Today we all are dealing with serious financial crunch caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Our Central bank and Government are continuously working to keep our financial system safe.

On individual basis we need to manage our finances as many people have lost their job and many are facing the pay-cut. It is a challenging situation for most of us but making few changes in our life-style and manage our finances smartly can help us to cope-up with this situation.

Below are 5 useful ways which I am using to deal with this adverse situation:

1. Reduce expenses – In this pandemic situation, the first and foremost thing we can do is to reduce our expenses. This lockdown has taught many things to us, from eating healthy to live our life economically. The areas where we can cut our spending are dining-out, entertainment & buying unnecessary things.

2. Proper Utility Consumption – We can also manage our utilities consumption by

• Setting the AC to a single temperature; switch off the Light/fan/Laptop/Charger connection when it is not in use to reduce our electricity bill.
• Limit our subscription to Netflix or Prime or any other.
• We can do Yoga and exercises at home rather than paying for Gym.
• In spite of having number of SIM cards, we can switch for two only.
• We cannot overload our-self with lots of Credit Cards, so switch to 1 or 2, if needed.

3. Build a Budget – Making a budget is a key step towards our financial planning. It will help us to figure out our incoming and outgoing money in a planned way. We can make grocery list or say shopping list to avoid the unnecessary spending.

4. Sticking to the Budget – Our money habits won’t change overnight. Making and sticking on the budget takes our effort but it is not impossible as the word itself says I’m POSSIBLE.

5. Track your spending – Do we ever find our self struggling to pay our bills timely and set aside our savings? Are we facing trouble to find out where our money is going each month?

There are various expense trackers available on the Play store for tracking our daily expenses. I am also using one of them. The application is very user-friendly.

After using it from last 1 year, I can say that it will give a clear picture of my spending at the end of the month in every parameter.

6. Organize your monthly bills– Understanding what you owe and when, will help us to manage our debt. We can use bill calendar/tracker to plan it accordingly. Set bill reminder to pay the bills on time to avoid the interest levied on it. Still if you are facing major cash inflow you can speak or mail to your bank to avail the 3 month moratorium.

It is advisable not to use this moratorium because the interest levied on these EMIs will cut your pocket after this waiver period.

Final Words:

It’s important to identify our needs from our wants and set priorities when it comes to budgeting.

Needs typically includes rent, utilities, medical expenses, education, child care, etc.

Wants may be little more than this like Netflix Subscription, Gym/Club membership, postpaid bills, etc

After cutting our expenses and follow these simple steps, we can make more clear decisions about our money and even in a better financial situation in this pandemic.

Save Money & Money Will Save You