When your income can fluctuate like a wild monkey on a swing, saving your beans can really help when you’re facing a bit of a lull. Here are some super easy ways you can save money as a freelancer:
Take Full Advantage of Your Flexible Schedule
If you’re working from home, then you take advantage of this by going to a happy hour and matinees instead to save some bucks. This is a good time to catch up with fellow freelance buddies. Linda Joe, a self-employed entertainment events producer, says on the days she works from home she prefers to do her fun and personal stuff during the day and work in the evenings.
Check Out Discounts for Freelancers
Freelancers Union offers discounts to its members on pretty useful stuff like FreshBooks accounting software, AirBnB rentals, co-working spaces, and on classes from places like General Assembly. It’s completely free to join and there are other benefits like notifications on meetups and health insurance. A lot of co-working spaces offer a free one-week trial of open co-working day for non-members.
Load up on Bonus Gift Cards
If you like working at a coffee shop, many have deals where if you purchase a certain amount, say $25, you get $5 free. This may not seem like much, but if you go to a coffee shop 2 days a week and spend $25 every week, the 6th week is paid for with the bonus $5 cards. Every year about 8 weeks are taken care of, which is pretty sweet. You’ll see more of these deals during the holiday season, but I’ve seen some places that offer this year round.
Take Full Advantage of Google Docs
There are tons of cool stuff on Google Docs, like Google Forms, where you can set up questionnaires for new clients or if you’re a journalist and writing a story. And a buttload of free templates for invoicing and productivity. You can probably write an entire book on Google Docs hacks, there are so many ways.
Create a Freelancers Time Bank
I wrote about this for the Freelancers Union, and if you work from home a couple days a week you can link up with fellow freelancers to help each other with pet-watching or create a co-working space by meeting up at someone’s house once a week. It also helps get rid of any freelancer’s loner blues (unless you are an introvert and absolutely love being by yourself).
What are some ways you save as a freelancer?
