Disagree that tracking every dollar is the only way to save money as a freelancer

I keep seeing people say you gotta log every coffee and snack to get ahead, but I found a stat from a Freelancers Union survey that said 62% of freelancers who just set a weekly savings goal ended up saving more than those who tracked every penny. In my experience, after 4 years running my grooming shop, my income varies so much that tracking details just stressed me out and I saved less. I set a rule to put 20% of every payment into a separate account automatically, no matter the amount. Has anyone else tried a hands-off method like that and seen it work better than the micro-tracking advice?

3 comments

3 Comments

skyler_johnson328d ago

Set up automatic transfers right after each payment hits and forget about the rest.

skyler_johnson328d ago

Read a study from Duke that said people who set automatic savings saved 35% more than those who budgeted manually. Same with the automatic transfer method you mentioned.

river_thompson8d ago

Oh yeah, the "set it and forget it" part. That's the key honestly. People overthink budgeting and then give up after a month. Automation takes the guilt out of saving because you never see the money to spend it. My buddy does this with his paycheck and he's got like 6 months of expenses saved up now. Meanwhile I'm over here manually moving funds and sometimes I talk myself out of it. It's way easier to just let the bank do the work for you.