How to not let COVID-19 hurt your finances

The COVID-19, coronavirus pandemic is in danger of sparking a financial crisis if it is not here already, as you can see in the news, television or magazines; but you can do something about it, because there are ways to take care of your economy and do not let COVID-19 hurt your finances.

Tools for taking care of your finances consciously 

In the first place, there are many apps that will help you in this task, MoneyWiz is one of those.

MoneyWiz is a useful budgeting tool because it automatically assigns transactions to set designed budgets, to put in another way, you will have an easier time staying on top of your finances and be more likely to achieve your financial goals.

Furthermore, you will be notified when a bill is due and, for that reason, you will never miss a payment again.

This application manages all your accounts, budgets and bills in one place; and equally important, it has automatic synchronization between devices. You can count on a variety of reports that will help you to stay updated and, what is more, to stay calm with the possible economic problems due to the COVID-19.

In essence, this application will take the hard work out of keeping track of your personal finances.

Finances are in danger, granted, but you can do something about it

Initially, working online could be a good chance for you, as an alternative to avoid economic problems due to the COVID-19, this means that you can easily take into account the possibility of becoming a freelancer; and thus, keeping your finances stable. Reaching success with an online job is not just a matter of luck, you can do it by virtue of your perseverance and consistency.

The Freelance community is a growing market that offers different types of services to those who need it; from graphic design, and content writing to video editing. In a platform like this you will be able to work as much as you want, setting your own price for an hour and, above all, with a flexible schedule.

Alternatively, being a virtual assistant is a viable option too, if you are organized, and whether you can effectively handle works such as manage agendas, answer back emails, plan meetings, organized appointments and more.

To summarize, this is a clever approach to a common problem. There are plenty of other options and pages in which you can apply if you are looking for an online job to maintain your finances.

Great alternatives for the owners of a small business 

Fortunately, there is now a huge variety of tools and services available to help owners and employees to be equally careful of their finances.

Firstly, whether you are the owner of a factory or of a small business, it seems likely that you want to protect yourself from this economic recession; in that case, there are two main ways of tackling the problem:

• On the one hand, governments are encouraging factories to reduce the number of employees by implementing remote work. This is a contingency plan to deal with COVID-19, in other words, employees will work from their own home to avoid contagion.

Consequently, Microsoft’s Teams platform, which is part of Office, is an outstanding alternative to do remote work. The free version allows up to three hundred participants and offers access to guests; normal and video calls, for individuals or groups. As well as online document collaborations. And for the factories that need more services, Microsoft answers to the COVID-19 Pandemic effectively with a free trial of the premium version for a period of six months, this includes all the tools that it has; for example, meetings, collaborations or even conferences and seminars.

• On the other hand, like a second option, you can implement a security protocol due to the COVID-19, an example of this, is the compulsory use of eye protection, headscarf and gloves. 

On the whole, these measurements are intended to be taken according to the current situation and are a good option to take care of your finances.

Do not over-buy items in preparation

You have to be reasonable about what to buy, nevertheless the panic buying is already threatening to do real damage. You have to take the appropriate preventive measures in order not to affect your finances, but at the same time, avoid over-buying anything on credit cards.

At this point, there is no need to spend on expensive medical treatments, as it is known that there is not a definitive treatment for the COVID-19. Having said that, the best way to stay informed is through communications published by authorities, such as, the World Health Organization.

Another key thing to remember is that it is not reasonable to buy five hundred cans of beans, for what would probably be a two – four week isolation period. So the best thing you can do in this case is to keep calm and do your regular buys with consciousness.

Look for opportunities to cut expenses

In order to cut your expenses you have to think cleverly, it is not smart to buy whatever you want and neither, reduce all the things that you used to buy for your basic necessities; the key is to find the balance.

All things considered, it seems reasonable to assume that there are many different ways to do this. An example of this is highlighting expenses that you do not need. For this reason, look at the services you pay every month and determine whether the money you are spending is truly worth it. In case it is not, just withdraw the service and look for other options that can accomplish the same and are less expensive.

Moreover, many people look at entertainment as the first thing to cut when they are trying to reduce costs; nevertheless they often forget to look at the regular expenses that make a major difference in financial foundation month per month. Here are some things to consider that you might have overlooked previously.

• Cancel or pause club memberships that aren’t offering any forms of online engagement or continued value while this is going on where possible, which eventually will damage your finances. Whether you are using a gym membership less than once a week, or a country club membership less than once a month, you are likely throwing away money.
• Switch printed newspaper or physical magazine subscriptions for cheaper online subscription-based versions so you can still stay informed.

Evidently, you are not going to cut down your Netflix account if you have to stay at home some days due to the Covid-19, but as you can appreciate there are other alternatives to reduce your expenses little by little and this will help you with your finances.

To sum up everything that has been previously stated, you can carry out different strategies to face the crisis. Just do not panic, and think carefully because there are so many solutions that you can implement in order to look after your finances.