The Freelancer's Money Map: A Simple System to Smooth Irregular Income and Build Financial

Grace Lucido is a certified financial planner and former freelance graphic designer who has spent over a decade helping self-employed professionals build stable financial lives on variable incomes. After graduating from the University of Michigan with a degree in economics, she spent six years running her own design studio in Portland, Oregon, where she lived through every feast-and-famine cycle this book describes. The frustration of watching talented freelancers struggle with money, not because they earned too little but because they lacked a system for managing irregular cash flow, led her to pursue a CFP certification and shift her career toward financial education for the self-employed.

Grace now works with freelancers, gig workers, and solo entrepreneurs across the United States through her financial planning practice based in Denver, Colorado. Her approach combines the behavioral psychology of money with practical, spreadsheet-based systems that clients can implement without ongoing professional support. She is a regular contributor to *Freelance Forward* magazine and has spoken at conferences including Creative South, AIGA's Design Conference, and the National Freelancers Summit. Her workshops on financial planning for creatives have been attended by thousands of independent workers seeking to replace financial anxiety with mechanical, reliable systems.

When she is not helping freelancers build buffer accounts, Grace can be found trail running in the foothills west of Denver, attempting to keep her sourdough starter alive, and volunteering as a financial literacy coach for artists through her local arts council. She lives with her partner and an elderly rescue greyhound named Pippin who serves as an excellent reminder that retirement planning is about protecting the ones who depend on you, even the four-legged ones.