20 Tips to Save Money During Covid-19 Quarantine

The COVID-19 pandemic drastically changed consumer spending patterns. Here is some prudent financial advice to take away from quarantine after the lockdown.

Most of us are at home because of the COVID-19 lockdown and are unsure of when things will resume as usual. The pandemic has impacted both our financial situation and day-to-day lives. I’m not sure how I’ll be able to co-work with my spouse in the same 1,100-square-foot apartment as the stock market keeps falling.

It’s crucial to examine your spending and determine where you can cut costs or at the very least maintain your financial stability in the face of the pandemic. To help you get through this crisis, we’ve provided a list of money-saving advice.

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Evaluate Changes in Your Expenses

Your work and lifestyle have undergone significant change as a result of the pandemic, which undoubtedly has an impact on your finances. It’s time to evaluate your current financial situation—what exactly changed, what can be done to make it better, and where there may be room for additional savings. Here are the big ones that may affect your cash flow:

• On essential expenses – before the crisis, essential expenses might have been 40% of your monthly income.
  1. The majority of people live in a WFH arrangement, which means that while transportation costs are lower, electricity costs at home may rise.
  2. Yes, food expenses may be lower as people are forced to forgo dine-ins and switch to home cooking.

These adjustments to your necessary expenditures, when properly managed, can increase your monthly savings by at least 10%.

• On discretionary expenses – before the crisis, you might have spent 20% of your income on going out, entertainment, restaurant meals, etc. You can save a significant amount of money—at least 10% of your monthly income—if you are not allowed to leave your homes. Examine your prior bank statements and calculate how much you are saving each month on items you no longer purchase due to the crisis.

If you’re on a no-work, no-pay schedule or experiencing employee layoffs, your cash flow may be negatively impacted.

Start a Budget

If you haven’t yet, you really should get started on a budget. Simply keeping a regular record of your income and expenses constitutes a budget. Use a method that is easy on your brain, whether you decide to budget monthly or by paycheck.

If you prefer to do things by hand, use a spreadsheet; otherwise, you can use a budgeting app to handle the task.

Meal Prep

To prepare meals, you don’t require a large group of children or a set of matching plastic containers. During the quarantine, meal preparation is a great way to save money. It gives you a structured eating schedule and stops you from stocking up on food at the grocery store. Guys, there’s no need to binge on Cheetos and ramen.

Prepare a list of the meals you want to prepare before going shopping for food necessities. To make meal preparation simpler, keep it simple by cooking casseroles or large quantities. In order to have food for the entire week, I usually grill chicken breasts, bake lasagna, and hard-boil eggs.

Contribute to Your Emergency Fund

You need to have an emergency fund if you want to stop experiencing financial stress.

Your emergency fund size will depend on your monthly living expenses, but try to save at least three months’ worth of expenses. The stress of an unforeseen event, such as an abrupt job loss or a medical emergency, can be lessened with the help of an emergency fund.

Cut Back on Subscriptions

I once had over ten recurring subscriptions. I was shocked to learn how much I had actually spent on subscriptions for services I hardly ever used. Make a list of your subscriptions while you’re under lockdown. This covers both physical and virtual subscriptions, such as TV apps and gym memberships, as well as subscription boxes and product samples.

Choose which of them you can part with, even for a short time, to save some money. You might not require five subscriptions to streaming TV services. For box subscriptions, skip a month or two. You might find a subscription you’ve had for a while but haven’t used, which can result in significant savings.

Keep Your Energy Usage Low

Your energy use is important because every little bit counts. Search for local energy incentive programs. Residents of California are urged to use less energy after 4 p.m. and 9 p.m. each weekday. Additionally, consumers pay lower energy bills as a result.

Be more aware of how much energy you are using because you are at home constantly during a lockdown. If no one is in the room, turn out the lights. Rather than using the oven, grill or use crockpot.

Electronics that don’t require a plug should be unplugged. Wear more layers and turn off the heat. On your subsequent energy bill, every little bit adds up to savings.

Explore Your Tax Software Options

The IRS has moved the tax return due date to July 15th due to the coronavirus. Consequently, if you are doing your taxes yourself, you have more time to research your options for tax software.

Build An Investing Plan, and Rebalance as Necessary

Serious investors create an investment strategy to achieve their goals. Use your quarantine time to consider and write down your goals for your portfolio if you haven’t already. Long-term or short-term goals are both possible. A new car could be a short-term objective. Long-term objectives might include providing for your heirs’ future, retiring comfortably, or sending your children to college.

Goal-setting is essential because time is a key component of investing. To achieve long-term objectives, use investments with a long-term horizon, like stocks and bonds. For immediate objectives, invest in cash and other risk-free, interest-bearing assets.

Earn Some Extra Cash

As a result of the coronavirus forcing businesses to cut back or shut down for weeks, many of you may have temporarily lost your full- or part-time jobs. We’ve rounded up plenty of legit moneymaking opportunities for you to capitalize on at your convenience, with the perk of no long-term commitment and, in most cases, setting your own hours.

Additionally, by working these gigs, you can maintain a healthy social distance from other people. Some are good for making quick money, while others might develop into reliable sources of income.

Streamline Your Finances

Finding small ways to simplify your life here and there might be helpful with everything you have to keep up with in a day. Use your quarantine time to simplify, streamline and organize your financial life to free up both time and cash.

Freeze Your Credit

A credit freeze makes it more difficult for identity thieves to obtain credit in your name by preventing new creditors from checking your credit report. For it to be effective, you’ll need to contact each of the credit bureaus separately to initiate a freeze. A freeze can be added or removed without cost.

Open a Social Security Account

It’s smart to set up an online account with Social Security even if you’re years from retirement. Once you’ve done this, fraudsters won’t be able to use your name to open a false account and submit applications for benefits.

Additionally, you can compare your earnings history to your tax returns or W-2 forms to make sure there are no gaps in your earnings history that could lower your Social Security benefits.

And you can check your projected retirement, disability, and survivor benefits and, in some circumstances, ask for a new Social Security card.

Grow Your Own Food

Have you ever considered growing your own food? The soil is available for taking! By planting a few herbs, you can start out simple. Mint, chives, and parsley don’t need much attention and are simple to maintain.

Even adding coffee grounds or eggshells to old dirt will fertilize it. Every couple of days, turn the soil and make sure it gets watered. Because of what my husband and I did, we are now beginning to see worms. We got worms!

Move Money to a High-yield Savings Account

Using a high-yield savings account is one of my favorite strategies for increasing my savings passively. The average interest rate on a high-yield savings account is higher than the average.

Search for online banks that pay interest rates greater than 1%. View our picks for the best high-yield savings accounts at Money Under 30.

Slow Fun Spending

Slow down your enjoyment spending to save money. Be sure to delete any saved credit card information from retail websites. Utilize the free email filtering service Unroll.me to remove promotional emails from your inbox.

It might be wise to give your wallet a break during quarantine so you can reevaluate your spending plan.

Find a Better Job

You might already be in need of a new job, or perhaps you’re concerned about the security of your current one given how bad the situation is getting. Start your search now, while you have the freedom at home to do so without your boss looking over your shoulder.

Rework Vacation Plans

Even though you might be tempted to stick with your travel plans, it might be time to change them. You should prioritize your health and safety over staying in a hotel that is almost completely empty.

Look at your calendar to see which of your plans you can modify. Numerous hotels and airlines provide free cancellations and rescheduled reservations.

Insurance Check-Up

Utilize the time you have between coronavirus outbreaks to ensure that you are prepared for all potential challenges in life.

The ability to earn a paycheck is by far the most valuable asset that the majority of people will ever possess. See if your company offers long-term disability insurance. If so, that is a fantastic beginning.

Recognize, however, that having it at work might not be sufficient. The typical benefit cap for group plans is $6,000 per month or 60% of your monthly income. Furthermore, the coverage is only beneficial as long as you continue working there.

Avoid Retail Therapy

When you’re bored or stressed, do you frequently browse Amazon or your preferred retail website? Your savings could suffer as a result of this activity while you’re in quarantine. Focusing on activities that promote contentment is one of my favorite ways to avoid retail therapy.

It is possible to be content by engaging in activities that are both enjoyable and inexpensive. To ensure I never run out of ideas, I frequently consult a written list of the activities I come up with first.

While I was in lockdown, I finished a puzzle, colored in my adult coloring book, and chose to read on my Kindle rather than go shopping.

Buy in Bulk

Don’t hoard; instead, buy in bulk. Compared to single servings, the jumbo-sized container of cottage cheese is more economical per ounce and uses less plastic. Bulk purchases are useful for items that can be stored in your freezer or pantry for later use.

Typically, I prefer to buy various portions of meat in bulk, including canned tuna, ground turkey, and chicken breast. Make sure to check the price per pound or per ounce and contrast it with the cost per single serving.