2022 was not a good year financially because I did so many mistakes knowingly or unknowingly that, eventually, made me lose INR 500K over the course of just 6 months.
So here are those mistakes which taught me about freelancing, finance management etc.
Not having watertight contracts with clients:
If you are at a level where you are taking large-scale projects as an individual freelancer, then you better make sure that your contracts are not those basic and simple contracts that a person can exploit easily. Always do a formal contract, which is not easy to exploit. You can consult your lawyer or get an online template for a water-tight contract. Otherwise, the result of a loose contract can really hit you financially, the client can deny paying you any money and all your month's work will be just wasted in seconds.
Taking decisions emotionally, not logically:
Sometimes you feel like buying that iPhone or buying those 10k branded shoes, and you did it because you felt like doing it. If you are ever in a situation like this, ask yourself, do you have 4x the cost of that purchase? If the answer is NO, then don't do it. And even if the answer is YES, reconsider other factors such as whether it is worthwhile to buy such expensive stuff, how it is going to affect your upcoming months, whether it is going to make an impact in your life etc.
Chasing money but excellence:
Once Ranchoddas said, "Always follow excellence, success will chase you". Stop chasing the money, rather become skillful, be a better version of yourself from the previous one, learn new things, and focus on providing better value out of your skills. Trust me, it will take some time, but eventually, money will start following you. But for now, focus on being skillful and valuable.
Taking loans:
Taking a loan is NOT a bad thing if you are really in need of some urgent money, but I suggest you always avoid it, as with time you will become habitual of taking loans and in the end you have to pay back with a large sum of interest.
Selling stuff to fulfill your desires:
Well when you have taken a lot of loans, and now you have to maintain your lifestyle and fulfill your desires, you can not show yourself as poor and needy. You will start thinking of selling your expensive stuff to maintain that lifestyle, NEVER EVER DO THAT. Again it is a bad habit to sell stuff just to fulfill your desires, take some time, and use your skills to make money, but do not ever sell your stuff to fulfill your desires.
Here I am standing and fighting with tough times, I took bad decisions and that time has already passed away.
Hope you will avoid these mistakes the best you can, keep learning, and keep growing. ✌️
Also, this is my humble request, if someone in your network is looking for a freelancer developer who can work on a long-term basis, I am the guy you can consider. My contact details are given below, I am available anytime.