Creating a Budget as a Freelancer

One of the first things that any expert will tell you is before you go solo, you should create a budget. A budget will help keep your finances in order while you follow your dreams. I have done this using Mint and an Excel spreadsheet that I created for myself a few years ago. I went through all the major budget categories. It will probably be different for every person, but for me, these are the ones that I have:

1. Home
2. Auto
3. Food
4. Health
5. Kids
6. Entertainment
7. Personal
8. Savings

After looking at my past spending on Mint, I realized that I would have to change some of spending habits when I start freelancing being that I won’t have a steady paycheck. One of my issues is the amount I spend eating out. I love trying different cuisines, but that is going to have to change when I start freelance writing. I will now have tons of time to cook at home, so I can make the foods that I want to try at home. The kids and I can go out to eat twice a month, but there is no more reason for more than that. I will have to be more frugal than I have been, but the rewards of having freedom while working on innovative projects, makes the frugality worth it.

Related articles:

• How to: Track Cash Spending and Checks (mint.com)
• How Much Checking Account Cushion Do You Have? (frugaldad.com)
• How to Be a Savvy Cheapskate (usnews.com)