A consultant is running a business, it isn't wage income which is what most people mean by "regular income". I can deduct expenses against my consulting income

A consultant is running a business, it isn't wage income which is what most people mean by "regular income". I can deduct expenses against my consulting income but not my wage income. It is always possible to spend more money than you earn in wages but that doesn't mean you have negative income as a consequence. Other kinds of income can be negative even with no expenses. The point stands that there is no such thing as a negative paycheck.