“So how do you sustain your family’s financial needs when we rarely see you go out for work”? Talking about nosy neighbors huh? For people who had found their careers through working online, this kind of question should no longer be an issue. Sometimes it’s hard to explain what you really do on the Internet to earn an income so most of the time, it’s better to just leave it unanswered and keep working on your tasks.

But deep in our thoughts, as online workers, you knew that this kind of job is far different from having a regular job where paychecks arrived on your expected date. Being your own boss, you have full control on when money should/could come and that is something that you should be alert of. Remember, you have your family who depends on your income therefore handling your finances must be done wisely.

It doesn’t matter whether you are a pro or just starting on this kind of career, what important is that you know when and how you can make both ends work when it comes to your income and expenses. With that let me share my own tactics on how I manage my income that comes from my online jobs:

 
• Prepare a time table- You probably have established working relationships with your long time clients which gives you regular jobs. It may not be on a daily basis but at least in a span of that week, you’ll get two or more jobs which could be enough to cover some of your expenses for the month. In this case, a time table is useful. In an Excel sheet, write down all your expected jobs for the month as in those you could call as 100% sure income. On another sheet, jot down all your expenses. This is what I meant when I say “making both ends meet”. If you see that your expenses are higher than your expected salary, then as freelancer you have the option to look for extra jobs keep up on your budget.

 
• Cost-cutting- there’s nothing wrong in cutting down your expenses if online income is not yet due. There are incident when your clients may be out of town or on vacation and won’t be back until your credit card’s due date. Since you knew that it’s going to be delayed, then perhaps there’s no harm in holding up yourself from shopping.

 
• Save up for rainy days- this is most important. Online earnings don’t come regularly into your bank account. There are days when business is weak and job requirements from clients could be less than you expected. The same goes with the saying “when it rains, it pours”. Take advantage of times when you have a handful of works because it obviously means money. What I do is that no matter how small or big my income for that month, I allot a certain amount for my savings. In this case, when business gets worst, I would still have something to shell out to cover my family’s financial needs.

Do not be discouraged though about the idea of unstable income if you aspire to pursue a career online. It really depends on how you will manage your personal finances and on how determined you are to earn an income. You may even be surprised if you reached higher than what you expected just always look into the positive side.