What’s your financial silver lining in the time of the coronavirus? The COVID-19 global pandemic caused the world to quarantine and businesses to shutdown affecting billions of people around the world. People’s lives have been upended, put on pause, and completely thrown into disarray. Now, is the time to take a moment to review your finances, where you’re spending money, and how to protect yourself for the future. When it comes to money and finances, there are three possible scenarios.
- You’re earning less money than before
- You’re earning more money than before
- Your earning the same as before
What to do if you’re earning less money
If you’re in the first scenario, earning less than before, just do everything you can to survive. Try to earn whatever money you can.
- apply for unemployment
- work overtime
- drive for Lyft, Uber, or UberEats
- sell things you don’t use or need
- ask around for possible other side jobs that can earn money like tutoring, childcare, cleaning, or dog walking
Think of anything and everything you could possibly do to bring home cash. This is survival mode until the economy gets better and you can go back to earning your pre-pandemic salary.
Reducing expenses is the other side of the equation. Because you’re earning less money, you probably already started doing this. Where can you cut back? Due to the lockdown in most places, you’ve probably had no choice but to cut back on eating out, going out, and even paying for haircuts. Think about where your money is going and make the tough decisions to cut back everywhere.
What to do if you’re earning more than before
In some rare cases, people are actually earning more than before COVID-19. If you find yourself in this situation, think about it critically.
- Is this a temporary situation?
- Or when the quarantine is over, will you still be reliably earning as much as you are now?
Either way, the best thing you can do is to save as much of your extra earnings while you can. Do not increase your spending just because you have more. Don’t buy that new game console, TV, or Peloton bike that you always wanted. Cash is king most of the time, and it’s reigning emperor right now. Save all your extra money. You’ll be in a better position when the world settles down.
What to do if you’re earning the same
Consider yourself lucky that you’re not in the first group. Yes, your life has probably changed drastically in a number of ways. But one thing to be grateful for is your paycheck remaining the same, even if your working conditions are different. The quarantine has likely caused your spending habits to change as well. Like the rest of us, you’re spending less eating out and on entertainment. But you may be spending more on Amazon and groceries overall. Take a moment to review where you’re spending your money.
Financial silver lining
We only have so much control over the circumstances that surround us. We can’t prevent a pandemic completely, but we can slow it down by staying inside. What part of your financial situation do you control? How can you earn a little more and spend a lot less? If we all use this time in quarantine to review our money situation, and plan for the future, we could create our own financial silver lining and come out the other side better off.