[Gabriella]

Hallo everyone ! I am new here and I have a question.
1) I am struggling with having a clear budget as my income is all over the place from 1 month to the next.

I’m a Freelance photographer / artist. So all depends on bookings and print sales. How do I predict my income ?

Also year to year can greatly vary as well. This situation makes it really hard to plan for savings as well.

Thank you ! I really appreciate any suggestions !

[Byron]

I’d start with the 50/30/20 rule to create not only a budget, but also a business plan.

You need your monthly income to always cover at least your needs, so you want that 50% of your budget to be as predictable and stable as possible.

That way, even during lean times, you can always “survive”. In the good times, you can thrive, contributing at least your target 50% to wants and 20% to savings (or investments).

My freelance work is incredibly seasonal, and I always try to make sure my winter work (the slow period) covers my costs to get by, and then during my field season I try to build out my nest egg and create future opportunities for myself.

At the end of the day, your budget tracks what you spend, not what you make.

I try to make sure that I *always* spend less than I make, making sure that no matter where I am at in the wave (peak or trough) I’m always above my baseline expenses.

[Rick]

Lowest – set your budget at your lowest month and invest anything over that on better months

Mid – find your average if not too wildly different or median if wildly different, fund a 6 month reserve separate from any emergency fund, budget to the average or median and use the reserve for months below average or median to cover shortfall.

Replenish the reserve account during months above the average or median.

Highest – very similar to mid but before doing average or media remove the lowest low and highest high as outliers.

In the end, this is far more likely a spending issue than a budgeting one. Not that you are spendy but that you may wonder how to fit your spending into a budget for super variable income.

I experienced exactly that when self employed for about 5-6 years.

[Roxanne]

I’m a photographer as well, though I also have a day job. But my business is somewhat seasonal since I primarily do senior portraits, so I’m starting to book now for sessions in the summer.

Then my print sales are usually late summer into fall.

Do you take bookings ahead of time where you can plan out your year?

[Kimber]

I’m a full time photographer and set a base amount I invest. Then, if I have extra, I add it in after making sure my emergency fund is full.

My income can fluctuate up to 20k each month, so having a base amount plus emergency fund helps the great months cover the not-so-great while still keeping my investments growing.

You’ve got this!

[Author]

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