When your income changes from month to month, it’s hard to create a set budget that you can stick to overtime. Don’t set yourself up for failure by assuming you’ll have X amount of dollars to cover big financial needs.

Here’s how I manage it: First, I built-in a “pay-yourself-first” system. Every time I receive a payment, that information gets logged into an “earnings” spreadsheet. I record the gross amount first, and then I calculate a percentage of that payment that has to go to taxes and a percentage that has to go to my retirement account (more on that in a moment).

These percentages get subtracted from that gross amount, along with any expenses. Then I record the net total I’m left with, and that number is what I use for the rest of my budget needs.

For everything else that you need to cover with your net earnings, set up a budget that’s just as flexible as your income. Break it down into wants vs. needs. This makes it easier to quickly drop down to a bare-bones budget whenever work is a little slow.

While many personal finance writers tell you to automate bill payments or contributions to savings to stay on track, entrepreneurs with flexible incomes may not be able to get away with a “set it and forget it” approach. Instead, I suggest becoming actively involved with your monthly personal finances so everything can flex and change with your variable earnings.

A final budgeting trick I use for my household expenses is to assume expenses will be larger and earnings will be lower than what they really are. This helps me avoid cutting it too close in either direction and typically provides me with a little extra wiggle room in my monthly budget—never a bad thing when you’re self-employed.