How to Use the Pandemic to Improve Your Financial Ways

Post 17

Getting off the Financial Edge

As my wife and I do our small part and stay home through the coronavirus pandemic, many of our spending habits have changed and giving us a chance more by hap or stance to improve our financial situation.

Turning chance into change; are you ready?

We are fortunate our income covers our daily expenses, and our investment portfolio wasn’t affected.

We jumped in early on the government and bank programs, and if we don’t need all of the financial relief, we can pay back the deferred funds first. Read Ninety Posts Through the Coronavirus Pandemic

My daughter lost her salary, not her employment, and the government programs have helped to offset her income. My son’s employment situation is excellent and has the flexibility to work from home or office.

COVID-19 is impacting all of us and our families differently.

In the last several weeks, we have not travelled much, the grocery and drug store visits are down to once a week, and once in a while, we venture out to mail a birthday card to family and friends, this is the extent of our travel.

Financial Impact Before And After the Announcement of Coronavirus

Think about the folks who were living on the financial edge, before the news of COVID-19 becoming a concern.

I had started a blog post late January 2020 to talk to economic issues impacting folks and discuss how to help to get off the financial edge. (Been There Done That)

According to a recent survey and reported by BNNBloomberg; 50% of Canadians face insolvency amid ‘debt hopelessness’: Survey PERSONAL FINANCE  Jan 20, 2020

The report stated, “The latest MNP Consumer Debt Index shows 50 percent of respondents said they’re within $200 of not being able to cover their monthly bills.  Nearly an equal proportion of participants in the survey (49 percent) said they aren’t confident in their ability to cover expenses without going deeper into debt.”

The BBNBloomberg report is talking about people’s financial health, and I know from experience financial health can impact mental health, big time.

The burden you carry when you are one paycheque away from not knowing how you are going to cover your expenses is scary and can keep you on edge.

In today’s world, we inundated with social media continually broadcasting to many of our senses, sight, sound, and touch.

How do we stop all the negativity and look to improve our lot in life during the coronavirus crisis?

With every social platform appealing to picking our financial pocket, we all bombarded by ads.

You can’t read a tweet, a Facebook post, an Instagram look, whatever your social media platform of choice people want you to part with your cash.  Promising you, they have a product to help improve your life.

Expecting us to turn off our smartphones and tech devices is not going to happen, what can we do?  Bank on these actions below: 

1. Decide how often you will look at your smart device, is there specific times in the day you are mentally more tough and more alert to digest the information coming at you?
2. Hang on to your cash, and don’t be tempted to spend money on online offers.
3. Credit card usage down, join the club  ( Recently the American Express Credit Card Company had to look at cost-cutting measures to lower their operating costs because their customers are not using their cards)
4. Create lists, my wife, and I created a Fun List, a Honey Do List, a Fitness List, and a Learning List, have fun, get things done, feel better and learn new things.
5. Order Take-Out only once a week, most of us were eating out more often, continue to support your local restaurants with takeout or delivery.
6. Broaden your cooking skills, including BBQ, many times, your food taste better knowing you cooked it your way.
7. Take time to look at your possessions, wait until the pandemic is over but sort into items you can sell, things you will donate and items you can recycle.
8. Challenge yourself to spend less and save more, make it a game, get the whole family involved.
9. Don’t change your new habits of spending less and saving more for yourself.

A Fool and His (Her) Money are Soon Parted 

The saying a fool and his money are soon parted can be traced to all kinds of sources, including the King James Bible.

Use, Don’t Abuse

Many folks who are living on the financial edge have mortgage payments.  Use, don’t abuse the mortgage deferral programs invest this time to access how you can utilize these funds to cut high-interest rates and debt out of your life.

Take advantage of the lower credit card interest rates offered to you for the next six months by many of the banks and credit card companies and see if you can pay off the cards sooner than later.

Anyone who hopes for equity growth on their principal residence at the end of the crisis is dreaming.

Jobs drive real estate values, look at employment rates in your area; the employment declines are at record levels throughout most of North America.

Even when we start to see the states, provinces, countries open up, employment will be slow to rebound.  Many people will be cautious waiting for a vaccine, and the consumer will not be in a rush to enter the retail, restaurant and entertainment marketplace.

Non-appreciating assets purchases

Delay non-appreciating assets purchases, good example happened for me I was going to buy a new triathlon racing bike.

All my triathlon races cancelled for 2020, and the old bike works fine for my ongoing training.  Examine your life and can you push off buying items until next year.

Your Job May Never Return, Look a New Skill While You Have Time

Reopening the economy is not going to flood the employment opportunities.  The coronavirus has slaughtered the hospitality industry, and these millions and millions of jobs will be slow to return.

Time for anyone sitting at home to look at considering a new skill, the opportunities in the health care field should be plentiful, better paying with better benefits.

Get yourself ready to earn more and spend less if you plan your return to the employment market when the pandemic passes.