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My dad asked me how much I made per hour after taxes, and I had to guess
We were having coffee last Sunday and he just dropped that question. I've been freelance writing for two years and always just looked at the total check. I guessed maybe $22 an hour after I did the math in my head, and he just nodded. That's less than I made at my old shop job, and I'm working way more nights. It made me see my rates are totally wrong. How do you guys figure out your real hourly rate when every project is different?
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allen.iris5mo ago
Oof, that's a rough way to find out. You can't just guess. You have to track your time. Every single minute. For a whole month. Use a free app. Write down all the hours you actually work, including emails and admin stuff. Then divide your total pay by those hours. That's your real rate. It's going to be a scary number at first. Then you can fix your prices.
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nelson.vera5mo ago
Yeah that's solid advice from @allen.iris, my first time tracking was a real wake-up call lol.
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corap215mo ago
Totally agree, tracking is brutal but you gotta do it. That first month I did it I found out I was basically working for free half the day. The admin time is what really kills you, all those little five minute tasks add up to hours. Once you have the real number, bumping your prices feels less scary because you know the math.
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