Stretching the freelancing dollar (or, being a stingy bastard to survive)
Image by jpre86
Money as a freelancer is often, shall we say…sporadic.
One day week working on a job, raking in $1000, the next you’re twiddling your thumbs and wondering if the electricity company would accept payment in stale breadsticks swiped from that Italian restaurant a month ago…and if so, what the hell are you going to eat?
We’re all trying to save money, but the freelance lifestyle makes it especially vital for freelancers to learn how to bargain shop.
So how do you do it?
Go for essentials
It’s tempting to spend your earnings on new equipment and the like, but if you started spending rather than saving, it’s easy to wind up in a situation where you are forever trying to play catch-up with finances, rather than ever having money to show for a job.
Make a list of what you’d like to buy, then edit it down to the essentials.
Extras can come later.
Stop buying from retail stores
In my experience, no place is more expensive than a brick and mortar retail outlet. They have to pay rent, staff costs and all the other random expenses of owning an actual store.
When buying from physical locations, start looking at thrift stores, garage sales, wholesale outlets and other places that people tend to overlook.
Ebay. Ebay ebay ebay.
Shop online
My current desk cost me $10 on ebay.
It’s plenty big enough for me, has plenty of storage drawers and is made from solid, sturdy timber. And it cost me $10. All I had to do was pick it up from a house not 5 minutes away.
A similar desk from somewhere like IKEA may well have set me back over $100.My Epson scanner (only just retired) cost me $20 at a time when they were retailing for $120 or more.
My coffee machine cost me 99 cents.So, thanks to ebay, here I am, with a scanner, a desk and a coffee machine and I’ve only spent $31.
Buying such items retail would’ve set me back at least $260. And that’s at a conservative estimate.But it’s not only ebay that offers these sorts of bargains.
Check out your local freecycle (these things are FREE!), other auction sites and wholesale websites for items you’ll buy in bulk (like paper or ink).
Just don’t forget to factor in the cost of shipping.
Use Google to your advantage
Even when I find a well priced item online or in a store, I always try to avoid paying the listed price of the item.
How? Google.
(And yes, Google IS my answer to everything)Let’s say I’ve found a great printer for $200 at buyingthings.com, with $20 shipping.
Instead of checking out at $220, I Google “discount voucher buyingthings.com”.
Often I find referral programs, promotion codes or discount vouchers that make my purchase cheaper. It might be a 20% off voucher, it might be a free shipping voucher…or, sometimes, I might not find one at all.
Still, often I DO find something that will make my purchase cheaper (sometimes significantly cheaper!), and it’s taken less than a minute of my time.
Win!
Don’t forget barter!
This is especially good if you know other freelancers, craftspeople and the like with skills and goods you don’t have, but are likely to need.
Personally, among other things, I’ve swapped website updates for handmade soap and candles, and used a painting to pay for custom jewellery I had made for somebody as a birthday gift.
Now, before you try all these, you should know that I am, by my own admission, a naturally stingy bastard.
So this sort of bargain hunting comes naturally to me, freelancer or not. But I’ve never valued this ability more than now when I know that my income isn’t stable.
And with a bit of cunning thinking and a desire to hold onto every last dollar, you can sniff out some amazingly good bargains and suddenly find yourself affording things you never though possible on a freelance income.
Now go forth and stinge!
Tags: art, Art and illustration, Money issues, something to think about, work
1 comment
I freecycle a lot! I have got really good stuff from it and I love it!