Freelancers Share What They Wish They Knew When They Were Starting Out

What people don’t always see about freelancing is the reality of irregular income, delayed payments, and taxes fees that chip away at their earnings before it even gets to them. Here’s how freelancers Andrea Sumida, Founder and Creative Strategist of Kohi Social, and Lyn Cepillo, a content creator and social media manager, work around this challenge.
 

1. Build your budget around your most conservative income month.

“When I first started freelancing, one of my biggest struggles was treating every payment like stable income.” Andrea shares, “Since projects and payments were irregular, there were months that felt abundant and others that felt very tight. I also underestimated how important budgeting, emergency funds, and cash flow management were as a freelancer.”
 
Many long-time freelancers encourage building one’s monthly budget around their lowest-income month. This way, it creates a financial safeguard and ensures essential living expenses like rent, groceries, and bills are still covered during slow periods. Anything earned beyond that can then go towards personal rewards, savings, or even investments.
 

2. Be more intentional about how and where your money moves.

The process of managing money - especially USD payments - has become a financially draining process. Freelancers receive payments through one platform, convert currencies through another, then transfer funds again to a local bank, this time just to access their earnings.
 
“Freelancers mostly think it’s just 1-3%, but when you actually think about it, like when it seems to accumulate, you’ll realize how big it actually is,” Lyn points out. “Imagine transferring platform to platform, and each platform has its own different conversion and transfer fees. They look at the percentages and think it’s small, but with the current economy, each deduction could be at least one meal, which is a big thing.”
 
To help address this, Lyn and Andrea use the GCash Virtual US Account, which removes the need to move money across multiple platforms. Once USD is deposited, users have control over when to convert it. After withdrawal to their wallet, users can pay bills, save, and even invest all within the platform.
 
As Andrea explains, “For me, tools like GCash help simplify day-to-day transactions, bills, transfers, and even budgeting. It removes a lot of friction from managing finances, especially when you’re handling multiple projects or clients at once.”
 
Freelancers can start using the GCash Virtual US Account by simply following these steps:

1. Open the GCash app. Tap US Accounts in the Explore the App section
2. Tap Continue and verify your information
3. Complete your account creation