Money Management for Freelancers: How to Stay Financially Secure

 

You will learn it the easy way or the hard way - that money has wings as long as you give it wings. How do you give it wings? By not planning out your finances. At this point in time, I’m struggling with the aforementioned issue. I have a habit of spending impulsively - which is something I see as being detrimental to my financial stability. I’m trying to cut costs as much as possible - the first thing I thought of doing was to stop eating out and to stop lending people money without knowing for sure that they will pay it back (unless it is a gift of course). People have a way of taking advantage of people who don’t have a proper financial strategy in place. While it does sound rather harsh, I am writing this because I firmly believe that everyone should plan out how they spend their money - or suffer the consequences (like I have).

While failing and making mistakes is inevitable, learning from them is super important. If you don’t learn from your mistakes, you will keep repeating the same thing. If you can, for instance, learn from the mistakes others make, then you are very wise, if not you can start being wise by learning from your own mistakes. Remember there are a lot of people out there who will take advantage of your kindness and goodness, especially when they know you are so. The best thing to do is be very careful when interacting with people, like I am now. Be kind but firm. I don’t really like the word “boundaries” but don’t let people take you to town and beyond by using your goodness as a weakness to get their things done. 

Why Focus on Money Management?

I know money isn’t everything. But I have to admit it gives you power - the power to do what’s right (hopefully by yourself and by others too). Sometimes having no access to your personal source of income will mean that you are under the whims and desires of those who do have money and are supporting you. This means that you don’t have any freedom - cause we live in a materialistic world and therefore money is necessary. I don’t think or believe that money is evil - it all depends on how you use it! Think of it like a knife - it can be good or evil depending on how you use it. It’s all in your hands. Choose and use wisely! Now let us jump right into some helpful tips on how to improve your money management in the next section.

10 Tips to Improve Your Money Management 

Like I mentioned, money is not the be all and end all but if you don’t have money and you need it desperately, it will feel so. To avoid being pushed into such a dramatic and distressing situation, you might want to start saving as much as possible. While you don’t need to start in a big way, starting small is very important. Starting in any small way will help you thrive rather than survive when it comes to financial freedom.

Have a Upper Limit to Your Spending 

Yes, you need to have limits, especially when it comes to money. I learned this the hard way. It’s far more difficult to earn money than to spend money. Spending is very easy, especially when there are top-notch marketing campaigns with large budgets dedicated towards promoting products and services. So if you are not careful or rather mindful, you will end up with no green in your wallet. This can be really stressful if you want to achieve financial freedom and not depend on anyone.

Hold Yourself Accountable

If you want to achieve financial freedom you need to be accountable. Try saving money in an account or place where you don’t have access to it. This barrier will stop you from spending without realising how much you might be spending. Holding yourself accountable will help you save money for any rainy days. As a freelancer you will have spells where you might not get many or any orders. This means you need to have something saved up.

Write Down Your Expenditure 

Let me tell you, it’s best to write things down - preferably on pen and paper. Even if you don’t, you need to do so if you want to keep track of things. Writing things down helps me stay organized - well somewhat - but something is better than nothing! All you have to do is to write everything down just like you’d write a to-do list. This will help you identify areas where you spend too much. For example, if you have been eating out a lot, then you need to consider managing your expenses. 

Remember Your Worth

If you live in a toxic environment with people running you down all the time, it’s very hard to see your worth. This can translate to money too. If for example those closest to you always mistreated you and found fault with you, then you will inevitably come to think that you are not worth much and consider spending carelessly to make up for the lack of self-worth. Don’t do it, people will take advantage of you, Don’t let people take advantage of you, period.

Learn About Money 

Yes, I am far behind in this too, but I am planning on changing that soon (as we speak). I suggest that you do the same too. Be proud if you don’t use, abuse or cheat anyone to earn money. If you want to learn about money, there are plenty of books available online which you can read and enjoy and most importantly apply to your life. I had this rather silly habit (which I still struggle with sometimes), to read self-help books for the fun of it and never put anything I learned into action. It can be challenging at times to see what is right or wrong when it comes to looking at oneself. All you have to do is document your actions, and you will see where you fall short. While this might be a tedious and rather odious thing to do, nothing good comes out of being lazy and we all know that, though we act like we don’t sometimes. 

Have a Financial Freedom Plan

The saying, ‘fail to plan and plan to fail,’ might sound like common sense, but often the most obvious logical reasoning can elude us when we are emotional. This can lead to ending up with you spending when you should rather not. While it is easy to buy things impulsively, you can identify triggers and stop this from happening. Like most things in life, bad habits are just behaviors repeated over time. Like any bad behavior, with enough effort and time on your part, you can overcome it. The most important thing is to never give up and remember that it is never too late to start over again and again.

Learn from Your Past Mistakes

This can be a tough one and a rather unpleasant one. But if you have been through some silly situations, which you feel responsible for getting yourself into, then it’s never too late to learn from what might have gone wrong. Well the best way to get even with the past is to look past it and be the best version you can be. Doing this is going to be quite a challenge, and if you are up for it, know that it’s never too late to put your life right. As long as you are living you can fix things, trust me. So if you have been spending carelessly, think about cutting costs, especially if you are in a tight situation. 

Expect to Fail

Allow yourself to fail at saving money. It is not the end of the world, at least failing at something isn’t, is what I feel. Often the harshest critic we will encounter would be none other than ourselves. If your circle discourages you from pursuing your dreams, you are better off getting a new circle. It’s okay to let go of a group of people you met randomly. We meet people completely randomly. For instance, we don’t choose the people we meet, but we can and should be mindful of the people we choose to associate and keep in our lives. If your so-called friends only discourage you from pursuing your dreams - I believe you are better off without them, because those people are not good for your future and will most likely not help you become the best version of yourself.

Have Patience

If you are looking for instant success, the chances are you will be expecting too much too soon. I have learned, with time, that some things take time. It took me time for this to sink in because I am by nature a very impatient person. It is something that will help you succeed in the long run, and will hopefully stop you from beating yourself and running yourself down for not seeing quick results. The key to success, I feel, is consistency. Keep doing and most importantly, keep trying to improve what you are doing. If you keep doing and keep improving I can promise you that you will get somewhere, maybe not exactly where you want to be, but looking back you can be proud of what you have achieved.

Believe in Yourself 

If you are looking for an upgrade in self esteem would be to listen to yourself more than you listen to others. Get to know who you really are, maybe explore it through writing? Or drawing? Cooking? Anything that works for you works for you. The cool thing about being human and approaching something is that there is no one size fits all when it comes to approaching any skill. When it comes to your friends, and society, most of them will run you down and underestimate you. Don’t fall for that, it’s not you who is lacking, it’s them for thinking so. Anyone who is successful in life, I mean truly satisfied and content with it, will not gain satisfaction from attacking you at a personal level. Only the truly miserable and a-hole-like people derive pleasure from taking jabs at people personally. I think if you are experiencing a lot of this, you are doing something different and are triggering people who aren’t pursuing their dreams. Bravo! You are doing great! As long as you aren’t using, abusing or taking advantage of your family, friends, acquaintances and anyone for that matter, you are good to go!

Cultivate Discipline

If you wish to get somewhere in life and you feel that you aren’t where you want to be the answer to it might be to cultivate discipline. The best way to go with it is to start where you are at and keep improving. The best way to get started would use the pomodoro technique. Pomodoro technique is often used to help you break down your to-do-list (or you can always name it must-to-list if you are like me and have a thing for words). Break down your tasks into small chunks to feel less intimidated or overwhelmed. Keep going, you will get where you want if you keep pushing. But remember you need to take it gradually (not necessarily easily always, or you will end up putting things off indefinitely if you are anything like me).

Be Money-Mindful (M and M Method)

Well, if you are wondering what the M and M Method is and why you haven’t heard about it up to this day, don’t worry, and don’t fret, I just invented it, and will keep it here because I do think it does sound very cool (also I am a fantasy writer and love making up stuff, even though, I myself have at times looked back and thought that I do sound silly). When you have money, tell yourself how much you have and how much you will be spending. Having some rough figures written down somewhere or on the top of your mind (I highly encourage you to write things down), you will know when to spend and when you really should consider not doing so. 

Identify your non-negotiable expenses and those that are negotiable or less vital. That fancy pair of earrings or shoes or dress can wait, if you already have plenty of dresses and shoes at home. It’s about cutting your coat according to your cloth. You need to earn more to spend more. If you are living from paycheck to paycheck then you need to be very mindful about cutting unnecessary and extravagant costs. Identifying your top priorities will help you stay ahead of the neverending journey towards financial freedom! The most important thing about this journey is to keep trying, keep doing and keep going. 

Never Give Up

Always remember there is someone somewhere who has it harder than you. Look at where you can get and start taking action from where you are at right now. If you think you need to get a day job too, then get one. If you are in a place or situation where you can give freelancing your all, then do so. The most important thing is actively doing something, not just passively waiting for someone to come and do it for you. People will say this and that, but if you believe you are doing the right thing, then you should go ahead and do it, as long as it doesn’t involve using, abusing and manipulating someone to your own benefit and wellbeing. 

Remember that Building Habits Take Time

If you think that you can break a bad habit overnight, you are expecting too much too soon. Give yourself enough time and space to make mistakes, but most importantly never give up and always have hope. You have nothing to lose by trying your best to be consistent and persistent. Good things take time, and remember that an acorn doesn’t grow into an oak overnight. Have patience, you are human! If you are trying to cultivate the habit of saving, then you must do so gradually, consistently and persistently. 

I hope this article helped you out in some way! Remember when you don’t have money, none of your so-called bosom buddies will come to your rescue, and most likely your relatives will not either. Most likely these people will try to take from you rather than give or help you. It’s best not to put yourself in a place where you have to ask for money from any of them. I honestly think it is very important to be financially free in the 21st century and beyond! What do you think? Do you value financial freedom? Do you agree or disagree? Do you have any additional tips that might help others who will read this article? Feel free to leave a comment!