The Inconsistent Side of Freelancing: $3K Less Income in April

Posted on May 2, 2013 by

Monthly Financial Goals As some of you might have noticed, I didn’t post my monthly goals at the beginning of April. As it turns out, this was OK because of the crazy twists & turns the month took as it went on. Even if I had set goals, most of them would have been augmented, abandoned or blown out of the water. How’s that for variability??

Speaking of variability, April was the proof I expected to find (at some point) about how insanely variable freelancing can be. Inconsistent is the word that I’ll use to describe my income over the past two months–and I know this is just the beginning of the freelancer roller coaster ride. Luckily, I had anticipated this so when I ended up bringing in over $10K in March, I knew that I shouldn’t rest on those laurels too much before diving right back into my work.

Another blow to the April income statement came in the form of the Boston Marathon bombings. I don’t want to share anymore space here talking about such a negative event, but I’d be lying if I said it didn’t impact me in some way. I spent that week sort of floating around in a haze, glued more to the TV and newspapers than to my laptop. This certainly had an effect on how much I brought in for the month but I’m hopeful that I can pick things up in May.

On the positive side, I had another round of exciting media mentions in April which included my work being quoted on Wise Bread, an article being picked up on Lifehacker and my very first TV appearance on the Dr. Oz Show! The TV stuff was definitely unnerving and I’m not sure I’d ever be cut out for it unless I could spend plenty of time desensitizing myself from the panic of cameras, lights and audiences in my face. That being said, it’s pretty cool to see myself and up on national TV! Sadly, there was no mention of this site due to legal reasons but it was such a fun experience that I’m not really sure I care. Stay tuned for whatever screen shots I can manage to pull from the footage after it airs.

All in all, I ended up being just under $3K short of the total income I made in March. While $7,200+ is nothing to sneeze at, I still see plenty of room for improvement. I have my eyes on the $8K mark for May so hopefully a bit of extra hustle gets me over that threshold (and higher!).

Here’s how I fared overall with the various items I wanted to cross off my financial to-do list:

Happy Homeowner April 2013 Income Recap

How was your April?

Jen Smialek

Freelancer; reformed spendaholic; risk taker; adventure seeker; world traveler; rose smeller; debt destroyer. My mission is to inspire others to live a healthy, balanced life one cent at a time.

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  1. That sounds like great progress even if it's much less than the month before! I have no doubt you'll be able to bring in your expected $8k in May! Good luck!

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    • Definitely true! I budget based on about half of this, so I at least know my bills will be covered. The extras are long-term savings, traveling, etc. I want to do it all, but I have to be realistic, too

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  5. You are doing so well. You really should be proud of yourself even if April was lower. These are things that you have anticipated, like you said. There are also going to be times where you go on Vacation and it may be lower. Can't wait to hear more about Dr. Oz. That is so cool!!!!! You'll have to be sure to remind us when it's supposed to air.
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  6. Very cool! All your hard work for April ended in quotes, articles and Dr. Oz. I see it aired today, I will have to check it out :)
    My recent post Net Worth Update April 2013

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    • Michelle's KILLING it! It's really all crazy hard work and getting "out there" as much as possible. Although I suck at commenting lately–need to step up my game!!

      Dr. Oz aired today! It was a segment on the juice cleanse episode. The cool thing is that if you go to the show's homepage, the medical 411 sheet idea I talked about is right there! I'd had written about it on a another site and a producer emailed me. Long story short, the whole thing turned into a scripted adventure where they had me tweet to them pretending that's how I originally "submitted" the idea. I definitely went rogue when I was on stage though…oopsies…hahaha!

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    • Absolutely! I budget based on half of this sum, so I know my bills are covered with the standing gigs I have in place. The rest is gravy, but I always am on the hunt to increase my income

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    • It was a lot of fun, but very nerve-wracking! :)

      That's awesome about your April–good luck with the side jobs; I agree–most everything with finances is unpredictable, eh?

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  10. Great job!!!! I really want to increase my side income. I got my first staff writing position, but I need to work on getting other gigs. How did you get started? Did you contact a lot of people?

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    • Thank you! Congrats on the staff position!! I was lucky that people started to contact me, then I began to build a network from those contacts. It's pretty wild how all of a sudden it will just take off. Keep at it!

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  12. You're rockin' it Jen! You know I can relate to that up and down of working for yourself and it makes those out of the park months even better. Keep up the great work and enjoy the travelling. :)

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  14. Ok, I HAVE to know how you only spend $800 on a trip to Kawaii that included airfare!!
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    • Ahhh…hahahaha!!! I was SO NERVOUS! And yes, he's all about touching and interacting. It was so strange to be on stage (I made some wonky facial expressions..haha) but he has a very calming way about him. Such a fun experience :)

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