Every freelancer I coach asks about rates first. The buffer matters more than the rate.
What the buffer actually buys
Three months of essential costs, sitting in the dullest account you can open, buys you the power to decline bad clients, to invoice without flinching, and to take a week off when your back gives out. That is not savings. That is negotiating position.
Build it slowly — five percent of every invoice — and stop when it’s full. Then leave it alone.