Why You Should Think Twice About Freelancing

You’ll see a lot of encouragement to start freelancing on tech-obsessed blogs (ahem), often pitched with an eye toward some kind of ultimate freedom. The Freelance Folder blog drops a bit of work-from-home reality on would-be freelancers.

If you think working from home means being better able to adjust your schedule for your kids, your housework and other non-work commitments, you’re probably thinking about the life you’ll have years from now, when you’re established and billing at the rate you want. At the beginning, however, freelancing is a long, lonely journey toward establishment, as Freelance Folder writes.

And as for saving money by not having to commute to the office, well, there’s a balance there, too:

While it’s true you’ll no longer have to fight morning or evening traffic, that doesn’t mean you can sell the car and save lots of money. It gets lonely in your own office so you’ll want to work remotely a few times a week.

… After you factor in this spending money and gas, plus the extra money you’ll spend on electricity and water now that you’re home more often, freelancing can easily add up to be more expensive than a nine to five job.

I once spent a ton of money at Target when I had no money coming in because I was “bored” from being at home all the time. Don’t make the same mistake!

It’s not that freelancing isn’t a great thing for the right kind of worker, with a particular set of skills. It’s that reality checks like this are a good thing to have on hand.

12 Reasons You Shouldn’t Freelance [FreelanceFolder]