In my freelance budget, I like to differentiate between critical and non-critical expenses. Critical expenses are necessary to run my business, whereas non-critical expenses fall into the “nice to have” category. If I had to, I could cut them from my budget.
But there are a few non-critical expenses that I would be very sad about cutting — because they make my work so much better or more enjoyable.
Here are my favorite non-critical expenses. And as a bonus: business expenses are a tax write-off!
I live in a house with five people, including three kids. While the kids are at school, my days are filled with client work. My evenings are filled with family responsibilities.
I set aside time for non-client work during the week, such as planning my social media content or sending invoices, but it’s a lot harder to fit in bigger projects that I want to do for my business. I simply don’t have large blocks of time to sit and focus.
To give myself that time, I check myself into a hotel for the weekend. I plan this for a three-day weekend (like when Monday is a federal holiday). This gives me several days of uninterrupted time, which is invaluable…