Currently, it’s a very scary and stressful time in the world. With the Coronavirus (COVID-19) hundreds of thousands of people are getting sick around the world and thousands are dying. It’s not only extremely stressful but also very scary. There’s not only fear for the virus itself but the repercussions we’re all facing from it, especially financially.
A lot of people are now working remotely from home, some are temporarily laid off, and millions are now completely unemployed. With bills to pay, this situation is extremely overwhelming and definitely something that none of us saw coming.
It’s important to remember that right now, whatever your situation is, you are not alone. There are millions of people dealing with the same stress financially that you are facing and luckily governments around the world are looking at ways to help with this financial burden.
Below I’ve listed out ways for you to not only budget during this coronavirus, but also how you can save money and cut back on expenses to hopefully stay afloat during this uncertain time.
Set Up a New Budget
Hopefully, you already have a budget put into place, however, if you don’t, now is definitely the time to have one.
This is currently a very different time and we need to expect the unexpected and your budget needs to reflect that. Instead of your typical budget, you need to rearrange and priorities different parts of your life that you may not have necessarily done before.
You need to sit down with your existing budget or if you’re unemployed, look at your savings or your bank accounts and rearrange your money to pay for what’s important to you.
Write a list of the most important things you need to pay for. It’s important that your bills are being paid such as rent/mortgage, utilities, phone bills, and other essential bills.
You definitely do not need to be putting money towards travel and vacation at the moment.
Next, after your bills, you can look at your other spending such as your subscriptions, entertainment, food, shopping, etc. These are the areas will you will be looking to cut back in.
If you’re worried about your finances, areas you should look into cutting back include:
- Food *Groceries and Takeout*
- Subscription Services
- Entertainment
- Bills *now’s the time to negotiate phone plans, cable, internet, etc*
- Shopping
- Student Loans & Debt
Personally, I think the smartest thing for all of us to do is to have as much cash in our savings as possible.
To do this, it means we need to be spending less and saving more.
Debt
If you’ve been trying to tackle your student loans and credit card debt like I have, drop back to paying the minimum payment during this time and or possibly look into pausing your payments for the time being. You can still set aside that money if your budget can handle it so that once this situation is over you can transfer all that money aside and pay it directly to your debt. With this time of uncertainty, it’s best to keep that money in your account and have as much in your accounts as possible.
As of right now, if you’re in the US, you still need to be making the minimum payments on your student loans or suspending your payments for the next few months, interest free. Everyday things are changing within the government and aid available. Right now, you can suspend your student loans until September, interest-free which is a great option during these times of uncertainty.
In the U.S. there is no interest on all federal loans so it may be tempting to throw more money at your debt right now. Unless your budget can seriously handle it, it’s smart to set aside that money in your account and when everything goes back to normal, put that money towards your loans (hopefully before interest is reinstated).
Cutting Back Your Food Bill
Luckily, it seems like half the world already stocked up on groceries to last us a lifetime, but if you didn’t, or you’re running low on food one of the major ways to cut back on spending is cut back on your grocery bill.
As I mentioned, this is the time where it’s so smart to have as much cash in your account as possible. Whether you’re working or not, right now is such a smart time to be cutting down your costs and meal prepping and spending less on your grocery bill can cut down your costs drastically.
There are a few different ways you can cut down on your grocery bill…
Look Into Interment Fasting
The last couple weeks (before everything started getting serious with the coronavirus) I had been trying interment fasting and have been feeling great. After doing some research and my partner doing it, I wanted to try it for myself and see how I felt. This idea may be a little controversial for some people, but if this is something that you’re interested in, definitely do your own research and see if it’s right for you.
How may interment fasting help during this stressful financial time period?
With interment fasting, you can very easily cut down on your grocery bill. Personally how I fast is I finish eating dinner around 6/6:30 pm and don’t eat until the next day until around 12 pm where I’ll have a snack and followed by lunch.
At first, it may seem crazy going 18 hours or so without food, but trust me if you’re drinking enough water and a little bit of black coffee (seriously it doesn’t taste too bad), the time actually goes by incredibly fast and I’m really not hungry much in the mornings anymore. My energy levels are actually quite level and with fasting, I no longer getting caffeine jitters, which I would always get with drinking coffee before. It’s very strange, but if it’s something you’re interested in, I recommend you try it.
With not eating until 12, I’m completely skipping out on breakfast and a snack or two. This means that I’m overall eating less food, allowing my body to properly digest the food I am eating and therefore save money on my grocery and food bill.
Less food = less money
It’s important to note, I don’t recommend this with children at all and that you do your research ahead of time. It’s also important to know that with interment fasting, you’re also not supposed to be depriving yourself of food. When I start eating around lunch, I eat whatever I want until 6/6:30 pm but I do find with fasting in the morning, my portions aren’t as big and I’m satisfied a lot earlier throughout my meals the rest of the day. I just find that I’ve been a lot more mindful when I eat and I’m easily able to stop when I’m satisfied, instead of full which therefore means I’m eating less food.
I’ve been doing it for nearly 4 weeks now and feel great.
Eat From Your Pantry
Luckily, we are all encouraged at the moment to avoid going out as much as possible. This means also trying to stay away from the grocery store as much as possible, which will definitely help you financially. I always found fewer trips to the grocery store the better. Normally, even if I run in for one thing at the grocery store, I somehow always end up with at least $40 worth of food.
To avoid this, I suggest eating from your pantry first.
This means going through your pantry, fridge and freezer and meal prepping first before going to the grocery to get more food. This will save you a ton of money and help you get creative in making different meals.
I suggest searching on Pinterest for inspiration. Whether you have a ton of pasta or a certain type of bean or one frozen filet of fish, you can find tons of recipes for just about anything with ingredients that you already have in your house.
Cheap Meals
Another way to cut down on your food bill, especially if you’re feeding children is with cheap meals. Cheap meals on Pinterest and YouTube always interested me and made me think of ways I could be spending less on my grocery bill.
There are tons of YouTube videos all about how to eat under $10 for a whole week, $5 dinners, and other frugal meals that you can make for you or your family.
Getting some inspiration from these videos will help you feel motivated and inspired by delicious meals you can feed your family without spending tons of money.
My Go-To Cheap Meals:
- Spaghetti with Red Sauce *Great with Adding Ground Beef or Kidney Beans*
- Quiche *If you have puff pastry use this as the base and add any toppings with egg mixture. I personally love adding corn and cheese*
- Veggie Tacos/ Tacos *Tacos are a great option for a cheap meal and chances are if you stocked up on food you have some beans lying around in your pantry. Using flour tortillas, beans or meat, cumin, and any vegetables you have on hand*
If you’re seriously struggling at the moment, do the best you can do. Obviously eating a well balanced meal is important, but what’s more important that you and your family are getting fed. Do your research and see how you can make your dollars stretch as far as possible.
Skip the Online Shopping
I know that a lot of us are incredibly bored at the moment being stuck at home. If you’re struggling for things to do to keep busy, make sure to check out my latest blog post Things to Do During Social Distancing: How to Stay Busy and Productive at Home. On that post, I give you a list of things to do during this quarantine time to truly make the most of it and stay productive, motivated, and sane during this time and also provide a free printable that you can download.
Regardless of severe boredom, the worst thing you can do financially at the moment is online shop. Amazon orders for the essentials is exempt from this rule but a new Summer wardrobe or a new furniture piece should wait a little bit until this gets under control and everyone’s working again.
It’s incredibly easy to spend more money quickly when online shopping and with spending more time at home and on our computers, the temptation is going to be that much harder.
I suggest, whatever you do, just avoid any online stores for as long as possible.
Free Activities
Unfortunately, most restaurants and shops are closed at the moment. Fortunately, this means that we’re less likely to spend money on entertainment at the moment. Instead of buying new things to occupy you during the coronavirus period, get creative of free ways you can not only stay healthy and safe, but also busy during this period of time.
As I mentioned, you should definitely check out my post Things to Do During Social Distancing: How to Stay Busy and Productive at Home where I list things that you can do to stay busy, but also things that will help you mentally, physically and keep you productive.
Some free things you can do include:
- Go on a Hike *National Parks are all free in the US currently*
- Walk Your Dog
- Play a Board Game
- Pack a Picnic *With food from your house*
- Take a YouTube Drawing Class
- Arts & Craft Project
- Go for Bike Ride
- Bake
- Read a Book
- Do a Workout
Check out a list of other things you can do by clicking here.
Get Creative & Make Money
Selling a couple of tops on Poshmark isn’t going to pay your mortgage, but it’s a start.
Get creative on ways you can make additional income. Online platforms like Poshmark, Facebook Marketplace, and eBay allow you to list items right in the comfort of your home and make some extra money, which chances are if you’re looking at this post, you could use some. Now’s the perfect time to declutter your home and getting rid of unnecessary items like old children’s toys, clothing, appliances and electronics and decor.
Also looking online for remote positions like online tutoring (something that is extremely needed at the moment) or something as simple as filling out surveys for cash or gift cards is a great, online option as well to make some quick cash.
Ask for Help
As I mentioned at the beginning of this post, you are not alone in the situation. Millions of people have been left with no income at all and are very stressed and overwhelmed with what to do next.
I encourage you to ask for help in this difficult time. If you recently lost your job, you may be able to file for unemployment.
In the U.S. alone, over 3.3 million people filed for unemployment in one week.
Otherwise, if you’re still cutting back on all your spending and still stressing about your bills, ask for help. Call your utility company and explain your situation. A lot of companies will be a lot more understanding at the moment especially because there are millions of people in the same boat as you.
Even if you think you’ll be okay during this time, it doesn’t hurt to ask for discounts for your bills and utilities and cut down on your spending.
I hope this post help give you some ideas of things that you can do right now to get through this Coronavirus financially. Not working, working fewer hours, or job uncertainty can definitely take a toll on you financially but especially mentally.
Sticking to a plan and budgeting is a great way to stay on track and feel more in control of everything that’s going on.
If this situation has taught us anything, it’s to plan for the unexpected.
Related Posts:
Things to Do While Social Distancing: How to Stay Busy and Productive at Home
How to Productively Work Remotely at Home
How to Stay Healthy When Flying and Avoid Getting Sick
