Many people in the US, especially freelance workers, struggle to keep their personal finances organized. But with working from home on the rise, freelance workers are set to reach 40 percent of the workforce by 2020. So, whether you work as a developer, designer, translator or manager, if you want to manage your money better, check out these few tips.

Don’t get dragged down by bad credit

Before you worry about your credit rating, make sure that you get an accurate copy. There are several credit rating bureaus you can check, including Experian and TransUnion. Study your report carefully, as it may contain some errors or even include debts that you have already paid. How do you go about setting the record straight? Send a letter to the credit report company that explains the error so that they can remove it and clean your slate.

Learn how to manage your debt

Learning to manage your personal finances is about learning how to set a budget. But, before you can realistically put money aside for certain expenses, you need to pay your debt off first. This can be particularly hard for college students who graduate with thousands of dollars to pay off. But, debt can also be disguised in other forms, such as credit card debt. Start paying off the higher interest debts first and allocate money each month to pay off your debt. Later on, you can simply continue to pay out this money – into your savings account.

Set your budget

Setting a budget is vital if you want to make sure that you live to your means. When you’re a freelance worker, you may not always have the same amount of income every month. So, separating your fixed costs, such as rent and utilities, from your miscellaneous expenses, like clothing and whim purchases is vital. Cut out any spending that isn’t completely necessary, such as your daily coffee or candy bar. You can live without those, right? And every little helps.

Think like a saver

You may need to change your habits, if you’re better at spending money than saving it. So, try to put a part of your monthly income aside, for emergency use if needed. Also, consider your mid and long term saving goals, such as taking a vacation or saving up for a deposit on a house. Consulting with a financial advisor, or downloading a savings tracking app, like Mint or Level Money can be a great help.

Get a side-line job

If you’re lucky enough to be in a position where you don’t need to take on a second job, then good for you. But, if you want to boost your income temporarily, think about taking on more clients or extra work. Thanks to technology, there’s a plethora of jobs that you can do online, from writing and design, to customer service, or even selling homemade crafts on sites like Etsy. If you’re skilled in a second language, you could apply to work with an online translation service. You’ll need to have excellent command of at least two languages and, in some cases, an additional specialty.

Look for free activities

They say that the best things in life are free. While you may crave a night in a luxury hotel or a 5-star all-inclusive, your budget may not accompany you right now. So, try to enjoy your life and include activities in it that don’t involve spending money. Take up a sport, like running or cycling – cycling to work can even help you save on bus or gas fare. Check out local events where you live and invite friends to you, rather than going out.

Learning to become finacnailly smart takes some common sense and a lot of dedication. But, if you can instil these disciplines in your spending habits today, you’ll be learning how to manage your personal finances now and for your future.

Author Bio

Christina Comben is Content Manager at translation and localization services provider, Day Translations. Multilingual and qualified to MBA level, Christina is passionate about writing, traveling and continued education.

This entry was posted on Friday, February 3rd, 2017 at 6:28 pm and is filed under Debt, Personal Finance. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.