I was an all take-out guy (which meant gym time replaced cooking time) until I realised how many sites are out there with quick and easy to make dishes.

http://search.bbc.co.uk/cgi-bin/search/results.pl?q=recipes+quick&scope=all&tab=all&recipe=all

On top of this, many grocers offer free delivery for orders over a certain amount, and will commit to a one hour delivery window (I can personally attest to this deal in London, Manhattan, Wash. DC).

I’ve not really found that there is any great strategy for how to handle this problem faced by those of us on a variable income. I’ve been working continuously since leaving my “regular job” and have a couple of tips.

1) DON’T put all your eggs in one basket. If it all possible, keep multiple clients, even if they sometimes feel that they could use you more of the time. I often negotiate with my clients to take a week or two off to see another client when I know the requesting client is in a bind, and assure the consenting client that I’ll be there around the clock when crunch-time comes!

2) DO investigate your tax situation thoroughly. I’ve found enormous amounts of my expenses can be claimed back, just by carefully looking at the rules, and speaking with an experienced accountant.

3) AVOID planning vacations like a “regular” employee. By this, I mean just because you may be coming to a client regularly, or even work out of their office, don’t request “time off”. I plan my vacations around times when I know business will slow down or there will be fewer billable days, such as the end of a big project or winter holidays.

4) DO carefully plan your vacations. This one applies to everyone. I love vacations to low-cost locales like Thailand. I’ve found that I can take 3 weeks off, and rent out my apartment in London such that the entire adventure ends up costing little more than the cost of the flight. Check out sites like Craigslist in the US, or Gumtree in the UK for these types of trades, or people looking for short term rentals. **Make sure you have some reason to trust the renter (deposit, or your own insurance). Again, book the travel for a time when you won’t make much money anyway, don’t risk upsetting clients and losing out on that contract!

5) DO buy business cards/website/. Sites like e-lance.com can design software, websites, etc. at very low cost provided you’re capable of designing a real business requirements document for the typically non-business savvy developers working on your project. My $3,000 investments in these has helped me close over $80,000 in business, as well as recruit other independent contractors with similar skillsets into my contact group (useful when you can help a client staff one of them, and make a regular percentage without even working!).

6) When you’re planning your finances, remember why you went “independent” to begin with – you work at your pleasure, and that’s worth something (even if you can’t include it in your budget).

I plan for 40 days off per year (vacations, public holidays, sick-leave). This amounts to about 85% utilisation. DON’T calculate based on a 240 day work-year… it won’t happen unless your client loves paying you overtime that they didn’t budget for!

I’ve not found Quicken, GNU Cash, etc. to be terribly useful when it comes to managing my money. I will say that I’m somewhat excited to see what’s going to be offered by http://www.mint.com’s eventual offering (currently “vaporware”). I end up spending more time documenting and reviewing/comparing these things than taking any pro-active measures. Perhaps irresponsibly, I’ve taken a budgeting approach that is much more broad. I put away for what I have as fixed expenses (including 10% to savings), the rest is budgeted based on spending twice as much on entertainment as I did at University. I also usually throw in a small vacation fund, just in case I decide to go somewhere where I can’t live on $5/day!

My money allocations aren’t as sophisticated as I’d like, as I need to be very liquid and stable in the upcoming 2 years (paying cash for an MBA), but I always know where my money is, and that gives me piece of mind, if not the returns I could be seeing.

Feel free to drop me an email if you’d like to chat about anything I’ve said!

Wael “a.k.a. Wa-Eazie”
welrifai@gmail.com

Over and above everything else – DON’T BE TOO HARD ON YOURSELF!!! Some months just will be crappy, and expenses will pop up out of nowhere. Don’t worry too much.

And here’s the best advice I was given, even if 2 years too late:
1. ALWAYS try to keep an emergency fund (even $500 – yeah, I know it’s a lot!) can make a difference in a bad month)
2. Absolutely, positively do NOT use your CC for any “wishful” expenses. I am still paying mine from 6 years ago!!!

I still goes overspent some time for now (expecially with credit card) but by doing this, its been the best in limiting myself to spend within my means.

The solution is the same as for managing your money: plan in advance.

Invest in a small deep freeze.

If you’re no cook, find a friend who is and who(for the right price) is willing to do a couple of pots of things which you can freeze in takeway food containers or freezer bags in one-meal portions. Or – find a source of commercial frozen meals that are palatable and healthy. They’re generally cheaper than restaurant meals and these days, some of them are pretty good. Go for stews and curries. Pasta can be okay too (basically, stay away from meat and 3 veg, it reheats badly). Soups, of course, are perfect for freezing.

One suggestion I have for this is keep a “sanity fund” item in the budget somewhere. One or two hundred dollars a month to be used (or not) on things like that. Take it out in cash and don’t worry about where it goes, and if there’s something left over, buy groceries out of it. It’s a line item on the budget, so it’s accountable, but not causing stress.

Also, consultant people, make sure you take out money to give to the tax man every quarter. Penalties for failing to file quarterly suck.