Financial freedom for freelancers: Budgeting and saving tips

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There are so many financial obligations to cover as a freelancer, right? You’ve got to handle living expenses, pay for key equipment, and save your dollars all at once. Your goal might be financial freedom, which is all about living comfortably and not being constrained by your financial obligations. But what’s the easiest way to do this?

Budgeting apps are ideal. They’re a cool way to see where your money’s going and make it easier to set goals for your spending or saving requirements. They really are a key solution for living a less stressful life when thinking about your outgoings as a freelancer. So how can you use them for budgeting and saving? Let’s find out!

Benefits of tracking expenses, budgeting, and saving for freelance work

There are a few handy benefits of budgeting and saving for freelance work. The main advantage is being able to allocate each expense to the right resources, such as software tools, which can help you enhance your work quality. 

For instance, a freelance writer may allocate a portion of their budget to tools such as Grammarly or Semrush. They may use a budgeting and saving app to allocate the right amount to each tool in proportion to their earnings according to their needs. This helps them optimize their output and keep their finances organized with the help of these tools without overspending.

Budgeting for freelance work also helps in other ways. When you track your earnings and expenses on a per-project basis using specific apps, you’ll be able to see which projects are the most lucrative. You’ll have no problems determining which projects to prioritize to maximize your earning potential. These insights into business-related expenses, in turn, help you organize your workload and keep your output at the optimal level.

Top 3 budgeting and saving tips for freelancers

A range of budgeting tips can help you manage your expenses effectively and optimize your spending habits as a freelancer. Here, we’ll dig deeper into how you can budget and save effectively:

• Make your budget: You’ll need to make a detailed budget to understand where your money is going. This will involve creating a detailed list of all income sources and expenses.

Tip for you: Think about the recurring costs and the costs that vary. Your subscription to Grammarly, for instance, is a fixed cost, while expenses that you allocate to new equipment like headphones are variable costs. This way, you’ll know what to expect and how much to set aside.

• Consider any taxes and outgoings: As a freelancer, you’re going to need to pay attention to taxes, which employers will not automatically deduct from your salary. This will require you to save some of your income to handle these costs and manage them yourself.

Tip for you: Try to set aside a percentage of your income that aligns with your specific tax bracket and be as proactive as possible when saving for taxes. You might do this by tracking the tax expenses, seeing how much you’ll have to contribute, and then putting away the right amount of money to cover this.

• Track how you spend your money: Perhaps the most important tip is to track how you spend your money. You’ll want to know how much you earn and whether you need to adjust your spending habits according to your income.

Tip for you: Freelancer income can fluctuate depending on the type of project work you’re completing or the number of clients you work with. It’s important to notice when your income decreases so that you can plan ahead and think about expenses without overspending. This is easier with the best budgeting apps. 

3 budgeting and saving apps for freelancers

So, multiple budgeting and saving apps are available on the market to help you visualize your spending and saving habits. If you’re looking for the best personal finance software for Mac, here are the best ones to help you keep dollars in the bank!

Best for tracking expenses: Chronicle

Tracking expenses will ensure there are no unexpected surprises regarding your outgoings, and that’s when Chronicle can come in handy. This app is ideal for monitoring your bills and seeing exactly where your money is going. 

A key benefit of this app is its accessible layout; it’s less overwhelming to visualize your expenses when compared with a standard mobile banking app. This is especially beneficial if you’re a freelancer new to paying your own bills. The app breaks down a few expense features into unique tabs. 

So you’ll notice that there’s a forecast option with a bar chart to show how much is due and how much you should save. There’s also an annual spending pie chart that breaks down what you spend your money on and how much you spend throughout the year.

Since there are also tabs to view your bank balance report, which reveals how scheduled payments and upcoming bills will affect your balance, this app will help you plan ahead and be proactive when managing your outgoings.

Can I use it on my Mac and iPhone? Yes!

Best for tracking spending habits: Expenses

Being aware of your expenses can make a positive difference to your financial freedom goals. You can shed some light on what you’re going to be spending and have greater insights by using the Expenses app.

A notable advantage of this app is its data synchronization feature. Your data will synchronize across iCloud to all Apple devices, so you can track expenses and outgoings when you’re on the move using your iPhone. 

There’s also the option to organize the expenses into categories and add new sheets for each month. For instance, create a sheet for November and December by opening the app and navigating to the New Sheet button at the bottom left-hand side. 

As a freelancer, you’ll benefit from this app’s other specific features, such as the option to input what you spend. You can do this by selecting the + icon on the right-hand side of the sheet. Once you’ve entered the expense, you can view it in the “Overview” tab. These features help freelancers make the right financial preparations for when an upcoming expense is due soon.

Can I use it on my Mac and iPhone? Yes!

Best for setting a budget and saving: MoneyWiz

Saving money as a freelancer can involve setting a budget, and when you need to achieve those savings goals, budgeting software such as MoneyWiz is ideal. It’s one of the best budget planners since it offers beneficial features, allowing you to input monthly/yearly budgets for and log specific expenses. This ensures you don’t overspend and can instead put money away to help you achieve financial freedom.

MoneyWiz is also a cool app since it works as a calendar that tracks how much is spent each day. Freelancers can benefit from the expenses and income information for the day/week/month. This is all accessible from the left-hand panel. 

When you input a transaction in the budgeting tab, you can include many details, including the bank account it comes from, the payee, the date, and what it was spent on. To be more specific, you can split the details, too, if they fall under multiple categories.

Another advantage of MoneyWiz is that it helps you visualize your financial information. Freelancers can do this through the app since it shows the financial data in the form of pie charts, spreadsheets, and bar graphs on the “Reports” tab. Freelancers can delve into the data by choosing options like Balance Over Time, Net Worth Over Time, Compare Budgets, and Profit and Loss, helping them track how the outcome of their budgeting efforts over time. 

Can I use it on my Mac and iPhone? Yes!

Budgeting and saving apps: Need the perfect option?

Budgeting and saving are key parts of financial freedom for freelancers. If you’re looking for ways to stick to a budget, check your outgoings, save your money, and plan your future expenses, apps can really help you.

Trying to find the perfect option? All the apps listed above are available through Setapp. Make sure you visit the Setapp page to try these apps for free in a seven-day free trial. Stick to a budget and save your money as a freelancer with budgeting apps from Setapp!