money & business for self-employed creatives.

The most important part of managing debt: be aware of the situation and the numbers, then create a plan that works for your situation.

I recently did an interview with Harlow about the basics of freelance finances. While tailored to freelancers, most of the answers could apply to anyone with a solo business.

As a creative, you have better things to do than spend time managing money. Every minute you spend sending invoices or trying to keep track of your income, the less time you have for what you love.

A lot of people like to make personal finance harder than it needs to be. I like to make things simple. So I wrote about the 5 essentials to successfully manage your personal finances, including:

The financial life of a creative is more complex than most. For those who have made creativity a career, you're responsible for two sets of finances - yours and your businesses. For those starting out, you may be in the "starving" phase of an artist's career. No matter what phase of the journey you're in, there are timeless lessons & frameworks that everyone can use to help build a solid financial foundation.

It can create unhealthy spending habits, but I think it's better than credit card debt. Most offer 0% financing compared to the 15-25%+ that a lot of credit cards carry. However, every time you use a 'buy now pay later' service, you're raising your minimum viable spending.