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Even Paul Volcker, the late American economist and former Chairman of the Federal Reserve, agreed that ,"The only thing useful banks have invented in 20 years is the ATM"
Doesn’t it just feel good walking to the ATM, slide in your
card and voila, money comes running out!
It gives you that feeling of confidence, security, abundance
and what else?
Indeed, money makes the world go round!
But one of the qualities of money is its limited supply.
It’s always moving. Now you have it, the next minute it’s gone!
The other reality is that, for you to withdraw you must have
deposited or saved some money!
Otherwise you’d have to borrow from the bank and
that can be costly!
What you save you can always access interest-free
while borrowing attracts interest and puts you in more debt in the long run.
But how do you save
money during Covid-19 when there are job losses and pay cuts?
The money you will save during this time of the COVID-19 crisis
will most likely not be hard cash, but will be more about change of your
spending habits.
It involves working with what you have now to push you for
longer periods of time than it normally would. Basically tightening your
spending belt a little bit!
Photo by cottonbro from Pexels.com
So here is how you go about it:
1. Buy supplies in bulk
A study by Zero Waste Scotland, a not-for-profit Scottish environmental
organization reveals the shocking waste that comes from grocery shopping!
Consumers in Scotland are buying more than 300,000 tons of
single-use packaging for their groceries every year.
This translates to 130kg of single-use grocery packaging
each year per household, at a cost of almost £250 or 7 percent of their annual
grocery spending!
That is a colossal sum of money! What if that could be
turned into 130kg of fruits and veggies? That’s quite possible with bulk
shopping.
Aside from packaging, when you buy supplies in bulk you save
on transportation cost as you reduce the number of trips to the supermarket or
grocery.
You also get to pick up sufficient quantities of what you need hence reducing food wastage.
The other
advantage of buying in bulk is that you buy more consciously as it helps you to
think about minimizing wastage.
2. Prioritize - Budget Cautiously
“He who buys what he does not need, steals from
himself.” – Swedish Proverb
A budget is a tool that shows
you whether you have the money to spend or not!
It ensures that you have money for the important things that
you need.
A good budget also keeps you out of debt or helps you manage
your debts and eventually become debt-free.
Amidst dwindling resources during the COVID-19 crisis,
you need to have a budget.
First, make budgeting a family affair. Sit down with your
spouse and children or house mates, agree and write down the list of must-have
essentials.
This budget should at the bare minimum include food, rent
and healthcare.
Share freely about the resources at your disposal and plan
together on how to spend it.
Involving your family ensures that all are aware of the hard
times and that everyone takes responsibility to minimize wastage.
3. Buy groceries online
Did you know that out of the top 6 things that people buy on-line food supplies is not one them?
Due to social distancing to reduce the spread of covid-19
however, there is need for you to adopt on-line shopping for your food
supplies.
Apart from the product variety and convenience that comes
with shopping online, it also allows you to buy goods at discounted rates and
at low prices as well.
Some online shopping retailers also offer zero to minimal
delivery fees.
Since the goal is to save during these hard times, this is a
great way to reduce spending.
4. Save those coins and quarters
“A
penny saved is worth two pennies earned . . . after taxes.”
― Randy Thurman
Do not throw away those coins or
quarters!
Remember that what you have in
your hands is worth a lot more than what you have not received.
Plus, becoming wealthy begins with
the smallest unit of currency. Nowhere is this principle truer than in the
mining of gold!
It is said that to get just an
ounce (28.5grams) of gold one would have to dig between 1 and 9 tons of earth!
This difficult task is what makes gold valuable.
The same as with savings – the
practice and discipline of savings can be quiet demanding but the satisfaction
of reaping the rewards is like having a bar of gold!
So from today, put a side those
coins for a rainy day, you never know when it will come!
5. Reduce travel/movement
According to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics in the
U.S, the average monthly spending of one consumer unit on transportation
is 16 percent of their income which is $813!
Considering the current crisis, that is a lot of money that
can push your family for a few weeks.
It is therefore important to reduce
movement and travel as a means to managing expenditure as well as minimizing
social interaction.
Instead find creative ways of relaxation at home by doing a
barbecue at home, playing with the kids, reading a book or watching a movie.
These
are all free of any financial burden and as well strengthen your family bonds.
6. Avoid Window-shopping during covid-19
Image courtesy of pixabay.com
Your ordinary window shopper has no intention of buying
anything! They merely engaging in a leisurely act of glancing through the items
on sale.
This strange behavior of window-shopping is
associated with the rise of the middle-classes in the 17th and 18th
centuries.
Before that time, women were not allowed to go out alone
without an escort.
Additionally, shops were tinny outlets where people would
not go without a specific reason.
The rise of shopping arcades in that time led shop owners to
build shop windows that spanned the length of their shops to display their
merchandise.
This gave women a reason to go out window-shopping while the
main intention was to browse and glance around with no intent of buying.
This addictive behavior has led to what Psychologists now call retail therapy.
An instance where a person undergoing emotional stress uses
shopping as a coping mechanism since they feel they have more control over their shopping environment.
The study suggests that shopping can improve a sore
mood! The same study also shows that people who are upset are more impulsive and
will most likely spend more money during a retail therapy experience.
This is the main reason you should avoid window-shopping
during this time. Your emotions are fickle and can lead you to make impulsive
buying decisions that can put you in financial trouble.
Additionally, there is a Psychology
involved in the layout of every supermarket. There’s nothing that is laid
out randomly without a plan.
Ever noticed how just as you walk in, fresh flowers meet you
at the door? The smell of fresh flowers is meant to make you feel happier and to
put you in a better mood to buy.
What about that bakery right at the entrance as you enter? The
smell of that crusty fresh baked bread is intended to make your “buy with your
stomach” just as you enter!
Hunger is a great motivator for human action.
You will also find goods that are related put together on
the shelves such as diapers and wipes, coffee and biscuits etc.
This is a
strategy of increasing cross-selling, a sales technique to get you
spending more by buying a product related to what you’re already buying.
You might have
gone to buy a shampoo but later on you find you’ve also bought a lotion that
wasn’t part of your budget!
Supermarkets also spread out the layout of items so that you
spend more time in there.
As you roll down your trolley looking for items here and
there, chances are you will stumble upon something else and put it in the
basket.
The longer you spend inside the supermarket the more likely
you’re to buy more items.
7. Reducing family meals to save money
This is the most practical step towards saving money
as you have control on how and what you eat.
This may not be useful for children because they use a lot
of energy playing, but adults can easily adjust their eating habits
Imagine saving one meal a day by just taking two meals
instead of three. It is possible with a little discipline.
Intermittent fasting has become a fad in nutritional circles these days.
It is an eating
arrangement that revolves around periods of fasting and eating.
Studies have shown that intermittent fasting has certain health benefits including improved insulin sensitivity and lower glucose levels.
Insulin is a hormone made
by the pancreas that allows your body to use sugar (glucose) from
foods rich in carbohydrates.
Excessive glucose in the blood or Hyperglycemia means the body isn’t
using the glucose properly or isn’t producing enough insulin to regulate blood
sugar.
This can lead to many health challenges
including kidney disease, heart disease and vision problems.
Intermittent fasting also prompts a cellular clean-up
process called autophagy, where the body's cells clear waste products that
build up in the cells and contribute to aging and disease.
However, for people who already have diabetes or blood sugar
problems, it is better to consult your doctor before engaging in any kind of
fasting as it may be more detrimental to your health.
8. Ensure your fridge is functional
Earlier we spoke about buying your groceries in bulk. That
entails having a functional storage facility that ensures your groceries stay
fresh.
A good refrigerator apart from keep your food stuff fresh, is
also useful for storing the food that remains after eating.
Remember, you don’t want to throw away anything at this
time, you can also warm it up later and serve it
9. Get a Health cover during covid-19
The other most important way to save money during this
coronavirus pandemic is to invest in health insurance.
This will help you reduce paying cash when
there’s a medical emergency.
Most medical insurance packages run for a year hence you
remain covered even during this crisis.
Also because of the economic uncertainty brought by the
pandemic, it is possible to run out of cash.
It’s therefore advisable to prioritize healthcare in your budget.
One of the things most parents worry about is when children
fall sick.
Added to this stress is lack of a medical cover to take care of your
bills. Ensure you have at least a basic health cover for you and your
family.
So, what else do you think you can do to save some money
during this covid-19 pandemic?
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