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
It’s secret time! It’s been my experience that we all have a few dirty little secrets stashed away, and working from behind a computer screen lets us get away with a few harmless fibs every now and then – not that I would lie. I really do still look like that picture I posted from ten years ago…before two c-section deliveries…really, I’m still that hot!
Every office needs a coffee table. Whether it’s to hold meetings with clients around, spread out potential magazines for querying on or to simply have somewhere to rest your feet during your mid-morning break, a coffee table has a variety of uses. Unlike my previous two posts (how to build a desk and a bookcase), I haven’t actually made this coffee table myself. I drew
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
My fellow WAHM, have you ever noticed just how ridiculous certain aspects of our life can be? I, for one, rode around today with my youngest’s chocolate pudding cup in the front of my truck next to a plastic container full of worms my oldest determinedly collected yesterday. But this pales in comparison to the other pieces of my WAHM life that just slap me
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’m fully convinced that the most hilarious, deep-seated irony of the universe revolves around freedom of choice. Think of those teenage years when you struggled, fought, threatened, snuck out and wore horrible clothing to express yourself and gain true independence from the overbearing monsters we call parents. For most of us, now that we have free will, we live with gusto. We stay out all
In last month’s post, I explained how to build an L-shaped desk based on a project I carried out several years ago. The reason I built my own desk, apart from the fact that I needed a separate writing space was that I was in the same boat as a lot of new freelancers and money wasn’t as flush as it could have been. Not
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
Not only is it hard for people to articulate what I do, but they often don’t believe it’s a worthwhile undertaking. I’m a freelance copywriter – a “real job” by most people’s standards once they know what it actually is, but it’s often referred to as “that writing thing you do.” Whatever. I can handle the confusion, but for every person who can’t seem to
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
To continue in my (very short) series of common questions asked of a freelancing mom, I’ll now reveal my true personality. It’s not very pretty – really, I know that. But this mom isn’t really that soft and gentle when she’s not dealing with her own children. It’s the most common question asked of freelance writers around the world that gets under my skin. “Will
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
When I first started freelancing, I realised that my productivity decreased if I were working from my laptop in a room where there were distractions of some sort. Whether it was the TV, radio, girlfriend or cats, I found that I was producing more work on a quicker basis when I was alone. So, mixing my passion for DIY with my need for a separate
It has been my experience that as soon as “regular” people, or those that don’t have their own online businesses, find out what I do, they always want to know two things: “How do you do it all?” -and- “Can you show me how to do what you do?” Usually the second question is accompanied by some information about how great he was at writing
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
It’s a funny thing really, but looking back on pregnancy it seemed like a blessedly simple time. Of course, that was before the baby came out of the tummy and started vehemently disagreeing with me all constantly, so it’s probably a matter of course. I also remember distinctly thinking during pregnancy that it was so much more challenging to work while manifesting another human than
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
I have two under five. I’ve survived one toddler and have just a few months until my second bout of toddler-motherhood expires. It’s a trip; it’s a pain; it’s outrageous; it’s a blast. I love my toddlers, and I love to watch them learn, explore and grow at such an outrageous pace. Unfortunately, it didn’t take much to learn that when you’re watching a toddler
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”
I know now what I didn’t know then. I spent quite a bit of time working up to a full-time income freelancing while keeping the day job during pregnancy so that after my baby arrived, I could stay home and spend more time with him and do the mommy thing the way I wanted to. I was thrilled that it seemed to be working out
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
Want to make money? Watch an enterprising 4-year-old. Granted, my kids have watched two parents work from home and have been to the bank more times in their short lives than most kids go in a few decades, but they’re fun to watch and have taught me quite a bit about making money. Maximize Productivity If I have a project that takes about two hours
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
Anyone with a home office needs an arsenal of tools and tricks of the trade. Parents, however, need not only the basic office supplies, but other essentials as well to balance their obligations to family and professional lives. The needs of each individual and family can vary, but here are a few of my essentials as a work-at-home parent. Your Own Computer If you’re sharing
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
If you’re anything like me, your office is a tiny cell of a room where there’s barely enough room for your bed and your fainting couch, and opening the filing cabinet can turn into an acrobatic feat. When saddled with limited office space, its time to think vertical and utilize your wall space. This month’s freelancer DIY project is how to hang shelves. Even if
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. 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 mistakes than can put a halt to your
Every freelancer needs a real work space –a place to tackle your projects and assignments without wrestling with your child’s latest play dough creations and free from the risk of any crayon incidents on important contracts. It can be a trick to find the ideal space for a work-at-home mom or any other freelancer as many of us don’t have the luxury of our own