Ready for a Recession? - Tips To Survive COVID-19 Economic Impacts

COVID-19 is having a serious impact on the economy.

Everything is canceled, people are working remotely or being laid off completely, schools across the US are closing, non-essential businesses are closing such as restaurants, bars, hair salons, etc.

Tourism is down across the board. Nobody is traveling anymore which hurts a wide variety of institutions including airlines and towns that are tourist hotspots.

These all have dramatic effects on the overall global economy, as well as our personal finances.

It’s easy for us to tell people, “just stay home”, but that’s not possible for many. Even during lockdowns, many people will need to continue to go to work when essential businesses are left open. Even restaurants will need people to make and deliver food, even if dine-in is closed.

Even before the COVID-19 outbreak, people went to work sick, not because they wanted to, but because they had to just to make ends meat. This is no different. The majority of people live paycheck-to-paycheck. So healthy or sick, if the business is open, they’ll be going to work.

If you worked at one of those restaurants, bars, hair salons, tourist locations or any other ‘non-essential’ business, are you financially prepared? Will you be able to recover? Will you need to switch jobs? Live with less?

How will all of this effect you personally and our overall economy for the next couple of years?

While the White House announced that Americans are getting a stimulus package, it’s not a permanent or long term solution. Not to mention the people who aren’t receiving it at all for various reasons.

We will recover from this, but it’ll take a couple years to dig ourselves out and be prosperous once again.

Whether it’s the coronavirus, natural disaster or job loss (during a crisis or not), we should always be thinking ahead to make sure we’re financially prepared to support ourselves and our family in the event that we don’t have steady income stream(s).

Here are some ways we can be ready for a financial crisis:

Spend wisely

I think prepping is still important and we need to continue to be prepared. To stay prepared, buy a little at a time. During your regular grocery shopping, when you buy a can of food to eat, buy an extra can to store. It really is that simple. In general, spend your money wisely. Do your due diligence when it comes to buying anything, prepping related or not. Do you really need those pair of shoes? Do you really need to go out to eat instead of making something at home? Of course, if you really do need something, get it. If you can’t afford it, save up for it until you can.

Get out of debt

Debt is crippling. I know because we were in severe debt for years and we just kept digging ourselves into the hole deeper and deeper. Charging everything becomes addictive. Cash isn’t coming out of your account, but you’re still buying things! Cool, right? Unfortunately, unless you’re paying it off every month or paying more than the minimum every month, the interest rate will keep you from ever paying it off. If you don’t have the cash, then wait. Save your money and get it at another time. Prioritize how you spend your money; food, water, shelter, utilities, etc.

Side hustles

I’ve held quite a few side hustles over the past 10 years. Some have been great, some haven’t. Look at the market and try to fill needs. During the stay at home order, food delivery has been wildly popular, that’s a good side hustle. What skills do you have that you can offer a side hustle? Are you crafty? You could make stuff and sell it online (be sure to advertise A LOT). Flip books, furniture and other thrift items. There are opportunities, we just need to find them.

Take a look at your budget

Write down all outgoing and incoming money. Track your spending for a month and re-evaluate at the end of it. Figure out what you can cut out and what should stay. When we’re on a tight budget, we may need to sacrifice things in the short term, so that we may prosper in the long term. If you have to cut your internet bill, you can always use your phone or the internet at your local library for the time being. There’s always a solution. I have an online course that goes into great detail about how to budget our time and money for preparedness, take a look!

Reuse everything

Save money by finding ways to reuse something. You may not always be able to reuse everything, but many things we can at least recycle. For instance, can you clean and reuse jars or containers that food came in? Make sure to clean it out well inside and out to prevent bacteria growth. Then, reuse it for anything you can think of. Can you cut up your old shirt and use it for old rags? Can you use that bread bag as a trash bag?

Learn to make things

Making your own candles, clothing, fire starters, bread, garden…these are all very rewarding things to make! Some things may take more time than others, but when we can learn to make things ourselves, as well as fix things ourselves, we can not only save money, but we can also turn onto the road of self-reliance.

Learn new skills

Never stop learning! Read books, take online classes, do whatever it takes to learn new skills and education. This is especially important when it comes to a recession. If you see a lot of the same type of job opportunities available but you don’t have the necessary skills or knowledge, get on it! It’s never too late to change career paths or start new hobbies or interests.

Be prepared

Food is one of the biggest expenses that people make. We all gotta eat, right? One of the best ways to be prepared financially is by making sure you have some sufficient food storage. By not having to worry about buying food or where your next meal is going to come from, you can focus on bettering your overall situation. Easiest way to stock up on food is by buying two at a time. For instance, say you buy one bag of rice for general eating, buy a second bag for food storage purposes. It really is that easy and can be done during your normal grocery store visit. In time, you’ll have built quite a large food storage supply. Here’s a list of the best foods to store. In general, get prepared. If you’re new to preparedness, take my preparedness challenges or online courses.

Adapt and overcome

We need to look at an economic crisis with positivity. As strange as that sounds, there are opportunities everywhere. If we don’t adapt, we’ll get left behind. Take a hard look at the world around you and adapt.

We’ve been through recessions before and for the most part, we’ve recovered. Though it’s taken a couple years to do so. We need to learn from the past, be ready for an economic crisis and even long after it’s ‘done’, we need to understand that it could happen again for any reason.

Get prepared and stay prepared.

If you’re interested, I have an eBook that goes into more detail about being financially prepared for an economic crisis. Take a look here: