Money is time
The ability to choose our own working hours gives freelancers even more reason to spend wisely
Freelancers know very well that time is money. On a daily basis, we have to consider whether a piece of work pays enough to merit our time. But this equation works the other way round too – money is time.
If you earn £32,000 a year, that’s about £140 per working day, which becomes £100 after national insurance and income tax.
That means every £100 spent is another day that you need to work:
An iPhone 12 Pro – 2 weeks’ work
A new Ford Focus on a PCP lease – 2.5 days of work a month
This may be obvious, but it is particularly important for freelancers because we have the flexibility to control how much work we take on. In high-pay, high-stress full-time job, it can make sense to splash out to make yourself feel better when you can’t escape the daily grind.
As freelancers, we can make the decision – do we want the money more than we want our time?
Of course, this cuts both ways and spending money can save us time.
If you can earn more with your time by freelancing than it costs to get someone else to do a job for you, then it’s a win-win. Paying a professional to do desk research, look after your accounts or clean your home can all be ways to give yourself more time.
The impact of saving yourself two weeks’ work by not upgrading your phone might be impressive enough on its own, but compounding takes it to another level. Instead of taking a two-week break right now, what if you save the money earned and put it into a pension or stocks and shares ISA?
Growth of 6% a year* means your money will double every 12 years. If you’re currently in your early-30s, you’ll have about 36 years to retirement. That means your 2 weeks savings would double to 4 weeks, double to 8 weeks and then double to 16 weeks.
That one iPhone upgrade could mean you’ll need to work almost four months longer.
Money is time.
*Stock market returns are not guaranteed. Six per cent is a number chosen as an illustration. Please do your own research.
You may also be interested in: Where to find well-paid work
❤ Got a friend? Show them you care by forwarding this on!
🤗Did you find this useful and want to say thanks?