> I got killed for 2K last year because of contract work.

Yeah me too. I just did my taxes for last year, and here is a tip for the tech geeks out there:

DON'T TAKE CONTACT WORK UNLESS THEY PAY YOU A HELL OF A LOT OF MONEY.

There is a special self-employment tax that is just brutal, and I had to learn this the hard way. I got hit for about $2000 more than I would have as a non-contract employee, and I really didn't make that much. It definitely turned the project into a losing proposition for me.