How To Manage Your Finances During Covid-19 Pandemic
The coronavirus pandemic has had a devastating impact around the world with hundreds of thousands of deaths, economic collapses and business closures. This has affected the earning power of citizens who have been struggling to keep afloat.
This article attempts to explain how you can manage your finances during this difficult period.
Audit Yourself (Focus on your Necessities)
Despite the fact that this pandemic has resulted in the reduction of economic activities which requires us to buy and sell goods or services from people, there has never been a better time to take a thorough look at the state of your finances.
Whether you are single, married or living with your parents, now that you are home and have sufficient time on your hands you should list out the necessities in your life that enable your survival because every other thing is indispensable.
Your necessities may be personal to you but general examples include;
*Water
*Food
*Medicine
*Shelter
*Cut down on luxury spending
Things that would not hurt you if you do not purchase or engage in them. Examples include expensive cable TV, excessive drinking and junk eating, Internet for unproductive use amongst others.
A little bit of entertainment is needed in these tough times to maintain our sanity; however the point is to ensure that we keep unnecessary spending to the barest minimum.
Maintain Cash Reserves
Though it is not easy not to panic due to the circumstances in the economy and how bad things may seem, it is important for you to keep your emotions in check and not rush to liquidate all your savings or investments because of the pandemic.
Following up from the lesson above on spending on necessities, maintaining your cash reserves will come in handy for you if this pandemic gets worse than we imagine because now you can count on such funds to bail you out of the hard times. If things get better too you have the funds to start a business, invest more or learn new skills to boost your future earning power.
Become Self reliant
We expect a new world order after this pandemic is over and the way human lives will become different, however we have learnt albeit the hard way that certain skills are necessary to save money.
Some businesses may not be as relevant anymore; therefore it is pertinent to practice self-reliance in certain aspects of your life. E.g.
*Learning how to cook a nutritious meal and healthy meal is a lifesaving skill that not only replenishes the body but provides the much needed energy to go about your life activities energized.
*Gardening and growing peppers, tomatoes, fruits etc (if you have a viable land) can help save money.
*Livestock preservation
*House repairs.
A lot of skills can be learnt for free by just googling or going on YouTube.
More importantly, understand that it’s okay to feel anxious about your finances and where your future is heading because we have never experienced something of this nature in our lifetime, however you should take it easy on yourself and realize that this time will pass because situations like this have also happened in history and people and businesses have survived by taking the pains and lessons of this period and using to their advantage to create more value in their lives.
