Freelancers need all the help and gimmicks they can get.

When you freelance, all expenses come out of your own pocket. If clients don't pay, or delay paying, it's your bank account that suffers. If you can find a way to cut expenses or make life easier, by all means take it!

A freelancing chef once told me: Never figure out your per-hour income for a job. It will break your heart.

Sad, but true. So here are a few bargains that may help.

VistaPrint (www.VistaPrint.com) is a great way to cut your printing costs by nine-tenths. I'm embarrassed to report how much I paid, when I first ordered business cards from a neighborhood printshop. Yes, they looked great and were on thick stock, but . . .

Vista Print's fee for business cards start at $3.99 for 250 cards. They have dozens of templates, color choices, formatting options, logos, pictures, etc. For a bit extra, you can have a calendar or appointment blanks printed on the reverse.

They also will print letterhead, envelopes, postcards (with announcements of sales, etc.), presentation folders, brochures, magnets, rubber stamps, note pads, and calendars--all cheaper than any place I've ever seen. And once you've ordered from them, you'll be on their list for special discount coupons and offers.

In fact, the most expensive item on your invoice will probably be the shipping charge.

A site that I haven't used (but which comes highly recommended) is Blinksale.com. Blinksale will invoice your clients for you, online.

Again, there are templates to choose from, and you enter the data. Add tags, like "Overdue!" and itemize the charges. All free! You create an account and the records of your invoices can be organized however you like. You can even send thank-yous to customers.

Other freelancers have told me that a professional-looking invoice often results in action from a slow-paying client.

Have something you need to convert to a pdf? I spent way too much at a chain print store doing this. Yes, you can do it on most scanners, but there are a half-dozen online sites that will turn your document or picture into a pdf for free. One of the best is a downloadable tool from Primo Pdf.

Here are some other handy sites.

• Morguefile.com is a great site to find free photos, should you need them for brochures or hubpages.
• TinyURL takes the three-lines-long web address you need to include on your blog, and reduces to a nifty little address that never expires, and can be emailed.
• Google Analytics is one of many tools that will track traffic to your webpages and blogs. You can see what draws the traffic, and how many hits you get.

Finally, never pass up the chance to go to a convention or trade show, if presented with free or cheap tickets. Once there, grab a bag and shamelessly help yourself to every free pen, pad, keychain, and doo-dad available.

I've ended up with swag that comes close to a Hollywood award show haul. Cd roms, flash drives, dozens of writing implements, magnets, business card holders, sticky-notes, bags of cookies and spice mixes, candies, toys and posters for the kids, purse-size notepads--not to mention the interesting people and ideas that may or may not serve your primary purpose at the show. (Potential clients? Potential stories? Late-breaking Industry News?)