How To Reinvest Your Tax Refund Into Your Freelance Writing
Wednesday April 9, 2008
Are you getting a tax refund? Lucky you! Count yourself even luckier if you don't have plans for it yet! :) You might consider reinvesting your dollars back into your freelance writing. Here's some ideas:
- Pick up some books on writing or related activities such as entrepreneurship. For example, Writer Mama or the Anti 9-5.
- Hire a website designer and get your writer's website up and running.
- Beginning writer? A good investment would be to join a contract job bid site such as Elance or Guru. Consider it carefully, though, as this practice seems to only work out for some.
- How about a writing conference? You can choose to work the room and meet some allies, or keep to yourself and focus on learning from the masters in a classroom setting.
I know I'm missing something! Let's say you are given $1000 to devote solely to your writing endeavors. How would you spend it? A new office and copier? That conference in a warmer climate? Tell me what you would do!
Comments
As someone who is impatient having to wait on my computer to DO STUFF, I would definitely invest in a faster computer. After that, more books and more books; I get more out of books because I can go back and reread sections that I either don’t understand or really like a lot. When you think about $24.95, it’s such a cheap investment and has such huge payoffs. (I have read many things in $3 books that I got used that opened up whole new worlds, avenues, and ideas.)
You have a great blog and I’m glad I found you; I wish I could have found you two years ago and saved myself a lot of wasted time!
Jim
Hi, I would like to find a good online
English grammar course! Jerry
I would take a couple of weekends away on a beach or maybe a cabin in the mountains and write.
Oh, gosh how could I forget this one? My typo above reminded me that I have a proofreader who basically follows me around online and nudges me. It’s been invaluable, and not too much money either. It’s a necessity for multitasking, juggling writers who are always in a rush
Also, invest in a good Maltese. Seriously, my house clears out by 9:30 most mornings, and it would be lonely in this office without my baby Jack.
Jim- I am the SAME WAY. I have an inexpensive laptop that I got on the advice of my tech guy when my super expensive laptop died. Well, I hate it! I want something faster too.
Would the money be useful for business cards and development of a website? I don’t have either and I’m curious as to the importance and necessity of either or both.
I would invest in a writers conference. I really need to get into it. I love to write and simply do not have the contacts or time right now. But, I also would invest in a few lottery tickets. i need to quit my 9-5 and just focus totally on writing. the stress of the 9-5 tends to diminish the creative part of me. So, my writing suffers. If I won the lottery, I would then have all the time in the world to write. (multi million dollar lottery that is)
Great Q Jan. I use my business cards a lot on the biztech writing side of things- any business owner or marketing person I meet is potentially in need of freelance copy. Maybe not so much on the freelancing for magazine front, though.
My website has been well worthwhile, too- it’s a place to store clips, to refer people for FAQs and rates, etc.
Many of the queries I send to magazines are sent without attachments- because many of the editors don’t want to open attachments. So, instead, I refer them to samples and clips on my site.
Both are worth the $ in my opinion. Biz cards can be pretty cheap thru VistaPrint, Staples, etc.
A great way to have the computer you need is to buy used. I upgrade laptops each year, then sell the old one when I can trust the new one is working properly.
This way, my investment in a laptop is in the hundreds of dollars each year, not thousands. Uncle Sam just helped me buy a IBM R51 laptop on eBay!
When my blog started rolling up the page views, I wondered how I could learn more about who was reading my posts. Investing in a stats software program to get these answers, seems like the next way for me to spend my extra cash to support my writing efforts.
Smiles. ET
Even if you don’t need a whole new computer, you might be ready for a software upgrade.
Another investment to consider is more literal: an IRA contribution. Since this hypothetical windfall is a tax return, you might not need it as a tax shelter, but if you’re a freelancer you should always be paying attention to your retirement plans.
I would invest in a creative writing class. As one who has been buried in a different career, and longing to be a writer, it would be a good way to jumpstart creative writing. Some of the most successful writers may not have taken creative writing classes but for someone whose creativity has been locked up for a long, long time doing mind numbing jobs, a class might help.
My tax “refund” goes right back into estimated taxes for the next year, so I never really see it. But with that stimulus check I’m going to hire a web designer to get my new business off the ground.
Sarah, who happens to be the Columnist on Knitting around here, has a point. Most freelancers don’t get tax returns per se, because that’s not the way that things work. Instead, most pay into their estimated taxes, and few over pay THAT amount. On the other hand, between marriages, children, landholdings, etc, we’re all different.
Since I’m just getting started in this business, I would spend the money on several writing association fees in my vicinity, and for expenses to attend some of the upcoming meetings. I would also get my website domain name etc. paid, and get a website started. Since I already have more than enough “how to” books on freelancing and writing and other related topics, I would probably just jump headlong into looking for editors interested in one or all of the three books I am (will be) writing. And if there is any money left, I would probably research good software that would help me format all the query letters, etc.