Wise Jars and Savings Strategy for Irregular Freelance Income

Frequently asked

What buckets should I actually run?

Tax (sized to your worst-case rate), runway (three to six months of fixed costs), business reinvestment, and discretionary. Every incoming payment splits automatically into those buckets so you never spend money that wasn’t yours to begin with.

How much should I set aside for tax?

Whatever your accountant says for your jurisdiction — usually 25 to 35 % of gross for self-employed. Err high; getting tax money back from your own savings is fine, finding it for a surprise bill is not. The cost of "I’ll figure it out later" is always more than you think.

How big should the runway bucket be?

Three months minimum, six months if your income is genuinely lumpy. Runway is the bucket that buys you the right to say no to bad clients — without it, you take whatever pays this week and slowly lose the business you wanted.

When can I actually move money to discretionary?

After tax and runway are full. The reason most freelancers feel broke after a good month is they paid themselves first instead of the buckets first. Reverse the order and the buckets become the structural fix to feast-and-famine.