Business

If you’re a freelancer, it’s crucial to remain on top of your finances as your income is not guaranteed, so it’s well worth planning ahead, to ensure that you’ll be able to cover your living expenses when work is scarce.

5 Budgeting Tips for Freelancers:

Learn how to become a stronger more effective negotiator 

You’ll find it far easier to budget for your necessities and luxuries if you ensure that you’re paid a fair sum for your time, talent and skills. It may be worth working out a standard hourly rate, which you can charge your clients. It may also be worth figuring out how much money you need in order to survive on a monthly basis, to ensure that you negotiate fair contracts which will ensure that you have more than enough funds to cover your day to day living expenses.

When you can, try to put aside 40% of your income

As a freelancer, there may be months where you struggle to pick up paying contracts and months as well as months where you more than triple your average monthly income. When it’s possible, save 40% of your income and spend 40% of your income on essentials such as your electricity bill and groceries and the remaining 20% of your budget on luxuries.

While it may be tempting to spend a greater percentage of your income on luxuries, during the months where work is scarce, you’ll be glad that you put extra money aside instead of splurging on luxuries such as restaurant meals and expensive electronic devices.

Install a handy budgeting app to help you keep track of your spending habits 

When you’re a freelancer, it’s well worth tracking your expenditure by downloading a budgeting app onto your smartphone. Downloading a budget application onto your phone will help you identify areas which you may need to tighten your spending on. As an example, you may find that you spend several hundred dollars per month on takeaway coffees or that you spend a small fortune for cable television. When it’s far cheaper to sign up to a site such as Netflix or Hulu, which streams current content for a fraction of the price.

Get into the habit of shopping around for the best deals available 

Instead of purchasing an item from the first shop you visit, it’s well worth visiting a price comparison website, which will tell you where to purchase the item which you’re interested in, for the lowest price.

You can also save money by visiting two different grocery stores, in order to find the best possible deals on all of your favorite products. As different stores will offer different specials.

Place the bulk of your savings into a high-interest bank account

It’s well worth shopping around to find out if your current provider, offers you the best interest rate available. As you should aim for your savings to grow, in order to cover inflation. As you don’t want your savings to lose value over the years.

So if you’re a freelancer, it’s well worth using the 5 tips listed above in order to keep on top of your finances.

If you love the idea of quitting the rat race and traveling the world, whilst working as a writer, simply continue reading to discover how to work abroad while writing articles online. After all, life is far too short to be lived in one place!

How to work abroad while writing articles online:

Consider traveling to budget destinations over expensive destinations 

One way to stretch your travel budget further is to opt to visit low cost, budget travel destinations such as Mexico, Thailand, and Brazil over more expensive travel destinations such as Switzerland, Canada, and Australia.

As an example accommodation, food, entertainment, and utilities are far cheaper in Thailand, than they are in the US or expensive tourist destinations. So if you’re looking to stretch your travel budget further, whilst working overseas as a writer, it pays to pick your destinations carefully!

Make sure that you have a reliable internet connection throughout your travels 

You may want to talk to your internet provider about signing up for a low-cost data plan, whilst you’re traveling. Alternatively, if you plan on sticking around in one country for several weeks, you may want to sign up for a local internet plan.

Alternatively, you may want to write the bulk of your articles, whilst you’re offline and utilize free high-speed Wi-Fi connections to upload your articles or send your articles to overseas clients.

Make sure to set yourself achievable deadlines 

Whilst overseas you may be tempted to sleep in and to spend the bulk of your days exploring exotic new destinations, however in order to ensure that you have a steady stream of revenue coming in, it’s a smart idea to set yourself realistic, achievable targets and deadlines. Make sure that your work remains a priority and that you save your adventures for your disposable, free time.

Consider blogging about your travels 

Did you know that you can supplement your income by create a niche travel blog, which you can place advertisements on? Every time one of your readers clicks on an ad, which is featured on your blog and makes a purchase, you’ll receive a small commission. While one commission won’t pay for your accommodation whilst you’re overseas, once you’ve set up a successful blog, which receives plenty of traffic, you should start to receive multiple commissions per day. If you’re stuck for ideas to write about, you may want to write a blog about finding activities, restaurants and attractions, which are off the beaten tourist track or you may want to start a food blog, which teaches your followers how to make dishes, from the countries which you visit.

Get into the habit of following a routine While working as a freelance writer should give you plenty of flexibility to make the most out of your time overseas, it’s still worth establishing some semblance of a routine. As an example, you may want to start your day with a 30-minute workout before completing an article or two. Whilst your afternoons may be yours to explore your new surroundings. So if you’re keen to travel the world, whilst working as a freelance writer, it’s certainly possible to turn your dream into a reality.