How Much Do You Need to Save Before Starting a Freelance Writing Business

Quit your job. Start freelancing. Max out your credit card. Invest in yourself. You deserve it. You don’t need to save before starting your freelance writing business. Just do it now.

The internet is flooded with such recommendations for wanna-be freelancers or business owners. This advice can often be unrealistic and damaging. Building a business takes time. As a freelancer, you will have ups and downs. You don’t want to be scrambling to pay your bills because you didn’t have emergency savings. 

How Much Do You Need to Save Before Starting a Freelance Writing Business?

So how much do you need to save before starting a freelance writing business? Unfortunately, I cannot give you one single correct answer. I wish I could, but life is not that simple. It depends on so many factors. What I can do is give you a list of things to consider that should help you figure out how much you need to save before starting a freelance writing business.

Consider Your Start-Up Costs and Overhead

When you start thinking about how much you need to save up before starting a freelance writing business, you need to consider your start-up and overhead costs. I have good news. Starting a freelance writing business starts at zero dollars. I am not joking. You really don’t need to spend much money to start a freelance writing business.

Asides from your computer (more on that later), all you need is a website. I am completely honest here. Nearly a decade in and I still only pay for my website and since last year, Grammarly Pro. Absolutely nothing else. 

Setting up a new website is simple and affordable. Using Squarespace, Wix, or Weebly, you can create a professional website within a few days without any tech skills. It will only cost you $10–16 per month for your own professional website. If you can’t afford it, Weebly offers a free plan without a custom domain.

A website is all you need. If you choose this simple path, you really don’t need to save up much to start a freelance writing business. However, you may have other start-up or overhead fees if you want to be fancy and get started with more. My personal recommendation is to start with a website and upgrade later if you need to. But it’s a personal choice. 

Your other costs to starting a freelance writing business may include:

• Grammarly Pro or other paid grammar tools

• SEO tools or plagiarism checkers

• Asana, Basecamp, or other project management systems

• Freshbooks or other accounting software

• Other apps and software

• Cost of setting up an LLC or other business

• Accountant

• Co-working space

• Office furniture, stationary, and other gadgets

• A computer or laptop

I want to say a word about laptops and computers. There is a good chance, you already have one. It’s also possible that you are sharing one with a family member or don’t own one at all. Does this mean that you need to spend thousands of dollars on the latest computer? Nope.

You absolutely do not need the fanciest and newest laptop to start out freelancing. Any old or cheaper, slower laptop will do it. If you want and can afford the best laptop, go for it. If you can’t, don’t fret. 

You can find a cheaper laptop for $100-200. Sure, it won’t be as fast as the newest Macbook Pro, but as long as you can type and access google docs and the internet, you will be fine. If you really can’t afford one, you may be able to use one at the library. Some libraries allow you to rent out laptops.

Your Financial Needs

How much you need to save up before starting a freelance writing business very much depends on your financial needs. This depends from person to person. Consider your basic needs: the absolute bare minimum to survive. Consider your other needs, wants, and goals. Be honest with your lifestyle and what you need. 

When I started out, my goal was to be able to pay rent and cover very basic food. That meant somewhere between $1000 and $1300 at the time. Yes, I called that full-time earning. Depending on your location and current lifestyle, this may sound ridiculous. It’s all personal.

Consider the following financial needs to figure out how much you need to save up before starting a freelance writing business:

• Cost of rent or mortgage 

• Housing-related bills (gas, electricity, garbage, sewer, water, internet, renovation costs, etc)

• Your food budget

• Cost of personal care and household care products (eg. cleaning, body, beauty, etc)

• Clothing costs

• Cost of health insurance

• Any regular occurring or expected medical expenses

• Recurring loan payments

• Education, childcare, and other costs in the similar category

• Pet costs

• Cost of personal care expenses (eg. massage, facials, etc)

• Cost of fun

• Desired savings for retirement (eg. Roth IRA, SEP IRA, etc)

• Anything else

Once you consider how much your costs are, you may look at what you are willing to or want to cut out or cut down on. If it’s nothing, that’s okay, just be honest with yourself. When figuring out how much you need to save up before starting a freelance writing business, be absolutely honest about your needs, wants, and goals.

Ideally, your freelance writing earnings will cover all these expenses. But let’s be honest. This will not happen one day to another. Sure, if you are following the right strategy, it won’t take years. You may even get lucky and earn enough to cover it all the first month. But chances are, it will take longer. It will certainly take longer for you to create a sustainable business with a steady paycheck.

The higher your costs and needs are, the longer it may take. Making around $1000 a month didn’t take me long. But if my monthly needs were closer to $5000, it would’ve taken much longer to achieve my ‘full-time earner status’. Instead of making the assumption that you will make enough the first month, be safe, and expect the worst. I recommend saving up at least 3 months’ worth of expenses.

Your Current Situation

You need to consider your current financial and family situation when figuring out how much you need to save up before starting a freelance writing business. You may be a single person only responsible for yourself. You may be a single mother of three with much higher costs and more responsibilities. 

You may have a spouse that earns a lot and is able to support your family while you are figuring things out. You may have an unemployed spouse or a spouse with health issues or a disability and high medical costs. You may be living with your parents rent-free. You may be paying for a mortgage in an expensive city. 

You may be working at a high-paying job and have lots of savings. You may be working at a minimum wage job without any savings. You may be coming from financial privilege. You may be an immigrant trying to figure things out without any wealth or support. You may have 6 months' worth of emergency savings. You may not even have a week worth of emergency savings. I could go on. 

As you see, it’s all personal. There is no right or wrong here. We live in an unequal society and all of us have different backgrounds. However, your current financial situation, the amount of savings you have, your family situation, and other factors all play a role in how much you need to save up before starting a freelance writing business. Look at these factors. Consider your needs and goals. Do some math and try to decide what works for you.

Part-Time or Full-Time

When considering how much you need to save up before starting a freelance writing business, you may also consider quitting your job. But is this the right move? Some freelancers quit their jobs and jump in without any experience and clients. Others freelance on the side and don’t quit until they match their salary. Most people are somewhere on the spectrum.

Again, this depends on your personal situation. If you have spousal support, family wealth, savings, or are simply extremely brave, sure enough, jump in, quit your job, and get started from scratch. If you were just laid off, you may as well jump in instead of trying to find another job. If you are more cautious or don’t have savings, starting freelance writing on the side part-time is probably a smarter option. 

Remember, you are not less of a freelancer if you have a part-time or full-time job while you are building a business. It is totally okay to never quit your job and keep freelancing as a part-time thing. 

Remember, freelancing is not a quick-rich, quick-fix thing. I see too many new freelancers posting in a panic that they lost a client and can’t pay their bills. They are looking for a quick way to make quick money to pay their bills. Freelancing is not that. If you need quick money, babysitting, pet sitting, grocery delivery, food delivery, or driving Uber may be a better option. If you can’t yet pay your bills from freelancing and have no support, keeping at least a part-time job is probably a good idea. This is a responsible and smart idea and not something to be ashamed of. 

If you have a part-time (or full-time job), you have to think much less about how much you need to save up before starting a freelance writing business. Your basic monthly needs (or even more) will be paid even as you are still navigating the ups and downs of life as a new freelancer. Remember, it doesn’t have to be forever. As you gain more experience, you will be able to build a sustainable freelance writing business and will be able to leave your job behind if you want to. 

Final Thoughts on Saving for a Freelance Writing Business

When it comes to finances, everything depends on your personal situation. You may need to consider some other factors, which I didn't mention in this article. You may already have enough savings and jump in to start your freelance writing business full-time. You may benefit from having at least a part-time job for a while. Either way, your start-up costs are very low compared to other businesses making freelancing writing an accessible business option for most people.

Are you interested in creating a sustainable freelance writing business without the hustle? Check out my freelance writing course with a step-by-step process of exactly what you need.

What do you think? How much do you need to save up before starting a freelance writing business? Are you the type of person who will jump in and risk it all or do you prefer to keep your job and save some money and freelance on the side at first?