock into the laundry basket.
They had been in the Irvine house for a few months now.
Most of the boxes were gone.
The living room looked finished.
The office did not.
Samples stood upright in labeled bins. Fabric books filled one shelf. Daisy’s work bag sat near the door. Jiwoo’s monitor was beside the laptop.
Evan handed her a mug.
“Are we watching something?”
Daisy looked toward the office.
“I have to finish a few things.”
He nodded.
“Client?”
“Client.”
It was the third night that week.
Monday had been lighting.
Tuesday had been sofas.
Wednesday was supposed to be finishes.
At 8:43, Daisy was staring at two pieces of limestone on her desk.
Evan appeared in the doorway.
“Which one?”
Daisy looked up.
“You don’t know what I’m deciding.”
“I know.”
“Then why are you asking?”
“I wanted to participate.”
She held up the samples.
“This one.”
Evan pointed to the other one.
Daisy nodded.
“Thank you for participating.”
He smiled and walked away.
The second project was going well.
That was part of the problem.
The client answered emails quickly.
Decisions moved.
Nothing had gone wrong.
And somehow there was always something else to do.
A light fixture to confirm.
A dimension to check.
Another option to send because the first one was backordered.
Daisy liked it.
She just did not like that she was doing it at 8:43 on a Wednesday night.
Her phone buzzed.
Instagram.
She had posted three photos from the first project the week before. Nothing elaborate. Just the finished room, a detail shot, and one before photo she almost did not include.
There was a message from someone she did not know.
Hi Daisy, I love Mina’s living room. Are you taking new clients?
Daisy stared at it.
Evan came back with his mug.
“What happened?”
She turned the phone toward him.
He read the message.
“Another one.”
“Yes.”
“That’s good.”
“Potentially good.”
He sat on the edge of the desk.
“Are you going to answer?”
“I don’t know.”
That was new.
The last time someone had asked whether she was available, Daisy had spent four days trying to decide whether she could say yes.
Now she knew she could.
That was not quite the same question anymore.
She looked around the room.
Her firm laptop was still in her bag.
Tomorrow morning she had a meeting at nine.
Friday she had a site visit for her own client after work.
Saturday had nothing on it.
Nothing had become surprisingly valuable.
“I can’t keep doing every night,” she said.
Evan nodded.
“You’ve been doing every night?”
“Not every night.”
He waited.
“Three.”
“This week?”
“Yes.”
“It’s Wednesday.”
Daisy looked at him.
“I know. That’s the problem.”
Evan took a drink.
“What did we do Sunday?”
“Your parents came over.”
“Saturday?”
“Costco.”
“That counts as an activity.”
“It does not count as work.”
“It felt like work.”
Daisy smiled.
Then she looked back at the message.
“I don’t want this to become the thing I do whenever I’m not doing everything else.”
Evan nodded.
“So don’t.”
“You said that last time.”
“I did.”
“I think I need a more specific version.”
“That seems fair.”
Daisy leaned back.
“What if I only work on this two nights a week?”
“Your clients might not like that.”
“They don’t need to know which nights.”
“That seems smarter.”
“And maybe one site visit on the weekend if I need it.”
Evan nodded.
“That sounds like a schedule.”
“It sounds like a boundary.”
“Those are less fun.”
“They’re useful.”
She opened her calendar.
Tuesday.
Thursday.
She added the same block to both evenings.
Daisy — clients
Two nights.
That was it.
At least for now.
The new message was still open on her phone.
Daisy started typing.
Thanks for reaching out. I’d be happy to talk. I’m currently booking new projects for October.
She stopped.
Evan read it.
“October?”
“Yes.”
“It’s August.”
“Exactly. That’s why I said October.”
He nodded.
“Fair.”
“I have a job.”
“Yes.”
“And a baby.”
“I remember.”
“And another client.”
“Yes.”
Daisy looked toward the monitor.
“And I want Saturday to still be Saturday.”
Evan glanced at the calendar.
“That seems reasonable.”
She sent the message.
Then she closed Instagram.
“Okay.”
“Okay?”
“I’m done.”
“With work?”
“For tonight.”
It was 9:06.
Daisy stood.
Evan looked at her.
She smiled.
“Just let me enjoy it.”
“I was going to ask if you wanted ice cream.”
“That works too.”
They sat on the couch ten minutes later.
Jiwoo stayed asleep.
Neither of them opened a laptop.
On Saturday morning, Daisy took Jiwoo outside in the stroller.
Evan came with coffee.
They walked without going anywhere in particular.
The neighborhood was already warm.
A few garage doors were open. Someone was washing a car. A little boy rode past them on a scooter and then turned around to do it again.
Jiwoo fell asleep before they reached the corner.
Daisy looked down at her.
“This is nice.”
“The walking?”
“The nothing.”
Evan nodded.
“That too.”
Her phone was in her pocket.
She left it there.
Later that month, the $4,500 payment arrived.
Daisy saw it during lunch.
For a few seconds, she just looked at the number.
The first $3,000 had felt unexpected.
This one did not.
She had quoted the fee.
The client had agreed.
Now they had paid it.
That somehow made the money feel more real.
That night, Evan opened the spreadsheet.
The one spreadsheet.
Daisy had made sure there was still only one.
The first $3,000 was already there.
Evan added the new payment beneath it.
$4,500.
The total changed to $7,500.
Daisy looked over his shoulder.
“That looks better together.”
“It usually does.”
“Don’t ruin it.”
“I haven’t done anything.”
“You’re thinking.”
“That’s allowed.”
He added a line below the income.
Expenses.
Then one more.
Tax.
Daisy watched him.
“How much?”
“I don’t know yet.”
She looked at him.
“Helpful.”
“That’s why I left it blank.”
Daisy pulled the other chair over.
“So we figure it out later?”
“We figure it out from the whole year. Not just this payment.”
“That sounds less convenient.”
“It is.”
She looked again at the $7,500.
Then at the blank tax line.
“Fine.”
Evan saved the spreadsheet.
That was all they did with it that night.
Before bed, Daisy opened her calendar one more time.
Tuesday.
Thursday.
Saturday was still empty.
Daisy left it that way.
The Tax Behind the Story
A client paying Daisy for her own design work generally does not withhold federal income tax the way her employer does from her W-2 paycheck.
That does not automatically mean she needs to send a separate estimated tax payment every quarter. Whether separate payments are needed depends on the household’s projected tax for the year and how much is already being paid through withholding and other payments. With W-2 wages in the household, increasing paycheck withholding may also be an option.
Setting aside part of each client payment can still help with cash management. But a set-aside percentage is not the same thing as calculating the tax.
For Daisy, the more immediate decision happens before any tax calculation.
She has to decide how much of her time the business gets.
Want the tax rules behind the story?
Side Income and Estimated Taxes: How Much Should You Set Aside?
A practical look at why a fixed set-aside percentage is not the same as calculating tax, and how business profit, self-employment tax, W-2 withholding, federal safe harbors, and California estimated taxes fit together.