What to Do If Covid-19 Depleted Your Emergency Fund
by Linda Jacob
We are in unprecedented times. Our CEO Tom Coates made a commercial where he
says “We didn’t see this coming; did you see this coming?” In a very short amount of time, our economy
changed drastically. Millions began
applying for unemployment. Even if you
did receive un-employment, there may have been a lag between when you applied
and when you received your first check.
Hopefully, you had a fully funded Emergency Fund to get you through.
As the economy starts to re-open, and if these stressful times
have caused you to dip into your Emergency Savings, it’s time to start making a plan to replenish
it back to its original amount. Experts are talking about a re-surgency in the
fall, and we could once again find ourselves in this same scenario.
Whether you need to replenish your Emergency Fund, or
establish one (having learned the importance of having one), here are some
steps you can take.
1. Treat the
monthly deposit into your Emergency Savings account like your cell phone
bill. You don’t think you can live
without your cell phone, and you should also be thinking you can’t live without
your Emergency Fund. Put it right on
your budget, don’t do it as an afterthought.
2. You’ve just gone two to three months without
movies, the gym, eating in a restaurant, etc.
You now know you can live without these things. Even if you cut back to half of what you used
to spend prior to the pandemic on Entertainment, you will have money to deposit
into your Emergency Fund.
3. Find a side hustle. If there is absolutely no room in your
budget, then you need to make more cash.
There are several places that are hiring. Even a 10-15 hour per week job, as long as
all the money earned is designated for your Emergency Fund will quickly get the
job done.
4. If you found yourself cleaning closets and the
garage during lockdown, now is the time to start selling all of that stuff you
don’t need. There are several online
market places for you to list your treasures and get them sold. Put that cash into your Emergency Fund.
We all learned a valuable lesson starting in March. Our world can change quickly and
drastically. There isn’t much we can
control about a pandemic other than self-isolation, but we can control our
finances. Be willing to put in the work
and make the tough decisions in order to fully fund your Emergency Savings
account. Relief in knowing that you have the means to protect yourself and your
family should something happen is priceless.