When you first started thinking about freelancing for a living what did you imagine it would be like? Maybe waking up without an alarm for once, or working from your favorite internet cafe? Or maybe the biggest selling point for you is being your own boss, and spending more time with your kids?
If you currently have any freelancing experience you may already know what im getting at here. When we begin to think about exciting new prospects we tend to romanticize all the new perks without really thinking about what else will come along with those perks.
That’s why today I want to talk about some of the pros and cons of being a freelancer. I also want to provide some resources to help navigate around some of the cons. But let’s start out with some of my favorite pros of freelancing.
Pros of Freelancing
Ive been freelancing as an SEO content writer for a while now. There is so much I love about my job that I couldn’t possibly fit them all into this short guide. But I will list some that personally means the most to me.
Flexibility
This is one of the most popular reasons more and more people are turning to freelance. Living in our now post-pandemic world, we’ve grown used to being home with our kids, and partners. Not to mention the pet-friendly office located right in your own home.
Freelancing also gives us the opportunity to set our own hours. Giving us complete and total control over our own schedules. If you want to take the night off to go to the movies, there’s nothing stopping you.
Work From Anywhere
No corporate office or time clocks to punch means that you can work anywhere you want, literally. One of my favorite spots to work is at our local marina. There are picnic tables for me to work, a beach area for my kids to play and swim, and a fishing spot for my husband.
That picture above is mine from last summer, it’s hard not to love your job when that’s the view from your impromptu office.
No Childcare Costs
This is one of the biggest expenses most working parents pay. Here in Alabama, you can expect to pay about $500 for infant care a month. The cost for a four-year-old is about $430 a month. That’s almost as much as I pay in rent.
Working from home gives me the opportunity to care for my children 24/7 while earning a living wage. But you know that saying “too much of a good thing”? This is where ill start getting into some of the cons of being a freelancer.
Cons of Being a Freelancer
Sometimes the things that we take advantage of are the very things that bring us down. While you have the freedom to do what you want when you want there are things you’ll have to take care of in order to sustain that lifestyle.
That includes setting firm boundaries between your work life, and your personal life. It also includes taking care of your own finances and taxes. Not to mention the actual work part of freelancing like creating content, and reaching out to potential clients.
Work-Life Balance
This is one of the biggest things I struggled with when I was first starting out. When you’ve been working some form of customer service position for the majority of your working life it can be jarring to make the switch. I had a tendency to put my writing off to play with my kids for five more minutes which turned into hours (no regrets). But then would leave me scrambling to finish my work by the deadline I agreed to.
Some days it was just the opposite, I would set my kids down in front of the tv, while I worked the whole day away. Or constantly working while we were out doing things like trips to visit our families or family activities that I had planned.
Before long I felt like everything was getting out of control in all aspects of my life. I was feeling like less of a parent
It took me a lot longer than I expected to fully get a grasp on how to fully separate my work from the rest of my life. But in my time as a mompreneur, ive learned a few tricks to really expand my time management skills.
When I first started working for a website that functions sort of like a content mill, I learned about a time management method called time blocking. This has been one of the most important tools Ive learned. But ive also found that it can’t really work as a fix-all stand-alone method.
There are a few more tools that I use in conjunction with the time blocking method. I plan to talk about this soon in an upcoming blog, so be sure to keep an eye out for it.
Taxes
If you’re like the majority of people you were never really taught a whole lot about taxes. When I first started freelancing I had never gone more into depth than filing a tax return with my W-2s or filling out a W-4 for an employer. I had the benefit of taxes being taken out of my paycheck automatically.
When you’re freelancing all of that falls into your responsibility. You are responsible for paying the appropriate amount of income tax according to your tax bracket, along with a self-employment tax.
Say goodbye to free filing with H&R Block or Turbo tax software. While tax preparation services like that can still handle helping you file your taxes it’s going to cost you a lot more if you dont know what you’re doing.
I also plan on talking about taxes in a lot more depth, since this is one of the most asked about topics I see among new freelancers.
The Importance of Support
Just like with everything else in life, it’s always easier when you have a support system in place. Support systems give us help when we need them, cheer us on when we win, and help us back up when we fall.
These systems include a healthy mix of your friends and family, Facebook groups, or other resources like blogs. I hope that over time you can come to count on my blog as a part of your support system.
Be sure to like and follow my Facebook page to get notified whenever I make a new post. Dont forget to share this guide with your friends that may be thinking about making the shift to freelancing too.