16+ SAMPLE Freelance Budget

What is a Freelance Budget?

A freelance budget is a budget plan that consists of the plan of a freelancer regarding his or her financials. It is a tool that freelancers can use so that they can manage their finances well. Budgeting is necessary for freelancers because sometimes they have an unsteady flow of income. Though you can have a great salary as a freelancer, this may not be true for some. Some may have unsteady gigs that can make them have an unsteady source of income. So, they have to do budgeting to make ends meet.

Personal finance for freelancers is important because they do not have a fixed income every month. They have to do budgeting using a daily budget app, the best free budget app, or a minimalist budget app. They can use a freelancer finance spreadsheet if they like. They can use an Excel spreadsheet or have a budget spreadsheet template using Excel templates. Whether you are a freelance artist, writer, or graphic designer, you need to have a budget template so that creating a freelance budget will be easy.

Freelancers pay their own taxes. So, you must be good at your finances so that you can do your obligation to pay taxes. Be good at calculating the income tax or employment tax so that you can deduct it from your income. Because you have to pay taxes, you must find a good client that can give you a good and steady income. Being a freelancer means that you have to do hard work to earn well. It may have a few advantages from regular employment, but your income depends on the hard work that you can put in.

You do not have to hire a freelance budget analyst to manage your financials, but you need to be like one to handle it well. Make a freelance budget preparation first for you to set a great budget. You can use freelance budget software or freelance budget app to make your work easier. You must create the best freelance budget that can make you make the most out of your income. If you are good at marketing your skills, you should also be good at setting a budget for all your expenses. This will make you have good savings that can be so rewarding in your life.

Tips on Freelance Budget

Are you looking for a freelancer budget example? Do you need it because you want to find some tips that you can use in creating a freelance budget? Well, this article can help you. We have provided you with some tips that you can use with your freelance budget. These tips are so practical. You can easily apply them. Read and consider the following tips:

Set a Budget for Work Expenses: This is very important. You must set aside a budget for your work expenses. Your work will not be possible if you will not allot a budget for all the things that you need for work. Be sure to allot enough budget that can enable you to work properly. This way, if you will allot a budget for your work expenses, you can be sure that you can have a secure workflow. This is the first thing that you should give importance to. Without the materials for your work, you cannot get an income. So, separate a good amount of money that you can spend on work expenses. In this way, you cannot spend your whole income without allotting the right amount for your work expenses.Use Your Steady Income to Pay for Bills: You cannot avoid your bills. You have a monthly obligation that you have to pay. To be sure that every bill will be paid well, you should be sure that you can allot sure money for it. That is why you have to use your steady income to pay for your bills. Be sure that you can settle all your bills first. Use your sure money to ensure that your bills will be paid monthly. Through this, you can avoid headaches from paying your bills. You can ascertain that your bills can be paid on time. You do not have to worry about how you can pay them. You can also have a financial discipline if you will allot a part of your steady income for your bills.Use a Fund to Fill in Gaps in Cash Flow: You must set a buffer fund that can help you if ever you will have gaps in cash flow. If you will find it hard to pay for your expenses, you can use the fund so that everything will go well. It is unavoidable with your work as a freelancer. Sometimes, you may earn less, so you have to secure a fund that can be a solution to everything. You can use the fund so that you can pay every expense that you have. You can be sure that you will not be in debt, because there will be a fund that can save you. Being a freelancer needs you to be wise. Unexpected things may happen and you may have unexpected expenses. You need a fund that can pay for them. Or you can lose a client and you will not have enough income to pay for your expenses. To be sure that your finances will be okay, have a buffer fund that can help you to pay for everything.Save Money for Taxes: As a freelancer, paying your taxes is a must. You cannot work without you paying your own taxes. You must pay them. So, to be sure that you can keep your obligation, you must set aside some money that you can pay for your taxes. Calculate the amount of your income tax each month and save that amount from your income. You need to ensure that you can pay your taxes on time. You can be jailed if you will not pay them on time. To avoid this possibility, you must allot sure money for your taxes. You have to know that you cannot get away with your taxes. You need to pay them. And you need to pay them on time. So saving money for taxes should be put first. Do your obligation so that you will not encounter any problems.Save a Percentage of Your Income: Savings can save us from a lot of things. Since your income as a freelancer is not that secured at all times, you need to save some money. You can use them at times that you can have less income from your gigs. To do a great saving technique, you must save a percentage of your income. If you will do it, you can have savings for each month that you can use as an emergency for all unexpected things. Not only can you use something for unexpected things, but you have great savings that can enable you to buy good things if you want. It is always good to have savings. It can protect us from rainy days. You can enjoy your savings by buying things that can give you pleasure sometimes. You do not have to take a loan if ever you have to spend for something. You will avoid being in debt if you will have savings. So set aside some money from your paycheck to continually have savings monthly. This is one of the best things that you can do.Work Hard to Pay Ahead of Your Expenses: If you want to experience some financial freedom in your life, you must work hard to pay ahead your expenses. Work an extra mile so that you can pay for the bills for the next month. This way, you do not have to worry about your expenses monthly. You can avoid a lot of stress from paying all your expenses. Work double for some time so that you will have money for 2 months’ bills. This can give you some relief that you have already taken care of everything. This technique is much better rather than making the ends meet monthly. You can relax in your spare time, knowing that you do not have to worry about the next month’s expenses.Understand Your Income: You need to understand your income so that you will know how you can set a freelance budget. Know if your income will be enough to pay all your expenses. Is your income stable? Do the money that you get from your gigs enough? Do you need more gigs so that you can pay all your bills? You need to know if you have to work more so that the freelance budget will be enough for all your expenses. You have to understand that you can set a budget according to your income. Your monthly budget plan relies on it. So, you need to work hard so that you can have a sufficient income. On the other hand, if you have a great income, you have to realize that you should create a good budget that can make you have savings. Or else the freelance budget will be nothing.Have an Emergency Fund: An emergency fund is good for every kind of budget. Unexpected things happen and you need to ensure that you will have something to spend for the unexpected things. An emergency fund will help you not to have debts in times of emergency. You do not have to take a loan from someone that may be humiliating at times. Because your income may be unsteady at times, you need an emergency fund to ensure that you will have always something to spend. Your expenses can be paid if ever you will have less income for the month.Allot Money for Retirement Plan: Because you are not an employee, you should have the initiative to think about your future. you may not be able to work anymore when you are old so you have to think about how you can have money resources at that time. A retirement plan will be the best solution to your problem. Invest in a retirement plan so that you can have retirement money when you are old or you can have a pension that you can spend for every month after you retire. This is the best way how you can prepare for your future. Not all the time you can work as a freelancer. You need to secure your future for your own good.

How to Create a Freelance Budget

Do you need a freelance budget template? Or a freelance income spreadsheet template? Are you about to create a freelance budget? If you want some steps that can help you in creating, we can provide them for you. They are the following:

1. Monitor Your Expenses

To set a freelance budget, you must first need to know all your expenses. How much money do you need to pay for your bills? You have to know the amount of money that you need. Calculate your expenses for your rent, utilities, taxes, and other things. Knowing your expenses can make you allot an income that can pay for all of them. So, you need to know your expenses first so that you will know how hard you will work.

2. Allot a Maximum Spending

Budgeting means that you have to be thrifty. So, you must not allow spending on trivial things to get into your budget. So, you must monitor how much you spend each month. Allot a maximum amount that you can spend. Remember, you need to have some savings as a freelancer because sometimes you can earn less. So, keep track of the way how you spend your money. Spend only on important things and do not buy so many things that are not necessary.

3. Know Your Priorities

You have to set the right priorities in your budget. For example, you must save the money that you have to pay for your taxes. This is one of the priorities that you should have in mind. You should also prioritize your savings. This is important in your work as a freelancer. There may be times that you can have less income so you have to save some money.

4. Use Budgeting Apps

You should use budgeting apps so you can make your budgeting easier. Choose a budgeting app that will be the best for you. You can find free budgeting apps. You can use them so that you can track your finances better.

FAQs

What is the most important part of a freelance budget?

There can be two important parts of a freelance budget. The first is you have to separate a budget for your work expenses. As a freelancer, you are the one who is going to spend on your work expenses. So, you have to allot some money that you can use. Another important part is paying your taxes. You have to save the money that you can pay for your taxes. This way, you can do your obligation to pay your taxes.

Do I have to separate business and personal finances?

Yes, you have to separate the two. You can manage your financials better if you will do that. You should have a separate bank account for your business finances. You have to pay yourself so that you can have funds for your personal finances.

Being a freelancer can make you different amounts of income every month. You need to be wise with your money. You need a freelance budget that can make you handle your finances well. Well, are you looking for a template for a freelance budget? This post has 16+ SAMPLE Freelance Budget in PDF. You can set a good freelance budget using one of these templates. Try it. Download now!