12- Month Money Challenge For Freelancers

Have you seen the 52- week money challenge online? If yes, I think you should consider doing it because it's quite an easy way to put some sense into your finances without dealing with accounting jargons-it's a great way to start a good money habit too. I'm doing it myself this year.

Photo Credit: thecollegeinvestor.com

However, I've observed that the 52-week money challenge, despite how great it is, has its own weaknesses too (but what the heck! I'm still doing it):

1. It requires close and careful monitoring, and it is impossible to not miss a week.

2. It will be hard to catch up, financially, if you miss a few weeks.

3. Depending on your chosen amount and when you reach the BER months, this could mean cutting at least a good P10,000 up to P30,000.00 from your salary. What if you only earn P10,000.00 or P15,000.00 a month or what if you have dependents? How can you accomplish this weekly challenge without the struggle?

4. When you reach the BER months, the challenge can cripple your bank account because of how much you need to put into it collectively.

As a Freelancer, I could understand why most people who are like me will find the 52-week money challenge a little hard to do. Because this life can have very lean months, not to mention we don't get the usual benefits like regular employees do such as transportation, food, mobile phone, and Internet allowance and insurance, therefore we have to pull the money needed for these from our very own pockets. We may command a higher rate than employees, but our overhead is bigger than them, not to mention we also have miscellaneous expenses just like everyone else on a weekly basis! More than this weekly challenge, I think these are the main reasons why Freelancers find it so hard to save money in general!

With that, I propose the 12-month Money Challenge for Freelancers, a very easy to follow, more doable money challenge for my fellow freelancers. It doesn't demand too much of your time, brain space, and most especially, money. Click READ MORE!

Click on the photo for a larger view!

I designed this myself to help my fellow Freelancers set up a savings fund despite our erratic income. With this semi- freestyle system, it doesn't matter if you only earn P5,000.00 a month or P500,000 a month-you can still manage to save and still live a good life. I'm all for saving, but I'm also all for living in the now. Come to think of it, if you will die the next day, will all this money matter? You get my point. But you know, let's not go to the death portion! :D

The benefits of the 12-month Money Challenge are:

1. You will only cut from your total earnings at the end of each month. No need to fuss about missing a week or two.

2. It uses a percentage system so you will know right away if you can still cut some more or if you've cut enough from your salary.

3. Every 3 months, there is a Summary table for all your earnings. This will help you assess yourself and the kinds of projects you've been getting. You can easily compare the months to identify which one is the leanest and the most abundant, and how you can improve the former, and it will give you an insight on how good or bad you've been doing in terms of getting projects.

4. In case you didn't get to earn on a certain month (and I hope you will aim to earn each and every single month), simple-just skip it and declare No Transaction. :)

5. Best part is, you don't have to touch your other funds just to persist through the challenge, unlike the 52- week money challenge.

Here's a close- up of the chart:

It starts with a month and under that month has 5 empty slots that you can fill in with every cheque you receive. If you earned more than 5 times in a month, simply insert a new row via Microsoft Excel.

I've put three percentages that you can choose from: 0.05%, 0.10%, and 0.15%. If you're a bread winner, go for 5%. If you're self- supporting, go for 10%. If you still live with your parents and are self- supporting, but can still afford a few luxuries, go for 15%. These are not set in stone, however. Go for the percentage that feels right for you and remember to go all the way, especially if the moment is favorable for you.

In the spirit of the 52-Week Money Challenge, you can slide down or slide up on the percentage table depending on how good or bad your month is. If it's really good, go for 15%. If it's so-so, go for 10%. If it's really bad, go for 5%.

Here's how it works:

Just for the sake of putting a total amount out there, let's say I got three projects that will last for one year, respectively and will earn these amounts on a monthly basis. If I do this challenge consistently for 12 months, I will have the following savings at the end of the year:

P29,100 (at 0.05%)

P58,200 (at 0.10%)

P87,300 (at 0.15%)

What can you afford from the following savings?

P29,100- a new smartphone; a new tablet; a pretty extravagant trip to Boracay, Cebu, Bohol; a trip to Palawan

P58,200- an Asian vacation; an iPhone 6 or 6 Plus (or iPhone 7 if they're going to release one this year); A Louis Vuitton Neverfull; Goyard St. Louis; brand new Prada Tessuto Gaufre' bags; Hermes Clic-Clac; Valentino Rockstud Shoes; YSL Tribute; jewelry; a trip to El Nido; a budget trip to Maldives

P87,300- bags and leather goods from brands such as YSL and Givenchy (provided that you get from a cheaper source. There are a lot online, but make sure they're legit!); A semi-budget trip to Maldives; a shopping vacation in Hong Kong; a new watch; a smartphone; jewelry

Or you can just set aside your savings for grander items like a car, property, or insurance, although I would suggest that eventually, you have to invest your money in Stocks, Mutual Fund, or Forex to get the following items faster-make your money work for you.

I believe this system will work for employees too. So go ahead, just download the chart, print it, and start saving up for your dream item, vacation, or investment! If you decide to do this challenge, I'd appreciate it if you'd tell me how it has helped you! :)

Any thoughts on the challenge and the system? I'd love to know how we can improve it or how you will choose to do it. :)