Here at Cheese, we care about your finances and financial well-being. It’s why we’re so committed to offering you a debit card solution with zero fees and lots of other savings perks. However, as the coronavirus pandemic ravages the entire world and economies around it, families are rightfully worried about how they’ll make ends meet during such an uncertain time.
If you’re feeling that way then it’s important to know that you’re not alone. We’re all in this together. And, while things might seem dire now, governments around the world are working to ensure everybody is taken care of.
In the meantime, it helps to learn how to save money during a pandemic. We’re living through unprecedented times, which means that to save extra cash you might need to get a little creative. However, that’s what we’re here for!
Learn How To Budget
The first step in learning how to save is to learn how to budget. This won’t add any additional money to your savings account but it will help you manage the money you already have in there. When drafting up an emergency budget, most experts recommend following the 50/30/20 budgeting rule.
This idea stems from Elizabeth Warren’s financial advice to use 50% of your monthly income for needs, 30% for wants and 20% for savings. However, in times of crisis, this usually isn’t feasible. Whether you’ve been laid off, have taken some time off or have had your hours or pay reduced, this model might not work for you.
So, while it’s a good idea to strive towards meeting the 50/30/20 budgeting goal and using it as a model, don’t stress too much about not being able to follow it strictly. Instead, sit down and add up all of your expenses for the next three months. This includes everything from basic needs like rent and food to utilities, insurance and extras. Now that you have a good idea of what your expenses are, you can begin to see where you can make adjustments.
Cut Back On Unnecessary Spending
For many families, this might be easy during lockdowns due to COVID-19. If you can’t go to the movies, get your hair done, or participate in any extracurricular activities at school, you’ll be saving lots of money to help offset other costs.
Another way to manage unnecessary spending right now is to ensure you only have so much money in your checking account to spend per week. This will likely force you to keep an eye on your spending, such as ordering take-out to the house or even online shopping.
If you find it hard to avoid online shopping (because we’re all bored stuck inside our houses), then try to install a price check app on your web browser or phone. Google Chrome has an extension called Honey that will automatically find and apply coupon codes to your checkout order when shopping online. It will also do cool things such as discover the best time to buy by providing you with price history charts and alerts.
Move Money To A Savings Account
Now that you have a good idea of how much you should be saving per month, you’ll want to think about moving money into a savings account. Or, look into something like a Cheese debit card that will allow you to enjoy zero fees when spending and also get cashback and saving bonus. While it’s not a savings account, it’s an easy way to manage your money during the pandemic.
If you’re looking to sign up for a savings account, be sure to pick one with a low yearly fee. Most banks will offer savings accounts that come with lots of perks and even attractive sign-up bonuses. But, unless you’re funneling enough money into the account to offset the yearly fees, it might not be worth the end costs you’ll accrue.
Cheese Debit Card one of the easiest ways to save a lot, or at least a little, during this pandemic. It requires that you do literally, absolutely nothing aside from sign up. Saving money doesn’t get easier than that. Interested in learning more? Sign up today.
