Financial Self-Care - Susie Jackson

How getting your prices right can support your mental health

I’ve found myself speaking a lot recently about the connection between finances and mental health. More specifically, I’ve been talking about the impact your finances can have on your mental health and how they can affect your overall well-being.

I recently did a workshop on money and mental health for Jo Hooper’s Mad and Sad Business Club. I’ve also been a guest on the She Be Red podcast where we talked about why taking care of your finances is so important for your mental health.

All these discussions around money and mental health got me thinking about pricing in particular and why your rates tend to have an effect on your well-being in general.

In this blog post, I’m sharing 5 reasons why getting your prices right can have a positive impact on how you feel overall.

The impact of better pricing on freelancer mental health

Before discussing how your pricing can benefit your mental health, it’s important to start with an explanation of what I mean by ‘better pricing’ and ‘getting your prices right’.

In Charge with Confidence, I teach participants how to calculate their prices so they’re earning enough from the hours they want to work to cover both their business and personal expenses. If you calculate your prices this way, it means that you won’t have to work extra hours just to cover your costs. And this gives you access to the benefits that getting your pricing right can have on your mental health.

So what are these benefits, and how can your prices support your mental health?

1) Taking holiday and sick leave

Taking holiday and sick leave into consideration when calculating your prices gives you the freedom to take time off.

If you’ve already accounted for days when you won’t be working in your pricing calculations, it removes the pressure and stops you feeling like you have to work all the time. This way, when you’re struggling with your mental health, you can take a step back and focus on your own needs, knowing that the time you’re taking is already covered financially.

You can also choose to build in time to care for your mental health preventatively. In my pricing calculations, I account for a day out in nature every month. I’ve considered 12 mental health days per year specifically for this purpose, on top of my usual holiday allowance. I find stepping away from my desk and getting out into nature really beneficial, so these days provide essential support for my mental health.

Building time to care for your mental health into your pricing calculations will help you look after yourself and will leave you feeling less stressed when you take time off.

2) Earning enough

Pricing your services so you’re earning enough to comfortably cover all your personal outgoings means you're more likely to have some disposable income available. And when you have that disposable income, you’re also more likely to spend it on whatever it is that might support your mental health. This could be social activities, nice holidays, retreats, therapy, or medication.

Getting your prices right to the extent that you have money left over to spend will help you take care of yourself. Whatever you feel you need, if you have the disposable income to pay for it, you’re going to be able to make sure you get it.

3) Feeling comfortable financially

When you feel comfortable financially and you don’t need any extra income, it can make saying ‘no’ so much easier.

For example, if you get an urgent request that would mean working over the weekend or on evenings, you might feel able to pass rather than obliged to accept it. When you need the money, refusing potential work can be really difficult. But if you don’t need more than you already have, you might find it easier to decline certain projects and enjoy your evenings and weekends instead.

Similarly, if you’re already earning enough and you find that a certain client is draining your energy, it can make it far easier to stop working with them.

Instead of continuing to work with a client you find stressful because you need the money, you can focus on your favourite customers. No longer working with a stressful client will free up some time to find more of the customers who don’t push your boundaries. And while you’re looking for these new clients, you won’t have to worry about not earning enough to make ends meet.

4) Outsourcing work

Earning more than you need could also enable you to make the decision to outsource work when you’re struggling to manage your workload or are feeling overwhelmed.

When you don’t need the extra income, it doesn’t make sense to take on work you can’t handle.

If your schedule is already full, you might decide to ask another freelancer for support. Or you might refuse the project but recommend another freelancer or small business owner who could take it on instead.

Whether you outsource through your own small business or recommend someone else, you’re helping the client without taking on more than you can chew.

Adding more to your plate when you already feel overwhelmed is never a good idea, and making sure you’re earning enough can help you avoid doing this.

5) Feeling more confident

For many freelancers, getting their prices right means setting higher rates. Once you do this and you have customers who are more than happy to pay your higher prices, you might find that you feel more confident in your own skills and services.

If clients are willing to pay this higher amount to carry on or to start working with you, it means they appreciate what you do and how you go about it.

This is great if you suffer from imposter syndrome or feel as though you need to keep your rates low so people will be willing to pay them.

I can assure you there are clients out there at every budget level. And finding clients who are happy to pay your prices can do wonders for your confidence.

Getting your prices right for you and your individual circumstances can have a huge knock-on effect on your mental health and how you feel overall.

It’s so important to make sure you’re earning enough to cover both your business and personal expenses so that you don’t have to work all the time. You want to be running a sustainable business that supports you financially but that also allows you to take care of yourself.

If you’re unsure how much you should be charging to get your prices right and support your mental health, you might be interested in doing Charge with Confidence. During the programme, I’ll show you how to calculate your prices to take into account holiday and sick leave, and still make sure you’re earning more than you need!

Read about Charge with Confidence