Many freelancers spend their monthly income from one bank account. All the income comes into one big 'pile' of money – and they do all the spending from this pile.
This can be OK...but only when you have:
- have plenty of money left over, and
- save/invest this difference.
In that case: excellent work!
But unfortunately, for most people, the big question at the end of the month is: do I still have enough to do some extra shopping?
This is unfortunate because it does not have to be this way. You can prevent this when you give every Euro a purpose. In other words, when you divide your euros properly over different purposes. This way, you create an overview of your finances, and you know exactly how much money you have left to spend.
Want to do things differently?
Start this week with splitting your big pile of money. Split your expenses into categories, with a separate jar for each category.
Our tip: start simple. Make it easy on yourself.
The ideal division of your self-employed income is:
- Profit: put your profits aside and consider what you want to do with it (investing, for example)
- Salary: figure out how much you want to pay yourself each month and put that money in this account
- Taxes: set aside the VAT and a percentage of income tax
- Costs: calculate how many expenses you will have and set aside the amount
Want to learn more? See here how to organize your freelancer finances smartly in 3 steps.