Freelancers' Saving Up 101

Savings… What crosses your mind when you hear the word ‘savings’?

Torture? Something inexplicably impossible? Something that’s undoubtedly hard to do? 

Back before I was married, the word ‘savings’ made me the most pessimistic person ever. I always thought it’s something torturous, something I wouldn’t be able to do. A little cash in hand and I would go shopping crazy. It’s a pretty common problem, I assume. It must seem hard to save money.

During an interview with Cita Cinta magazine about how money management is from a freelancer’s point of view, I was inspired to share my experiences about how I manage to save up my money. I shared about how I manage my income every month, and how much I can spare for the ‘piggy bank’.

After three years of being a freelancer, I realized how my money has been on ‘easy come easy go’ mode. It never really came in that soon but it’s gone too soon and sometimes I didn’t even know where they went. So here are some tips for you (and especially if you’re a freelancer like I am)

 1. Always prepare some emergency cash.

Emergency cash is crucial for us freelancers, because we fund ourselves independently, no office or company is insuring us. I always spare some of my income for emergency matters such as health matters, automotive (in case my car breaks down and I’m in the middle of nowhere and needs extra cash to get out of the situation without having to starve to death or something… who knows) and several other emergency situations. My Father gives me tips on how to live ‘safely’ and how having backup money is very important. That’s achieved by having emergency money for 6 months worth of living expenses (1 year is even better!). In case there’s a critical issue occurring, we can still survive financially with enough time to think about Plan B!

 2. Consider yourself as an employee.

Try treating yourself as an employee. This way, your money’s expenses will be managed better and will be spent according to the right portion of your needs.

3. Discipline and economical.

A lot of people think that being a freelancer means having more spare time to travel, to chill and eat out and things like that. But these are the baby-steps to a fatal improvidence. Without noticing, we tend to spend our money on unimportant wants and not important needs. Try to be more discipline and pennywise in spending your cash and be thriftier.

4. Note down! Make income and expenses data.

This is the simplest and easiest way to watch our cash flow. Anywhere we go this is the handiest way to stop ourselves from spending too much and even to spot out our useless expenses. In some ways it’s kind of like labeling what kind of a spender we are, the shopping spree? The culinary traveler? The fashionista? And from here we can control our cash flow, even scratching out the unnecessary expenses and bad habits.

5. Start an invesment.

I hope these tips are useful and doable enough for you :)