HOW TO BUDGET DURING PANDEMIC TIME

MY STORY BEFORE COVID-19

Before the global pandemic COVID-19 strikes the world, I am busy working in a school. This is a common day. I teach students, I eat my lunch, I do my lesson plan, I checked their quizzes, I go home, I compute my expenses... Wow another day of surviving against expenses. Honestly, during the time of normal days (days without COVID-19), I spend a lot. I have no control of my expenses. At the end of the day, my pocket is empty. 

And now, the COVID-19 strikes our country. I heard the president talking about Community Quarantine. Something I don't have any idea. Most of the people are not aware of this. I saw a lot of people doing panic buying. My mother also felt discomfort about this situation. She think that we will experience food starvation. All companies were close. No work. Hard lock down.

Because of this, I started to manage my money. I know it is not the right time to spend for things that 

is not essential for living. In this blog, I will show you some tips about how to budget your money 

during pandemic time.

FIGURE OUT YOUR CURRENT INCOME

If you or someone in you family has been laid off because of COVID-19, the first step you should do is to see how much money is coming in. It is good if you have an emergency fund at your bank. You can use this to survive in pandemic time. By doing this, you can create a budget with time line. You need to plan for the next days of your life having this pandemic. Another thing is you should be aware of the help from your government. You can add this to your budget.

PRIORITIZE YOUR SPENDING

In this time, always remember that your essential needs are shelter, electricity, food and water. Do not spend for your vanity at this time. Allocate your fund for your essential needs only. 

SHELTER

If you are a renter, you may also get some relief. If you live in an apartment and your landlord gets mortgage relief because of COVID-19 outbreak, you cannot be evicted for almost 60 days if you can't pay the rent due to your own hardship. Our president here states that it is prohibited for a landlord to evict the tenant in this time. Your budget for paying your rent can be allocated for other essential needs of the family.

UTILITIES

Like the shelter, utilities is also important for us. But in this time of global crisis, companies of utilities like water and electricity is in their forgiving mood. They give you enough time to settle your unpaid bills. So don't worry about this because your situation is clear. They will never push you to pay immediately. 

FOODS AND OTHER ESSENTIALS

We need foods to live, but it is difficult if many stores are closed during pandemic time. You can rely on delivery services but it adds additional cost. Another thing to worried about is the uncertainty of products prices. Everyone should know which goods and things to buy.

Normal budgeting advice is to look for sales and use coupons when you shop for food. Yes it is little but can help you add some for your foods and essential needs. Rather than buying for a branded foods, it might make sense to go for lower-priced foods, if possible. Try chicken, rather than steak, generic rather than brands, canned goods over fresh. You can save money from this.

You can cut your non-essential expenses during tough times. Always thing of the most important. We can survive this pandemic if we know how to manage our funds.

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