In a freelancer’s life, when the going gets tough, the amenities get going. We all start looking for things to cut out of our budgets during those “famine” months when income isn’t so great. As you’re calling companies giving them the “I’d like to cancel my account” spiel, make sure you don’t cancel these. Homeowners or Renter’s Insurance Your mortgage company requires you to have
Writers should always have multiple revenue streams, even if they all involve writing. In fact, no single client should make up such a large part of your income that you would suffer if you lost that client. Not only is this good money sense, it’s good business sense. Don’t put all your eggs in one basket as the proverb goes. I can see why a
A health savings account (HSA) is a type of tax-deferred savings account that gives you a tax break on out-of-pocket medical expenses. The plan is only available to individuals and families who have high deductible health plan – a type of insurance that requires you to pay a lot of money out of pocket before the insurance kicks in and pays anything. These high deductible
I’ve had an insane lifestyle long enough to recognize how insane it is and to simply anticipate periods of time when I feel like punching walls and throwing up my (then bruised) hands in despair. Fortunately with great responsibility comes great wisdom as well as great amounts of stress for good measure. I often use my great wisdom to find ways to reduce my great
After Google’s recent algorithm changes, income from at least one of my sites dropped a lot than I could have predicted. Unfortunately, I didn’t see the change coming. It made me a lot more thankful of the famine/feast budgeting method I use. Whenever I have great income months, I don’t spend the extra money, though I’m often tempted to. Instead, I put the extra in
Most self-employed workers and small business owners take the maximum number of tax deductions to minimize the amount of taxes owed. The benefit in the short run is that you don’t pay the IRS as much money. However, there’s a downside that you may not immediately realize – your reduced income may disqualify you for major loans, like a mortgage or small business loan. Tax
While I love most things about having two jobs, the time I dislike being a double-time working mom most is at bedtime. Throughout the day I push, push, push to get everything done. And now that the day is winding down I want more than anything to just relax and enjoy myself. Unfortunately I can’t sit down and finish up a quick job just yet
If you’re used to sending your kids away to school and working, you’re in for a rough ride – summer is almost here! Of course, those mothers who are insane like I am don’t have to worry too much about this. In fact, the summer months are the most relaxing months for my career, simply because I’m on summer vacation as well. My mornings won’t
You never think a disaster will happen to you and then it actually does. Hurricanes, tornados, earthquakes, house fire, and theft are just a few of the things that can turn your world upside-down in a matter of seconds. Disasters hit us harder because we work from our homes. Are you prepared for the worst? Do you have an emergency fund? When you’re depositing money
I’m doing something crazy today. I’m working on this post while my children are awake. It’s crazy – I know. I’m used to working in the still of the morning now around 4 am, but yesterday about 2 o’clock my body decided that it was done carrying me through my crazy schedule and decided to develop a sore throat and general yuckiness. As I finished
Most states don’t offer unemployment benefits for self-employed workers, so if something happens and you’re out of work, don’t expect to get help from your local unemployment office. Instead, it’s up to you to pull some strings to get through the rough patch. Predict the shortage as soon as possible. If you know in advance you’re going have a drop in income, you can prepare.
If you’re not up to date on the latest parenting drama, the big buzz word is the new Tiger Mom book and following. I’ll admit I’m intrigued, especially since I grew up with the products of these highly regulated Asian mothers who went on to Harvard and other prestigious universities before becoming doctors, lawyers and Indian chiefs. But then, I’m always intrigued by parenting philosophies and
Yesterday, I found a post on About.com’s Freelance Write mentioning a pending law that would provide payment protection for freelancers and other independent workers. Don’t get too excited. The law is currently in the New York Senate and would allow the New York Department of Labor to get involved in payment disputes for residents of that state. It got me to thinking though – would it help
I dragged my feet for years regarding phone technology. Before I had kids, I didn’t really want to be reached by phone every second. I liked coming home to messages and not being bothered during the day. Now, six years later, I have a smart phone (iPhone to be exact, although not the latest model), attached to me at all times. It’s like my lifeline
When it comes up in conversation about my schedule, as it usually does, that I get up at 4 in the morning and jump right into writing until 6, I usually get the same response – Wow, that sucks! And it does, kind of. It’s not fun getting up at 4 in the morning. But it is fun getting things done efficiently and it only
I’m not used to doing big projects. Most of my projects are either a one-time set of articles or a recurring set of articles. It’s easy to quote those since I do them all the time. Recurring payments are either set up on an automatic subscription or invoiced weekly. When I do a one-time set of articles, I ask for an upfront deposit and the
I’ve been working nights for years. This wouldn’t be a big deal if I wasn’t already working days and mornings, too. I’ve mentioned a few (dozen) times already, but I have the two kiddos to get up and out of the house every morning, while I get up and out of the house as well to head to the school where I teach at-risk teenagers.
Starting this month, I resolve to save 5% of my income every month, always, no matter what. If I can consistently pay the IRS, the cell phone company, the electric company, the health insurance provider, etc., there’s no reason I can’t do the same for myself. I do have an automatic savings draft set up, but it’s just $50 a month and I now feel
I had every intention of writing you a nice, long sales page full of random lies and musings. I was hoping that I could create a really cool, (imaginary) expert name for myself like Dr. Rebecca Frankenfurter, M.D. so that I would have instant credibility through my fake letter when I went to sell you some aspirin in a pretty bottle I colored with my
Don’t let stereotypes fool you. Financial freedom is not about being rich. In fact, you could be a millionaire and still be a financial slave. You know you’re financially free when you’re not worried about money anymore. The path to financial freedom isn’t much different for freelancers. I’d even say we have the ability to get there faster by making certain business choices. So how
I’m obviously totally awesome at what I do because I’m not completely burned out yet although I do get very, very close at times. In fact, I admire my productivity and economy so much I thought I’d share some real-world tips for saving money while starting up a freelance business any moms just breaking into this madness. This is, after all, a very, very serious
When it comes to unauthorized bank account and credit card charges, the sooner you find out these charges have hit, the better. Checking account and Paypal account fraud are the worst because these charges reduce your available money. Depending on your bank’s policy, you may have to wait until a fraud investigation is complete before you can get your money back. In some cases (mentioned
We are a special breed, yet we often divide ourselves up into groups – presumably so that we can defend ourselves by putting down the others. I’m a working mom, so I’m obviously better than the mom stuck at home – unless she’s a work-at-home mom. Then she gets top billing because she’s able to work at home, make money and teach her children three
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
It’s Christmas! If you’re reading this the day it’s posted, I strongly advise you to go and find your favorite Christmas movie to watch before you have to pack it all up for next year. This post will be here tomorrow. Of course, I’m writing this a few days ahead of time so that I have plenty of time to watch all of my favorite
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
As regulars might know, I’m a work-at-home mom and a work-away-from-home mom, too. I normally teach during the day and then get two boys to bed before settling down for three or four hours of writing most nights at the computer. It makes for a full day, but it’s so nicely organized and routine now it works for me. Today though, in honor of my
Anyone who properly cares for children works hard. It’s a world of sacrifices and rewards, but there’s very few mothers who don’t sleep well once the angels are tucked into bed. I’ve never lain around wishing I’d been busier on a particular day. But there does come a time when you realize that having a freelance career, and in my case a daytime career, on
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
It’s that special time of year again! Orders are up slightly, time is decreasing dramatically and best of all – the kids are home! Having the kids home is both a blessing and a curse. The days are great fun filled with ornament making and breaking and dessert-face-stuffing, and the nights are filled with work to make up for the lack of time during the