Being A Freelancer Is A Great Way Of Life, But There Are Times…

April 27th, 2010

I go to the bank to apply for a home mortgage loan
I love being a freelancer. I sleep until 8 or 8:30, grab my electric razor and weave my way down the passage of our apartment towards the study to check my emails. Perhaps a major client is about to launch a new project which will bring me steady writing work for a year?

The other side of freelancing
If you are a freelancer you may have had a situation similar to the one in this article. If you are considering becoming a freelancer this article might provide you with a bit of insight into the financial world of the freelancer. There are many benefits to leaving the traditional workplace, becoming your own boss and living on your own terms. No more traffic jams. No filling up the gas tank twice a week. No workplace politics. No obnoxious bosses. No superiors stealing your ideas and passing them off as their own. Yes, there are a whole lot of plusses and benefits. But financial stability?

Change comes
It was my wife who first raised the subject of our apartment. “It’s too small and crowded what with the two of us and your office. Let’s think about buying a house.”
I swallowed, breathed deep and said, “Okay, we need to start by getting a mortgage. Once we have that we can look for a house.” I changed out of my work clothes, meaning tee-shirt, shorts and flip-flops and we headed for the city and the granite clad mortgage banks.

The mortgage interview
This is where you bare your soul. The mortgage man liked my wife and was impressed with her long-standing job at the legal office where she worked. He also thought she earned a good salary.

The matter of my income
“Tell me about your salary,” he said, looking at me. “I am a freelance writer and my salary varies from month to month,” I explained. “In November ’09 I earned $4,000. In December, always a bad month with the holidays and end of year activities, I pulled in $800. January was better $2,200, February almost $3,000, March the tax month, $900 and we here we are, still in April, which is looking good.”

The no-mortgage mortgage
Bad news comes quickly. “I am terribly sorry but I cannot help you. Your wife has a steady salary and you always know what she is bringing in. But your occupation and income is a feast or famine affair from month to month. I’m sorry, it is not mortgage material. Perhaps come back next year if your situation changes or you find steady work”

Financial stability
If you are looking for financial stability, the life of a freelancer may not be for you. It can be an economic roller-coaster ride. It is a life of not knowing what your income will be from one month to the next.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, April 27th, 2010 at 9:42 am and is filed under Employment, Finance. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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