February Freelance Income

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It’s time to talk income! As a recap, I’ve been freelance writing and editing for almost three years and am also a stay-at-home mom to a 2 1/2 year old and a 1 1/2 year old. Life is busy, but it’s fun! For a while, I would work early in the morning, during nap time and sometimes during the evening, but we recently decided to put our girls in daycare part-time to give me some guaranteed time to focus on my writing. That’s been a huge blessing and has allowed me to gain new clients and spend more quality time with my girls when they’re at home.

February Freelance Income: $1,290 (up $70 from last month)

I had the honor of writing a few articles for GOBankingRates that was both challenging and fun. I also wrote for my regular clients and continued searching for more work. Freelancing is a never-ending quest to find more work, at least in my case. If you have a regular clients that keep you busy and give you consistent work, consider yourself lucky!! Most freelancers (including myself) have to hustle, hustle, hustle every month to land that next gig.

February Spending

I did a post on how we slashed $900 in monthly expenses and am hoping to continue that trend of living on less. To recap, we added up our expenses (not counting bills…this is all variable expenses including food, gas, household items, shopping trips, etc) in October and were shocked at how much we were spending. Now, we keep track. Our goal is to spend $250/week or less on all miscellaneous items. I know that this seems high to some people, but to us it’s doing good.

In February, we went slightly over our budget and spent just under $1,300 for the month. Not bad, but we can certainly do better. We’re actually set on food for the rest of this week so I’m hoping to not have to grocery shop for a while. I’m bad at grocery shopping though. There’s always something I forget (like milk…or apple juice for my little one…or we’ll run out of shampoo) and I feel like I’m at the store every other day.

At Costco yesterday we bought a 20-lb bag of Basmati Rice for this recipe from the Frugalwoods. We also will use the rice for teriyaki meatballs, stir fry’s and more. I’m guessing this will last us 6 months, so for $20.79 it was a good purchase.

And to end this semi-random post, I’m so happy that warmer weather is just around the corner! Our utility bills have been high and I’m looking forward to going on walks, playing outside with the girls and barbecuing! Here’s to a great month!

How was your February spending? Did you reach your goals?

photo credit: Flickr via 401kcalculator.org

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Comments

Christina @ Embracing Simple says
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Great job with increasing your freelance income – that’s fantastic! While I didn’t meet most of the goals I set for myself for February, our spending was actually pretty good. I think it’s mostly because we didn’t get out much, hah! I am also SO ready for warmer weather…I am starting to get stir crazy up in here.
- Sarah Brooks says
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  Us too!! We desperately need some park days and evenings where we can go on walks! Yesterday was actually warm so I took the girls for a walk around the neighborhood, but today it’s cold and rainy! The warm weather can’t get here fast enough!!
  - Christina @ Embracing Simple says
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    Amen, friend! I was so desperate to get out of the house yesterday that I packed the babe up and trekked to our local indoor mall to do laps and ended up walking 1.5 miles (which was a lot for me…I’m totally sore today hah). Although it wasn’t fresh air or sunshine, it sure did feel good to be out and about!
Mrs. Maroon says
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Nice increase in income! Spending was high for us. We built a swing set for Mini Maroon #1’s birthday. Plus Mr. Maroon required some truck repairs. Better than paying someone else to do it, but still a chunk of change. Amen to the warmer weather. Thought I have enjoyed getting to play in the snow with the Minis on a couple occasions!
- Sarah Brooks says
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  Awww that’s awesome you built a swing set for your little one! How fun!! And I’m jealous you got actual snow – we just got ice which the kids can’t really play in. I’m definitely looking forward to warmer weather!!
Chela @SmashOdyssey says
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Congrats on the income increase! It’s like you gave yourself a raise! 🙂 My February went pretty well, though I’m spending more on gas than I’d planned to.
- Sarah Brooks says
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  We spent a lot on gas this month, too. Even though the weather was freezing, we were still somehow able to burn through a good amount of gas! Hoping this month will be better. Good luck to you for March!!
diane @smartmoneysimplelife says
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Congrats on the increased income!
My February postmortem is scheduled for today… it’ll be interesting to see how the final numbers line up. I don’t think I was as focused as I could have been.
Being on the other side of the equator – I can’t wait for it to start cooling down.
- Sarah Brooks says
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  Ahh I’m so excited for it to warm up, but I’m sure in a few months I’ll be looking forward to cooler weather…funny how that works! Hope your February was good, I’m heading to your blog now to check it out!!
Jef says
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Congrats on your freelance income there Sarah, well done!
Hope this keeps up for you, as for my spending and income goals would like to increase my income by 1K per month, which given that I live in Sydney, Australia wouldn’t actually go as far as you’d think :)..
I’ll be investing any extra $$ I earn though
Cheers
- Sarah Brooks says
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  That’s great!! I’m trying to save and invest all my earnings, too. March should be a good month for me, but it may even out as my husband has been slow. Oh the joys of self-employment!! Hope you have a great month!!
Fig @ Figuring Money Out says
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Great job increasing your freelance income! I also landed a client last month and it’s n ongoing monthly so Im hoping to keep them around for a while. It’s such a pain to chase down more work!
- Sarah Brooks says
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  Great job with the new client!! Yeah, getting new work is tough. It’s time-consuming and you don’t always know if it will work out. I’m hoping March will be my best month yet, but we’ll see!!
Holly@ClubThrifty says
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Great job on your income! I think it takes a while to find consistent writing work. I have a few long-term clients now but it took a while to get there.
- Sarah Brooks says
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  Thanks Holly!! I had a long-term client that I lost back in November…wahhh!! So now it’s back to square one. I think I’ve nailed down a few and am hoping March is one of my best month’s ever!!
Mrs. Frugalwoods says
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Nicely done on the freelancing income increase–that’s awesome!! And, I’m so excited to hear you’re the proud owner of a ton of Basmati rice :). I hope you enjoy the recipe!
Harmony @ creatingmykaleidoscope says
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Very impressive job with the freelance income.
FYI – I have nominated you for a Liebster Award: http://creatingmykaleidoscope.com/2015/03/06/2015-liebster-award/
- Sarah Brooks says
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  Hi Harmony! Thank you for the nomination!! I really appreciate that! I will be checking that out now 🙂