Most finance experts will tell you that you need three to six months' worth of living expenses in savings as an emergency fund, even if you aren't planning on starting your own freelancing business. If you are going out on your own, you'll need to add startup costs to that figure.

Fortunately, if you're freelancing and don't plan on having any employees for the moment, you won't need to worry about paying wages or (most likely) renting office space.

You will need to think about things like making sure your own computer equipment is up to snuff and that you have a dedicated place to work.

Your four-year-old PC and comfy kitchen table might be perfect for occasional freelance jobs but might be frustrating once you're getting steady assignments. Try to anticipate the expenses that are likely to crop up during the first few months and plan for them.

What do you need to get out of your freelance career? It's a more complicated question than it appears to be on its face, and only you can answer it:

• In order to feel successful, do you need to make more money than you did as an employee?
• Will paying your bills and putting a little aside for a rainy day be enough?
• Do you value independence, a flexible schedule, and the ability to decide which clients you'll take?

Once you decide what your goals are, set a timeline. Check in at set intervals to make sure you're achieving them, and know that it's OK to revise your goals as you learn more about your needs and the market.

Write a business plan to formalize your goals. Even if you intend to remain a one-person shop, a business plan can help you make sure you’re heading in the right direction. It might also serve as a reminder to take yourself and your business seriously.

It's a good idea to get your freelance career off the ground while working a full-time job for a few reasons. First of all, it enables you to try out different kinds of jobs and clients to determine which ones you like best.

Secondly, it allows you to make mistakes-and fix them-without having to explain to the nice man at the electric company that you won't be paying your bill this month.

Finally, it helps with creating that nest egg you'll need to have on hand. The best way to build savings while you're contemplating a freelance career is by setting aside your earnings from any extra work you take on while you still have a full-time job.

Don't forget to put aside money for taxes and make your quarterly estimated payments.

Handshake deals can and do work, but it's always better to have a written agreement with clients—but probably not for the reasons you'd think.

Having a contract won't necessarily help you recoup money if they fail to pay, because it's pretty hard for an individual to compel a corporation to pay up.

Legal fees often cost more than the amount you'd hope to recoup. In reality, contracts exist to define expectations on both sides, keep honest people honest, and make sure that there are no surprises down the road.

Successful freelancers keep track of their records, including expenses, payments due, and payments received.

As an independent worker, you don't necessarily need to shell out for small business accounting software; you just need to have a system.

As long as you're keeping (and keeping track of) receipts, organizing invoices and bills, and paying your own bills on time, you're in good shape.

For some freelancers, an Excel sheet and an envelope for receipts will be enough. For others, one of these free personal finance software packages will do the trick.

There's a lot of room for variation, but in general, a good client is one who offers work you want to do and are equipped to do and who works with you to achieve a positive result. It should be relatively easy to communicate with your client, and they should pay you on time and in full according to your contract.

Inevitably, you'll wind up with a client who doesn't meet these criteria. The trick is to know when enough is enough-and to learn from the experience so that you recognize the signs of a bad client in the future.

Setting rates for your services can be complicated. Shoot too high, and you might lose the gig; shoot too low, and you'll wind up so overextended, financially and emotionally, that you won't be able to do your best work.

If you're freelancing in the same industry as your former full-time job, setting your rate gets a little bit easier.

The goal is to make sure that your hourly rate works out to be about the same as you were earning when you worked for someone else.

The tricky part of this calculation is figuring out all the hidden benefits included in your compensation, including health insurance, retirement contributions, and office supplies.

Once you determine, roughly, how much you were really getting paid at your former full-time job, you can divide accordingly and bill either hourly or by the project, based on your estimate of how long each project will take.

Finally, once you're working as a freelancer for some time, don't be afraid to take another look at your rates, revise them, and negotiate accordingly—especially when you take new freelance jobs. If you continued to work for someone else, you'd hope to get a raise at some point. Don't neglect to give yourself the same consideration once you're your own boss.