Wednesday, May 6, 2020

Personal Finance Tips For A Pandemic

This current coronavirus pandemic has really made me stop and think about my financial situation. There are people protesting to go back to work as I type because everyone's finances are on such a tight string these days that they can't survive without going to work, even if it costs them the very lives they are trying to save.


Now that we are beginning May, I am starting to see through the cracks and I am not liking what I see. NBC reported that the chairman of Tyson Foods has said that the food supply chain is breaking due to the coronavirus.  We still don't know if there will be rent and/or mortgage relief in the United States. An economic stimulus/coronavirus relief bill passed but most people still haven't received the checks yet, and will still be waiting as website outages and technical errors have slowed down distribution.

It's enough to make anyone nervous.



I am trying to stay positive and hopeful for all of us, though so I decided to take a moment in a whirlwind of panic to pass on these personal finance tips for a pandemic:

  • Hey, you know that toddler book, Everybody Poops? Yeah, everybody does that so stop buying up all of the toilet paper. I know, I know. Your first instinct is to rush right out and buy it all up but don't do that. Maybe only 2 loaves of bread instead of 12? Possibly one case of bottled water? Buy what you need and smile over all of the money you just saved. That way, supply chains don't break and we won't have people robbing commercial establishments.
  • Do not pull all of your money out of the bank and bury it in the backyard. You're going to forget about it in your old age and someone is going to find it in 2145 (but it will be useless because the Xytron overlords will feed on fear and not money). Also, it can crash the (already super fragile) economy.
  • You can make your own masks. It's incredibly easy and you can find infinite resources online on how to make one. I made a crazy soft black one because I am the night.


Now, those are obvious common sense financial tips for regular life as well. It's easy to get caught up in the present and not worry about the future in a crisis like this, I understand the panic. However, other countries are slowly beginning to economically recover and return to normal.

Well, this new normal, whatever that may be until we find a vaccine.

Being forced to assess my finances to make sure my family could survive this pandemic got me thinking about finding better personal finance tips for every day. I found two websites that have helped me immensely: the Calculator.me website and Pigly. I discovered so many resources on both of these sites! I spent a lot of time working on making a frugal living budget plan and I already feel a lot better about the future.



Do you have your own personal finance tips to share? 

29 comments:

  1. It's the same thing with me. I've come to realize that I need to do more savings, less spending so that we can all survive.

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  2. Thanks for sharing some excellent ideas.

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  3. Great tips for those that need it!! We've been using Financial Peace University for years, and it really helped us during this time. :)

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  4. Great article and great tips.
    I agree on buying only what you need,not just for the purpose of saving money but also for the safe of the next person who also wants to buy.
    It hurts when you go to buy something only to be told it has run out.

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  5. Wow, I've been searching for a post like this one. Honestly thanks for the info!.

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  6. The money-saving tips are worth noting. Thanks for reminding us not to get carried away and start buying things in excess.

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  7. Saving and being more on the path of reusing things can really save up a lot.

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  8. It's definitely a tough time for all of us. My husband is still working through all of this as well as myself. It's been a lot harder for me as I work from home as it is, and there are not a lot of posts out there now due to what's going on.

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  9. Our financial situation has been pretty stressful. I'm always looking for ways for us to save money. Not having to buy gas has been one of the best ways!

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  10. Fortunately for my country, we don't run out of toilet paper lol. The masks however, are hard to buy. It really is time we make our own masks, to save money.

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  11. It's crazy how panicked some people became with the overbuying of supplies. These are definitely good tips.

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  12. This pandemic has made a lot of us realize that we're just a few paychecks away from being broke. I've been really focusing on paying off all of our debt so that I can really up our savings!

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    1. Some are only one paycheck away from financial ruin and so many people still haven't received their stimulus checks (we haven't but my son and his wife did already). It's scary that it took a pandemic for people to realize just how broken the system is.

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  13. Finance is really difficult during this pandemic. This is very important. Thank you for sharing your thoughts.

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    1. If you can laugh about something, it makes it easier ;)

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  14. I was fortunate to be able to work from home during the lockdown but many people have not been so lucky. What this taught me is that I definitely have too little savings to tide me through a crisis of this magnitude.

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  15. Thank you so much for these helpful tips! Stay safe and healthy, too!

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  16. Love all your tips! Can't wait to use some of them! I have personally changed our budget and memberships during the pandemic as a way to save money!

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  17. Yes about the toilet paper. We spent almost a week with one toilet roll when we couldn't find them at the stores. It was madness for no reason.

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  18. Thanks for sharing these finance tips.

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  19. Thanks for recommending the calculator.me site. It was very helpful to me

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  20. Good tips Stephanie. I'm sure a lot of people will require financial tips now and during the economic fallout after the epidemic.

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  21. I haven't really spent a lot during lockdown. I did buy some things on Amazon but it is more what I needed. NO toliet paper.

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