6 Ways to Create a Freelancer’s Budget When You’re Broke

Creating a budget when you’re broke doesn’t seem like the most obvious idea for managing yoru personal finances, but there are several reasons to do just that. When you’re freelancing and living on an irregular income, taking the time to organize your finances can keep things in perspective and give you a chance to see how much money you do have – even when you think you’re broke. Monitoring your cash flow and tracking expenses can make it much easier to manage your finances and can even prevent you from sinking into debt.

Here are just six ways to create a freelancer’s budget when you’re broke:

1. Put off saving your usual amount for now. Even though it’s important to keep building up a savings account, you don’t have to stress about saving your usual percentage each month. Set aside a much smaller amount for your emergency fund or savings account, and put the rest towards your most important bills.

2. Review due dates on all of your bills. Make sure you’re not missing payments and paying late fees or charges by keeping track of all due dates on your bills. Your bills do arrive on a schedule each month, so it should never be a surprise to receive that statement in the mail. Look at the due dates and make sure you are allocating funds for at least the minimum payment when cash flow is low.

3. Look at your spending habits. Take a look at your spending habits for the past couple of months and see what needs to be changed. Did you overspend in a particular category? How could you have made better purchasing decisions? Take a close look at your spending habits for the last few months and see what needs to change this month, and going forward.

4. Start eliminating the extras. Do you really need that cup of coffee or the weekly paper? Can you get through your days without going out for lunch? Can you put off a shopping trip until the following week? Eliminate as many extra expenses as possible so that you can get your expenses and finances under control.

5. Negotiate your credit card rates. If you are carrying some credit cards during your freelancing career, call each credit card company and negotiate the rates. Most credit card companies will reduce your rate if you’ve been a longtime customer and have been paying your bills on time.

6. Track your spending like a hawk. Keep track of every dollar you spend by writing down your spending activities for the day, using a budget app on your smartphone, or just by keeping your receipts and reviewing them at the end of each week. Tighten up your spending monitoring system so that you become more aware of where your money is going. Increasing awareness about your spending can make it much easier to scale back and create a realistic freelancer’s budget.

Creating a budget when you’re broke and freelancing can be challenging, but there are several things you can do to get yourself ahead. Use these six tips to create a freelancer’s budget when you’re broke.