HOW TO STAY FINANCIALLY AFLOAT DURING THIS PANDEMIC

Covid- 19 has affected most if not every person. Not forgetting its detrimental impact on the economy.

Nearly everybody has experienced their world turning upside down in this stay-at home economy. Notes and coins have become very scarce as a result of pay cuts and even worse lose of jobs. This has caused many to abandon  all hope.
Despite all that, our needs have not and will not cease. Therefore, we need to look for new ways to manage our finances during this uncertain period.

The urgency to review our finances is derived from the necessity to face this crisis.We have to plan for the future because we have not yet seen a clear end to it.
In our attempt to ease our current struggle, here are some handy tips to guide us all through this tumultuous time, of the pandemic.

RESTRUCTURE YOUR BUDGET.

Due to many of us having either a paycheck cut or loosing our jobs, we have restructure our Budgets in order to remain afloat.
We need to reduce our expenditure as much as possible. We need to close one eye to luxurious needs and give attention to basic needs only.

Most of us have had many plans ;( family trips, unnecessary travels, parties etc) but we need to cut them off. We can even postpone them until a later date.  We can redirect these funds first to basic needs or save for the uncertain future.

TAP FROM SAVINGS (NON-RETIREMENT SAVINGS).

Savings are observed to meet uncertainties and this is one of them (emergency savings). If you had an emergency savings account this is the appropriate emergency you need to attend to at the moment.

In case the savings aren’t enough, you also need to tap from other savings that are not associated with your retirement plan. Savings which were to meet secondary and luxurious needs. These savings should go towards the basic needs. Once the basic needs are met and there is finance to cater for the future need for the same basic needs, that’s the time to stop tapping from the savings account. Please note that although the need to disrupt your savings account has risen, we need not tap unreasonably from them.

CONSIDER FAVORABLE  CREDIT LENDERS.

Most of the time, we advice people not to prefer credit lenders. However, in some situations they are a necessary evil. Especially to those who experience shortages in satisfying their basic needs.

By this I mean applying for soft loans from low interest creditors. Or even buying goods and receiving services while planning to meet their payment after a specified period of time.

This will aid those who have already experienced a shortage in their finances. For many of those who have lost their jobs and closed their businesses. Thus do not have a stable source of income or even an emergency fund. This is the most preferred way to deal with the situation as we think and plan for the future.
For those who are going to take loans I advice you apply for reasonable loans with reasonable payment terms and period.

DELAY PAYING CERTAIN BILLS

If the situation tends to get out of our hand, it is advisable to delay paying certain bills. This requires a legal process. This will require you to visit relevant offices and seek permission to delay your payments and give reasons for the same. Many businesses and companies have experienced loses and bills like electricity are still rising at their normal rate, irrespective to this pandemic. This step to delay such bills will help us move along easily at the moment as we look for better options to curb the situation.
Note that we should also not let the bills accumulate to high amounts.

KEEP A POSITIVE MINDSET

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Everything starts in the mind. Success is based on our thinking and failure the same. We need to stay optimistic during this period for the sake of our health and businesses.
Keeping our thinking positive will help breed new ideas for the business. Unless your thinking is positive, it will be hard for you to think of ways to overcome this trying time. leading to you stagnating and gradually you and your business will be affected greatly. Keeping a positive mind is vital for our survival during this period.