How to Manage Money Without a Steady Paycheck

Not earning enough isn't necessarily the root of your money problems -- you may just not receive your income at the time you need it. As anyone who is self-employed knows, cash flow determines whether you go to a restaurant for dinner or settle in with a box of macaroni and cheese. You might make a great living, but if you occasionally experience a cash-flow drought, you can easily feel poor.

So if you're one of the estimated 14.4 million American self-employed workers, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, you may be wondering how to get your budget on track when you don't have a steady, dependable paycheck. Here are some strategies to help you avoid your next cash crunch.

No complacency allowed. You need to have a system that allows you to track every penny of your spending, says Kali Hawlk, who runs her own marketing firm in Atlanta. "And check in with it often," she says. "Being aware of what money is coming in and what's going out can help you adjust your spending as necessary to reflect what you've made in a particular month."

In fact, if there's any secret to managing money when it seems to come in all at once, and then not at all, it's to have a system that allows you to be flexible, Hawlk says. That's hard, though, if you're on automatic pilot when it comes to managing your money.

Get good at faking yourself out. This is vital if you're going to thrive in a career in which your income is irregular. During the months when you're flush with cash, remember the poorer months. In other words: "Don't splurge extravagantly when you have a good month," says Ben Rosenfeld, a comedian based in New York City.

"If you get paid in cash, at the end of each night, take most of the cash out of your wallet. When you have too much cash in your wallet, you start to feel like you're doing better than you are and will spend more than you can afford. It's the same psychological reason why casinos give you chips instead of money," Rosenfeld says.

Don't put all your money in one account. Kate Holmes, a certified financial planner in Las Vegas who started her own business in 2011, says she divides her income among different accounts and automates her bills.

This strategy may work well since you'll be less tempted to overspend when an oversized check arrives. "For example," Holmes says, you might put "50 percent into an account for all necessary expenses, like housing, transportation, utilities and food, and then 30 percent into an account for 'fun' money and 20 percent toward debt and savings."

Pay your bills a month in advance. Jason Fisher, who owns a life insurance agency and lives in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, with his fiancee, does that. As he puts it, his checks result in a "roller coaster of payments."

"My strategy is to attempt to gather enough cash throughout the month so that when the bills arrive around the first through the fifth of the month, we can pay them quickly and know exactly how much we have to split among other weekly items like food and gas," Fisher says. "In the event something slips through the cracks, since we don't auto-debit funds, we have enough time to catch up."

Plan a spending diet. If you know a certain time of the year will be lean, go on a spending diet in the months before, suggests Alvin Woods, who runs his own public relations firm in New York City.

The lean period for Woods is October through January, and so every June through September, he consciously spends less and socks cash away. "The extra money can be used to buy that plane ticket home for the holiday or be used to purchase gifts for loved ones," Woods says.

Make your unpredictable expenses more predictable. When you receive a weekly or biweekly paycheck, it's easy to go a little overboard at the grocery store. In theory, that may not be a big deal if you have a check coming in a few days or a week -- and you'll likely dial back your spending enthusiasm when your next check arrives.

It's another story if you overspend when your funds are already low, and you don't have another check coming for three weeks.

That's why Woods buys his essential household items in bulk. It helps manage those visits to the grocery or department store.

He also created a "fun" fund, so if he's broke and friends or family come to visit, Woods can still go out with them and doesn't have to pretend his arm is broken when it's time to pay the check. Here and there, he'll put $10 or so in the account, and it slowly adds up.

"When I'm out with friends for a night on the town, I only spend money in the fun account," he says. "This allows me to lose any guilt associated with a round of drinks and a good time."

The fun account is a smart idea, even if you don't entertain much. Because if your money isn't coming in for another three weeks, and you haven't socked enough away, you may well want to have a few drinks.