Are you a “Freelancer”??

Well, if you are one, then you have to be proud of yourself!

In this modern era, Freelancer has become one of the most desirable jobs, especially for young and millennial generations. Not to mention that because of some external factors, nowadays remote work or “Work From Home” (WFH) has become the newest trend. Thus, making a Freelancer has become one of the profession that has the biggest demand.

But…. Don’t forget that eventhough you can work from anywhere (literally), you still have to be professional. And of course… taking care of your financial.

As someone who might not have “steady” flow of income, managing your financial in your financial career might be (even more) challenging than regular office worker.

So… it’s time to apply some of these practical tips to help you!

1. Calculate Your Average Monthly Income

Why it’s so important? (considering that your monthly income will not be fixed anyway)

Well… the thing is when you have successfully calculated your average monthly income, you will have a good outlook of your own financial situation. This is very important for you to plan your expense more effectively. Because while your income is not fixed, your monthly expense will pretty much so.

Just a simple calculation will do. For example, you can try to calculate the total of your income of the previous year divided by the total of 12 months, and thus will result in your rough average monthly income. This is especially true if your freelancer jobs are mostly project based job, such as Web Design & Web Development Service (which means your income will be pretty much depend on when the project will be delivered, with some possible extra delays here and there).

It doesn’t have to be perfect (unless your are a freelancer accountant of course). The most important thing is that you will have one good main guidelines for this year.

2. Prioritize Your Needs First

Once you have calculated your average monthly income, it’s time to make list of your needs.

Always ensure that the main needs such as food, clothes, and shelter expense are met first (because let’s be realistic, without those, we will not be able to do anything literally).

If somehow your average monthly income can at least fulfill your monthly needs, you can breath easier. If don’t, well, at least you know how much you have to make to ensure that you can fulfill your monthly needs.

3. Save, save, and save

If there are still some surplus after your needs, time to save them!

While it might be so tempting to just spend all of the remaining money (as you don’t have to worry about starving or sleeping on the road for this month), saving is the only way that you can attain the higher level of your life.

Be it to later hire a solid team to help you, or building a full fledge business, preparing extra money is a must. So, don’t forget to save!

4.  Prepare The Emergency Funds

Better safe than sorry! We can say that this quote will be even more stronger for the Freelancers.

Because in real life, anything (literally) could happen, and it might costs us extra money to solve it (be it health problems, family affairs, or millions other unexpected things). And as Freelancers, there will be no Company’s Insurance or policy that could cover it for us. We have to solve it by using our own money.

That’s why always ensure that you save some more extra money in case of emergency. Having our own medical or life insurance is almost a mandatory things for us Freelancers. So… better to choose your trusted insurance partners soon!

5. Avoid Consumptive Lifestyle

Last but not least, try to avoid any consumptive lifestyle.

We really understand that some of you might want to try some luxurious things once in a while, or simply to show to others about your achievements.

And while that’s totally OK, don’t forget that you want to reach higher goals and higher degree of life. Remember that consumptive lifestyle is mostly just a mere stroke of our ego and nothing more.

Most of the super rich billionaires in the world never ever recommend a consumptive lifestyle (eventhough we know for sure that they can if they want to).

And that’s totally proven! So while it’s okay to show off your achievement a little bit, don’t ever be swallowed in this kind of lifestyle. Just live simply, humbly, and amazingly!

Being a freelancer has its own perks and challenges. But just like any other professions, it needs consistency, dedications and perseverance.

So… are you ready to become a freelancer now? :)