FFN #15: Are You Looking After Your Financial Wellness? Yes that is a thing!

❤️‍🩹 Plan for the Unexpected!

We can’t talk about financial wellness without talking about Life Insurance. Morbid I know… but hear me out! Why would I need life insurance? I used to echo the same words until the prospect of expanding our family and business prompted me to dive into some financial planning. So I thought I’d share a few observations I’ve learnt along the way, to read more take a peek at our blog. For freelancers like us, lacking the benefits of many corporate employees, life insurance becomes essential. It not only secures our family's financial stability and business in unforeseen circumstances but also plays a pivotal role in business planning, addressing expenses such as funeral costs, debts, and sustaining ongoing living expenses for your loved ones. I always assumed life insurance would come with a hefty price tag, but Protective offers a range of competitive options to make financial protection possible, no matter where you are in your freelance journey! Check out Protective today. _#partner

Learn more about life insurance and Protective at protectiveinfluencer.com 

📊 Open a Separate Bank Account

Life can be chaotic, and sorting through the jumble of business and personal expenses can be quite frustrating. Creating a dedicated account for your freelance business is a strategic step in effectively monitoring both income and expenses. This becomes particularly invaluable during tax season when the hair-pulling begins! Opening a small business checking account equips you with essential tools to track expenses and simplifies the process of identifying tax-deductible items. I find it useful to schedule regular transfers to my personal account like a salary. This provides a separation between my savings, retirement funds, and taxes. The key to paying yourself a consistent salary involves setting clear payment terms in client contracts and promptly invoicing. At the Freelance Shop, we offer a whole host of invoicing and contract templates for you to use. 

🙋🏽‍♀️ Are You Charging Enough?

When I initially entered the freelancing world, I set my rates quite low, driven by a combination of eagerness to secure projects and a failure to consider the expenses my former employer used to cover. You can imagine my shock when I realized my actual income after factoring in all costs. As freelancers, we must establish rates that not only cover necessary benefits but also provide us with a living wage and the ability to save for our future. Uncertain about what rates to set? Visit our Wage Transparency Database or explore our Talent Directory for guidance. If you've noticed that your rates are too low, it's time to raise them! If you find communicating this to your clients challenging, don't worry—we've got you covered. Check out our blog for tips and messaging templates

⏰ Track Your Time

Time is money for us freelance folk. When I started freelancing I was hopeless at tracking my time- don’t fall into that trap! I mean we’ve all been there, we really like a client or enjoy the work so it can get really easy to spend an extra hour here or there to get odd jobs finished. Before you know it, those precious hours slip away from your week which will ultimately mean leaving money on the table. To tackle this, we love using time-tracking software tools like Harvest. Accurate time tracking is crucial for maintaining the profitability of our businesses and identifying potential negotiation points with clients.

Verb

Hit your 2 pm slump and not sure if you need a nap or 3 coffees? Well, same! This time of year always feels like a bit of a crawl to the finish line. Verb’s caffeinated vegan, gluten-free and wholefood nutrition bars have been little life saviors! I love that they don’t give me that jittery anxious feeling that coffee does. Our go-to is the s’mores flavor but I would recommend grabbing their variety box so you can decide which one you like the best.