Like many women working in real estate, sales or any free-lance endeavor from photography to writing, Lynn Scheir has months where her commissions are fat and months when her income is lean. A Realtor with F.C. Pilgrim & Co., in Oak Park, Scheir says her annual income can vary by as much as $20,000.
Millions of women find that working without a steady paycheck offers a feast or famine proposition. Planning for the downs and ups–financially and psychologically–can be the only way to stay even.
“I have many pots and I’m stirring them all,” says Scheir, who has logged more than two decades in real estate sales, and consistently finds that the first three months of the year are the slowest. Setting goals is also impossible, she says, “because you have no control.”
Keeping a portfolio of stocks that provide regular dividend income helps cushion her off-months. Living conservatively in a townhouse is another way she minimizes financial stress.
And for the last two years Scheir has “partnered” with Alice McMahon, another Realtor at Pilgrim, sharing all commissions equally. “It’s a great tension relief because sometimes she brings in more business and sometimes I do,” Scheir says.
Free-lance writer Deb Abrahamson also strategizes to manage her fluctuating workload. The Chicago-area writer creates speeches and brochures and does magazine articles and has begun to subcontract some of her work to other writers. “If you turn (a client) down when you’re busy, it is not easy to re-establish contact and they may never use you again,” says Abrahamson, who supervises and reviews all the work she delegates.
In slower times, such as January, she prospects for clients. When her work is going well, “I try not to look at a windfall and go out and spend it.”
Paying yourself the same salary each month is the wisest way to handle a fluctuating income, says Carol Keeffe, Seattle-based author of “How To Get What You Want In Life With the Money You Already Have: Simple Yet Revolutionary Ideas For Reaching Your Dreams While Still Paying Your Bills” (Little, Brown, $10.95).
“Whether you get paid every week or every three months, put it all in the bank and take out the same amount every month to pay your bills,” she says.
To ease the emotional stress of lean months, Keeffe suggests using incentives. Have a jar or special account earmarked for a trip or special purchase and each month place a certain amount of predetermined money, (whether $18 or $50) in the jar or separate account.
Having an emergency fund for anything from new tires to a new furnace also provides peace of mind, Keeffe says.
Pursuing interim projects and part-time work during slow periods is another option to even out income. “Yes, actors and actresses wait tables,” says Eileen Michaels, author of “When You Are Entitled To New Underwear and Other Major Financial Decisions” (Scribner, $24). “But don’t be a waitress if you want to be a photographer. Look at the options you have in your domain. Position yourself in the marketplace within your working identity,” maybe through teaching a course in your expertise area, she says. “Don’t give up your dream, just leverage it.”
Michaels says women working without the security of steady income need discipline.
“When things are good, be responsible about having money and realize you are just funding your future,” says Michaels. When you have enjoyed one month of fat commissions, don’t rush out and buy a new car. And when you have a bad month, don’t be discouraged. “Don’t get emotional because your business has to be bigger than you or it’s not going to function,” she says.
During her busy season, from October through December, Barb Levant, a Chicago photographer, hires three assistants. In the spring, she markets her portraiture to garner business in the slower summer months.
With an accountant, Levant determines what income she needs to sustain herself and her business all year. She fills her schedule with regular corporate and commercial clients as well as weddings in off-peak months.
“I’ve learned to understand the business well enough that it doesn’t get me crazy,” says Levant, who has been a professional photographer for 20 years. “I don’t take it personally.”
