Irregular Income Budget Planner

What you can do

• Add your past months of income before tax – twelve months show the slow and the busy seasons best, two are enough to start
• Set aside a share for tax first, if nobody takes it from your pay
• See your average month, your floor (the lowest month after tax) and your highest month, with a chart
• Get a safe steady pay: the highest pay at which your buffer would never have gone below zero in your own past months
• Mark costs essential or flexible and see what is left each month, and whether your floor covers the essentials
• Buffer goal of a few months of essentials, the months to reach it, and your history replayed month by month
• This month: split what came in – tax aside, the rest into the buffer, your steady pay out
• CSV in and out, print or save as PDF, backup and restore

Example inside

A made-up freelance illustrator with twelve very different months: from 1,200 to 5,300 before tax, 25% set aside for tax. PayFloor suggests a steady pay of 2,270 a month. After all costs, 215 is left each month, and the buffer reaches its goal of 5,460 – three months of essentials – in 12 months.