Monday, December 17, 2012

You don't need me to tell you that the economy is in dire straits; it's heavily covered on every news channel and website. More and more, people are scratching and clawing to improve their personal finances whether it's new techniques to save more money or creative ways to earn extra cash. Web workers, thought of as 'the isolated many' aren't isolated from the economy. Contrary to what many might think, web working isn't a zero investment job; there are some significant costs associated with it. Since they are living in the same world and a part of the same economy, it's important for them to gear up and tackle the situation in a way that can cut costs without hurting their business. If you are a web worker, consider starting with the following tips and then see if you need to cut more on certain other aspects of your work. Identify Expenses It sounds crazy but it's common for most web workers to not have an organized way to calculate total income and expenditure. When you are taking projects and small jobs from dozens of people or companies, much of your time could be spent as bookkeeper, and well, that is not increasing earnings. Hence, the first thing you should do is sit down and make a detailed account of your income and expenditures. Either hire an accountant or do it yourself, but make sure it is crystal clear what your home and business expenses are. You will find people you forgot to bill and you will find expenses you forgot to write-off. Isolate the Absolute Essential Saving money doesn't mean that you will ditch broadband and go for dial-up internet; that'd be foolish because the internet is the lifeline of any web worker. There will be other such absolute essentials depending upon the type of work you do. Identify them and isolate them from the cost cutting process. And yes, be prudent in picking the essentials. Go Paperless Believe it or not, going paperless could save you a great deal of hassle and money. It will make your home office clutter free and will keep you from spending hours searching for that important file or notepad. There is some great software and tools available and they can easily replace your paperwork. Use Freeware Since I talked about software, I'd say freeware is the way to go, unless of course there isn't a great alternative (like for photoshop). But for most of the paid software out there, there some cool open source alternatives available. Sites like Osalt will help you in finding them. Use Skype And Reduce Phone Bills Phone bills could turn out to be a major cost for most web workers, especially for those who have local clients. If you are one of them, I'd suggest you suppress the urge to use your cell phone to make a call every time and instead, use a tool like Skype to make calls. Look for Free Learning Material Self-study is an important thing that absolutely shouldn't be overlooked. There is no doubt that paid courses could be of better quality but the web is full of free, quality ebooks and guides. Try to find such stuff and use them for gaining knowledge. Free pdf search engines like PDFGeni could help you in this search. Ditch the Car You usually don't go out everyday and when you do, you take the car. Weather permitting, why not bike it next time? Swap Books & DVDs You'd love this tip. Did you know that there are services like SwapaDVD to exchange DVDs with others and PaperBackSwap or BookMooch to exchange books ? Has the economy hit your home office routine or home business? If so, let us know what you've done to sidestep these issues. Written on 1/06/2009 by Abhijeet Mukherjee. You can catch him at Jeet Blog where he blogs about different Web 2.0 apps and online tools and how they can help you become more productive. Photo Credit: cogdogblog 30 0 0 0 Stumble Read the next article or check out these related categories: Business, Money RECENT ARTICLESSUBSCRIBE TO DLM RSS|Email 14 Simple Ways to Super Charge Your Brain Overcoming Toxic Relationships at Work – Even the One with Your Boss 4 Ways Making Assumptions Can Ruin Your Life 40 Ways To Relax and Recharge Your Batteries 3 Facts About Life Every Grown-Up Should Know And Live By How to Keep Your Business Writing Clear And Up To Date The Power of Paper for Everyday Life Working From Home: How To Protect Yourself Against Your 7 Deadly Habits Powered by Feed Informer Previous Post Comments (4) Sort by: Date Rating Last Activity Azunga · 82 weeks ago Great information to save money for web workers. I like the first point in identifying expenses. There's plenty of ways to save money but if you don't know where your spending money it's tough to get it under control. Report Reply Kat Landreth · 104 weeks ago I'm so glad that you mention freeware. It's really great to make use of free and open source software when you can. There is an open source free alternative to PhotoShop too. It's called GIMP. Lots of graphic designers and professional photographers use it. I bet a lot of people who think they need to pay for PhotoShop could get along just as well with GIMP. I love the idea of using Skype rather than the phone too. Thanks for the tips. Report Reply Ofw · 154 weeks ago Thanks for the amazing info on how to save money especially for overseas workers. They can help a lot of migrant and overseas workers in saving some money. Report Reply Samson Smith · 170 weeks ago Thanks for sharing such great post, according to me these all are the perfect ways to save money. Report Reply Post a new comment Check Spelling Comment as a Guest, or login: Login to IntenseDebate Login to WordPress.com Login to Twitter Login to OpenID Name Email Displayed next to your comments. Not displayed publicly. 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Identify Expenses
It sounds crazy but it's common for most web workers to not have an organized way to calculate total income and expenditure. When you are taking projects and small jobs from dozens of people or companies, much of your time could be spent as bookkeeper, and well, that is not increasing earnings.

Hence, the first thing you should do is sit down and make a detailed account of your income and expenditures. Either hire an accountant or do it yourself, but make sure it is crystal clear what your home and business expenses are. You will find people you forgot to bill and you will find expenses you forgot to write-off.

Isolate the Absolute Essential
Saving money doesn't mean that you will ditch broadband and go for dial-up internet; that'd be foolish because the internet is the lifeline of any web worker. There will be other such absolute essentials depending upon the type of work you do. Identify them and isolate them from the cost cutting process. And yes, be prudent in picking the essentials.

Go Paperless
Believe it or not, going paperless could save you a great deal of hassle and money. It will make your home office clutter free and will keep you from spending hours searching for that important file or notepad. There is some great software and tools available and they can easily replace your paperwork.

Use Freeware
Since I talked about software, I'd say freeware is the way to go, unless of course there isn't a great alternative (like for photoshop). But for most of the paid software out there, there some cool open source alternatives available. Sites likeOsalt will help you in finding them.

Use Skype And Reduce Phone Bills
Phone bills could turn out to be a major cost for most web workers, especially for those who have local clients. If you are one of them, I'd suggest you suppress the urge to use your cell phone to make a call every time and instead, use a tool like Skype to make calls.

Look for Free Learning Material
Self-study is an important thing that absolutely shouldn't be overlooked. There is no doubt that paid courses could be of better quality but the web is full of free, quality ebooks and guides. Try to find such stuff and use them for gaining knowledge. Free pdf search engines like PDFGeni could help you in this search.

Ditch the Car
You usually don't go out everyday and when you do, you take the car. Weather permitting, why not bike it next time?

Swap Books & DVDs
You'd love this tip. Did you know that there are services like SwapaDVD to exchange DVDs with others andPaperBackSwap or BookMooch to exchange books ?

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