LaToya Irby One of the things that keeps me out of financial trouble is spending only the money I have on hand. Call me skeptical, but I avoid spending freelance money before I actually have it, even when I’ve already done the work. When you’re a freelancer, you can pretty much count on something going wrong with payments at any given time. Here are some rules I
Everyone who’s been freelancing for a while knows that there are ups and downs in a freelancer’s income. Though I don’t like the decrease in cash flow, I sometimes appreciate the downs because it means I get a bit of a break from working so much. Fortunately, even my “down” months bring in enough income to cover all my expenses, so I’m never depressed about
My daughter’s 3rd birthday is in March and I want to have one of those financially-irresponsible birthday parties that suburban housewife moms throw for their kids. And since I don’t have one of those executive six-figure-salary husbands to sponsor the party, I’m saving up for it. I started saving up for Christmas back in August. I save up for taxes and every other big expense
Earlier this summer, the (U.S.) government passed a law that requires you to opt-in before banks can charge you an overdraft fee. By opting-in, you agree that banks can process transactions that are over your account balance and you agree to pay the associated overdraft fee. You can also opt-out, which means banks won’t process transactions that exceed your balance and therefore your account won’t
Throughout the time I’ve been freelancing, I’ve worked with several different clients. I’ve encountered all types of payment situations. While some clients have sent payments on time without a hassle, not all clients payments have been ideal. As you work with clients, you’ll notice their payment habits fall into one of several categories. “The check’s in the mail.” This is the client who claims they’ve
When you’re a freelancer, your money comes in spurts. You might get $500 this week, $200 next week, and $1,500 the week after that. Some money comes by check, others direct deposit, and others through PayPal or maybe even wire transfer. And you have to keep up with all of it. Managing a freelance income is hard enough. If you’re spending money as it comes
At 22 years old, I was making $55K per year and I was the envy of all my friends. But I was still broke and I couldn’t figure out why. For months, I was unhappy about my job partly because I wasn’t enjoying the money I was making. Then, it dawned on me – the money’s going somewhere, I just had to figure out where
When you make the switch from full-time employee to full-time freelance writer, your health insurance options will change dramatically. If your spouse is still employed, you may be able to enjoy their group health benefits. Otherwise, you’ll be seeking an outside source for health coverage. There are more options than you may believe. I can’t cover all of them extensively in a single post, so
Sometimes I’m tempted to go back to work full-time. Not because I miss working outside the home or because I feel the need to interact with adults more often during the day. Only because I want more money. What I make now is fine (forgive the melodramatic post title), but I have some lofty goals I want to accomplish that require more money. I fantasize
Back in April, I promised to tell you about retirement options available for freelance writers. I’m three months late, but better late than never right? I have to admit, thinking about retirement savings is not the most interesting topic. In fact, it can be boring. But I’ll do boring if it means I get to spend my 50+ years enjoying the world’s beaches. Let me
It takes money to make money, but should you spend your hard-earned money on a writing ebook/program/webinar that promises to make you oodles of money? I once spent money on one of those ebooks and I was completely satisfied with my purchase. I didn’t get rich – nor did I believe I would – but I used the strategy to create a web product that’s
Being a freelance writer and working from home are great. There are some obvious cost savings. For example, you won’t have to pay the cost of commuting to and from work, so you’ll save money on gas. Your clothing expenses might also go down since you don’t have to buy the more expensive business casual or professional clothes for to wear to work. As you
I’ve decided to open a third checking account. Right now, I have two accounts – one business account that holds my income until I’m ready to “pay” myself and another that receives my monthly paychecks. The second is a personal account that I use for paying bills and other various spending. While most of my bills are paid by the 5th of the month, I
Ultimately, the question of whether you’re ready to make freelance writing your full-time job comes down to whether you consistently make enough money to pay all your bills each month. But just how much money do you need to make to quit your job and freelance full-time? I don’t know the exact number, but I can tell you how to figure it out. You need
Freelance writer vacations are important, but for many freelancers vacation days are non-existent. If you do manage to take a vacation, you’ll probably be stuck working early mornings and late nights because you can’t afford to abandon your work completely. There are still bills that need to be paid. At my last corporate job, allowed us to buy an extra week of vacation. Payroll simply deducted
The lack of employer-sponsored retirement plans is another drawback of freelancing and self-employment. But just because you don’t have a corporation matching your 401K contributions doesn’t mean you should forgo retirement savings all together. Sure, freelance writing is flexible, but do you really want to continue doing it for the rest of your life? Can you do it for the rest of your life? During
I haven’t logged into TurboTax since the beginning of February, when that big red $1,254 showed up on the screen. I knew I would have a tax bill this year and set aside some money for it every month. I’m not ready to give up that much money yet so I’m holding out as long as possible. But for the sake of argument, let’s talk
Reading Yo’s last post about accountability really got me to thinking, “Are people having financial trouble because they failed to take ownership of their finances?” Could that one word – ownership – have prevented the entire mortgage meltdown and subsequent recession? Taking ownership of your freelance finances means charging a rate you can live on. It means managing the money you have and storing the
Slow paying clients are a PITA and the wallet. Fortunately, all of my current clients pay promptly, but I have had clients who were slow to follow up on invoices. It’s annoying when your bills are coming due in a few days. It’s infuriating when your bills were due last week. It’s critical to keep the money coming in on a steady basis and to
If you’ve been freelancing for any length of time, you’ve probably noticed that work seems to come in spurts. There are certain stretches of time when you’re completely booked up and then there are times that it seems like there are no jobs out there. If your work comes in such varying cycles, your money will come in on the same cycle. There will be
As freelance writers, our income is very unpredictable. We can set income goals, market ourselves, and create several income streams, but the truth is that it’s hard to say with certainty how much money we’ll make next month or six months from now. Even with contracts, clients come and go. So do the advertisers and sponsors that pay for our own blogs. A fluctuating income
One of the reasons you decided to work freelance, whether part-time or full-time, is to have the chance to work from home. You may receive some tax benefits from having a home office. Read on to learn how can you take the home office deduction on your taxes. Home Office Deduction Rules First, the IRS requires you to use your home office “exclusively and regularly”
What’s more refreshing than a brand new year. It’s another chance to do things right with your freelance writing business and your finances. Here are seven things you should do during these first few weeks of January to get your finances on the right track. 1. Evaluate your rates. As you think about your writing rates for 2010, consider how you fared last year. You
Let’s talk about credit for freelance writers. Having good credit is important for freelancers because our income is scrutinized a lot harder when we apply for credit cards and loans. Because a freelancer writer’s income is somewhat less predictable and harder to prove than that of a full-time employed worker, we need to have a solid credit history to help get approved for credit card
The two things I loathe about a freelancer’s finances are health insurance and income taxes. I thought I hated paying taxes when I worked full-time for someone else. Seeing the money that was taken out of my paycheck was depressing. I didn’t know how good I had it. Paying tax as a freelancer is even worse. Not only do we pay more taxes, we have
I know what you’re thinking, Ugh. Budgeting. The only thing worse than budgeting is licking sandpaper. As boring as it feels, budgeting is especially critical for you as a freelance writer, because your income is less predictable. Creating a budget takes just three steps: totaling your monthly income, subtracting your expenses, and adjusting your budget based on the result. You’ll create your budget using the
As a freelancer, you have to treat money a lot differently than if you were employed by a huge corporation or even a small business. And that can lead to costly money mistakes. Your paychecks aren’t guaranteed. No one is withholding income taxes on your behalf. You have to be much more conscious of how you’re spending the money you make and avoid costly financial
I know. It’s one of the last things you want to read about, but it’s one of the most crucial parts of freelance success. Don’t worry, you won’t read anything about cash flow statements, balance sheets, or profit/loss statements – they’re complete overkill for the average freelancer. Instead, I’m going to give you some easy-to-follow tips on managing your records throughout the month so it