Being self employed, it's important to always have the ability to pay off your monthly expenses because your income does not come in the form of a pay check at the end of the month. Due to the variability of the income, I think it's easy to be either too slack or work too hard. I know what I'm talking about because I've been to both extreme ends. The hard part is to find that fine balance between working hard enough to pay off your bills, save up enough for future needs and yet utitlise the greatest benefits of being self-employed - controlling your own free time. I think a good way is to start by knowing how much you spend annually. This includes all the fixed and variable expenses. The best way to do so is to track your expenses at least for a year, then you'll have a ......