Expensive financial mistakes I made as a full time content creator

I've been a full-time creator since 2020 and in those early years, I made every financial mistake in the book. Not because I wasn't making money, that part was honestly the easy part, but because nobody told me what to do with it. So, let's go over three of these financial mistakes, all right? Mistake number one: I didn't track my expenses in real time. Yes, I was getting paid, spending on the business, and just hoping it would work out. I didn't have any categorization, no receipts, no system. And then when tax season came, I was scrambling to piece together an entire year of transactions. Literally would print out all of my receipts for my accountant weeks before my tax appointment, and even he knew I didn't account for everything. Guys, that's not a business, that is a hot mess. Mistake number two: I didn't know how to pay myself properly. I was treating my business account like a personal piggy bank, moving money whenever I felt like it, no structure, no payroll, and I had no idea how much it was costing me in self-employment taxes. Mistake number three: I thought taxes was just once a year. How was I supposed to know that quarterly estimated taxes were a thing? And I had to find out the hard way with a penalty that the IRS doesn't care that nobody told you. And here's what I need you to understand: every single one of these mistakes comes down to the same thing, not having a system. And that's why I use Collective now. It's part of my back office toolkit. They handle my bookkeeping, taxes, and payroll all in one place, built specifically for self-employed people. I even have a dedicated team at Collective who supports me through quarterly taxes, so I'm never guessing what I owe or when. My books are clean every month and I'm not winging it through April anymore. And frankly, I can't go back and fix 2020 Naomi, but if you're early in this, or even if you're not, get your systems in place now. Don't wait until it's an expensive problem. Click in the link in my bio if you want more information on how Collective can help improve your financial systems.