How To Budget With An Irregular Income

9:20 AM ON THU SEP 13 2007
BY BEN POPKEN

Most money-management systems presuppose a steady paycheck, but No Credit Needed shows how you can track your dollars even if you aren't sure of when they'll arrive.


* Write a prioritized list of expenditures
* Set a budget for each item
* When you get money, put it in your checking account
* Pay down the list from bottom to top
* Leave some in checking for unexpected expenses, and withdraw some for day to day petty cash
* Transfer leftover money to savings
* In tighter months, focus on necessities and must-pay bills and withdraw from savings as needed

"Eventually, you will be able to build up enough money in your savings and you will not have to worry about when you receive income," writes No Credit Needed. "Instead of making deposits into your checking account and using that money for current expenses, you will make a deposit into your savings account and wait for the bills to arrive. You will be a month (or more) ahead, prepared for the bills that are coming."

With discipline, this is an excellent system and easily implemented. No artist need ever again survive on paint chips alone.