Freelancers: Dealing with the Lumpy Income Blues

Sep 1st, 20113 Comments

I read a wicked article on Freelance Switch the other day by Martha Retallick called Proven Solutions to Freelance Income Fluctuation. In the article, Martha outlines some killer strategies for beating what she terms the “Lumpy Income Blues”, which is a term I am officially stealing and using in my everyday freelance vocabulary. Mostly, Martha gives you some great tips for getting real with your finances – figuring out what you’re spending on, what you can cut back on, how to get saving, and how to live frugally and creatively. And all of these things are awesome and essential if you’re going to run your own biz and be self-employed.

But, but, but, but …

I think it’s very important that, if you’re getting a lot of Lumpy Income Blues months, you need to get proactive about finding new clients and getting regular income streams. So I’m going to offer a few tips for you on how to create an income cushion each month to save yourself from the Lumpy Income Blues.

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3 Responses to “Freelancers: Dealing with the Lumpy Income Blues”

  1. Thursday Bram says:
    September 1, 2011 at 7:12 am

    Yeah, I’ve always been a big believer in going and getting more work (or better yet, more income!) than trying to cut back expenses and the like. At the very least, it’s rare that the time I might spend keeping expenses low actually ‘earns’ me more than spending that time on producing income.

    Reply
    • Steff says:
      September 1, 2011 at 10:05 pm

      You’re right, Thursday. Cutting back expenses is great, but it’s definitely only part of the equation, and you can only cut so much before you’re spending half your day making your own cheese and hand-sewing barbie dolls clothes for your kids. If you enjoy these things, it’s great, but I find this time can often be petter spent being proactive with potential clients and leads.

      Reply
  2. goatlady says:
    September 3, 2011 at 4:59 am

    Awesome advice Stef. When I was a kid, my mum (a single mum and self-employed hairdresser) used to say when my brother or I wanted something, “Well, we don’t have the money for that. Guess we’d better go earn some more.” I think being brought up with that attitude has helped me to never think of anything as “beyond reach”.

    Reply

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