Financial strategies for freelancers to deal with irregular income flows

Before you begin, set up an emergency corpus and buy adequate life and health cover

Priyanka Sarkar, 35, a Delhi-based publishing consultant who edits and commissions books, is a seasoned professional with 11-and-a-half years of work experience. Last year she decided to strike out on her own as she wanted to try out new things. “In a job, you tend to do the same work over and over again year after year,” she says. The freedom to decide which projects she wants to work on has, however, come with a few challenges. Her average monthly income has plummeted to half of what she earned as a salaried employee. Both the workflow and income are at