Since 2009, the freelance economy has grown by 25%. It's now a huge part of the economy and one more and more people are turning to every year. As we already touched on, freelancing has tons of benefits for you and your life, but it also has some risks. After all, what do you do if you haven't had any money for a while?

Freelancing can be great but it doesn't have the same stable income of a regular job. This presents a number of issues. If you want to protect yourself financially as a freelancer, check out these tips.

Tips to protect yourself financially as a freelancer:

Don't turn down work

You might get to the point where you've got too much work to handle. That's a good problem to have. But remember, while there can be busy periods, there can also be quiet ones. So you need to make sure you turn down as little work as possible. If you have to, ask potential clients if they'd be happy to wait a bit longer for the work (maybe at a slightly reduced rate). Try and fill up your calendar way in advance so that you know you've always got work coming.

Pick the right clients

While this might counteract the previous point, you need to be careful with new clients. Make sure you do the right amount of research. Doing a huge amount of work for a new client that ends up not paying can set you back a lot. Make sure you only do small amounts of work between each payment until you've built up a longer working relationship.

Insure your earnings

If you want to make sure you've always got enough to cover bills and expenses even when you don't have much work, you might want to consider insuring your earnings.  There are special insurance policies that can protect your earnings should you suffer an injury or accident and are unable to work for a while.

You can also look at life insurance to protect your family should the worst happen. Some of these insurance plans can often be bundled together. Remember that you can compare life insurance policies with moneyexpert.com quickly and easily. Even if you don't end up needing them, these policies can provide extra peace of mind which eases the pressure off your immediate earnings.  If you need help calculating your annual earnings to do this, consider using this easy to use annual income calculator.

Save more

Savings are always important. But they're even more important as a freelancer. Especially if you don't know when you're going to have a period where you’re unsure when that next pay check is coming.

Unlike people with regular jobs who know they're getting a certain amount each month - you don't. That means you can't afford to take as many risks with your finances.  You need to save money in your business as much as possible, as well as save money to cover quiet periods.

You should always have a few months buffer to take care of quiet periods when you might not have any work. Make sure you have enough to cover your rent or mortgage and other expenses for a few months if your earnings are low.

I have lots of money saving tips on my blog.  Just check out my save money section in my main menu!

Here are some to get you started:

How to boost your savings

Why saving an emergency fund is a great idea

How we saved £6500 in 6 months

6 easy ways to save money as a family

3 easy ways to save more money and increase your family’s savings balance

How to properly manage your salary and budget throughout the month

Final word

Freelancing and working for yourself is an amazing way to make a living and so rewarding, but it does come with some financial risks so you need to make sure you financially protect yourself.  Save an emergency fund and make sure you have a nice buffer for the quiet months.  Protect your earnings if you need to and make sure you don't turn down good clients!