How to Plan Your Budget if You Are a Freelance Writer

The life of a freelancer is both exciting and boring. It is to say, if you partake in independent work doing what you know best; and prospecting to clients with questions like, can I write essay for you, there are days when clients (students, copyeditors, webmasters and website owners) will come trooping your way in record numbers, and then none at all during freelancing off-peak days.  In this post, you are going to learn how to plan and budget for your freelance career so you can maneuver between more and fewer money days.

A freelancer’s financial struggles and Nightmares

One day, you make a lot of money writing for a writing company, and another month, everything hits rock-bottom. You ask a lot of questions and wonder whether freelancing is a goldmine as many put it. Rent become overdue and hanger pans start biting hard and deep.  You start losing weight reeling in mixed thoughts of quitting or and staying put. Your muse is gone but you need the money, so you start to Google, how to find well-paying freelance clients.

Money is what everybody wants. Today, most people leave their 8-5 jobs because they want to make more money as independent workers.  The more they make working from home, the many choices they would have.  It is to say; a daytime job could leave you with limited choices, something which is not the case with freelancing. You get paid daily, weekly, monthly; whichever suits you.

Thus, the thought of crafting articles for pay, and for different clients gives you the hope of earning more in no time.  But does the income present you with more choices? The truth is; if you are the type of a person who never budgets for income, chances are your pockets will run dry quarter-way into a new month. 

Budgeting Pitfalls

Freelances are not exempt from tax remittances. It thus imperative that even as you earn money writing from home, there should be the proper calculation of taxes to avoid inconveniences that might negatively affect your income projections. An effective system for calculating remittances is equally important.

In countries like U.S and U.K where freelancing Bills have since been enacted into law, tax collection from independence workforce has since been streamlined with other sources. It, therefore, means those who live in this part of the world now have access to efficient tools for calculating self-employment deductions such as health and house insurance.

Budgeting is future-oriented. Depending on the amount of money you make, say doing write-ups for two steady freelance clients every month, you should be in a position to calculate your expenses for that period.  It could, however, be a little challenging in cases where one does ghost-writing for a few days and then moves to another client who might pay less or more.

Expenses on monthly rent, food and clothing is something that always comes on top of the budget of a freelancer.  But here is the catch.

• Do you spend more than what you earn freelancing and end up with nothing at the turn of a new month?
• Do you make enough money to afford non-basic necessities like trips and hang-out with friends?
• Do you spend all your freelance income on parties and drinks?
• Are you faced with budgeting nightmare when it comes to planning on earning from home jobs?

Well, every independent worker face a myriad of challenges, most of these included and it comes down to planning better.

Budgeting your freelance income: Tips

Overspending income from freelance jobs can snowball into a financial crisis. The following tips should thus come in handy and help you budget like a pro.

Tabulate your Base income

It is imperative to find out how much income is enough to take care of your basic needs. From there, you can start prospecting for better-paying clients to avoid running into a financial crisis. Rent, utility bills, and food.

Other Expenses

Do you have active business subscriptions such as insurance, phone data, and cable TV as well as association remittances?  Once you calculate these expenses, one moves closer to being a better planner.

What is your dream income?

When people get into the freelance business, they always have a magic figure in mind. Basically, the amount they want to earn at the end of the week or month. Now, to take care of this, you must have clearly stated the aforementioned expenses from which you work towards a projected income value, say $7000 every month.

Think about yourself like Business

Once you venture into a freelance career, one operates like a business.  You have goals, vision, and mission. But are you living your dreams? It is important to have a balance sheet against which you compare income and expenses. Technically, you are rendering writing services in a B2B or B2C structure depending on terms of the agreement with clients.

Finally, live within your means

One of the most tempting pitfalls for freelancers is living beyond what they earn.  It is always a straight path to financial problems. And even worse, one hardly saves for the future or retirement. Make the most of Freelance budgeting Apps to stay on course.