She suggests people take a hard look at their
expenses, figure out what they can cut and then
divert that money to savings.
Beasley said people should look at any
subscriptions that can be canceled or consider
downgrading to a cheaper phone, cable or
internet plan. Set a restrictive budget on the
spending side too. To help you stick to it,
consider using a pre-paid card that you reload
weekly or make purchases only with cash. If
possible, increase your income with overtime, an
extra gig or selling unwanted items online.
Granted, your spending may look a bit different
right now. You might be buying a few extra
items at the grocery store but you likely won’t be
going out to the movies. You might also want to
cancel a gym membership given the virus scare.
She also suggests at times like this to consider
shifting some of your long-term savings into
short-term savings. That could include lowering
the amount of money you might be putting into
retirement savings, at least down to what your
company matches, or a college savings account
and putting that into emergency savings. You can
switch back once you are financially stable again.
EMERGENCY BUDGET
If you don’t have anything set aside, you’ve
been laid off already or anticipate you will
suffer financially soon, consider switching to an
emergency budget.
The emergency budget focuses only
on essentials and leaves out most or all
discretionary spending. That means no trips,
no gifts, no little extras at the store that aren’t
absolutely necessary. The goal should be to