7 Ways to Ease Financial Anxiety During COVID-19

1. Increase emergency savings

Did you know experts recommend having enough in an emergency savings fund to cover all your expenses for at least three to six months in case you lose your job, become seriously ill or suffer another financial setback?

 If you don’t have an emergency savings account, now is the time to open one, even with as little as $100 to get started. If you already have an emergency savings account, do your best to bump up regular deposits.

Want to make saving easier? Have your employer automatically deduct and deposit into savings a set amount from each paycheck.

Find out: 5 Fun Apps to Help Build Emergency Savings During COVID-19

2. Create a budget

Not knowing crucial facts or where you stand in a situation is one of the biggest anxiety inducers out there – and it’s no different with your finances. Create a budget that includes recurring monthly bills, a savings account deposit and any anticipated expenses.

Intimidated by the budget creation process? You don’t need to be. It’s easy to get started with an online budgeting app such as Mint, PocketGuard or GoodBudget.

Find out: A CPA's COVID-19 Diagnosis

3. Stay on top of credit and debit transactions

We all know that sinking feeling that comes from checking an account to find a string of charges adding up to hundreds of dollars after a few days of spending with a debit or credit card.

During a tough economy, it’s all that much more important to stay on top of debit and credit card charges by checking your accounts regularly to avoid racking up a high balance or unwittingly draining your checking account.

Find out: 5 Strategies to Manage Finances During Coronavirus Uncertainty

4. Pay off credit cards

The last thing you need during troubled financial times is a bunch of debt to worry about. If you want to ease financial anxiety, get started on paying off your credit card balances to boot off those monthly payments out of your life.

Find out: How to Pay Off Credit Card Debt

5. Cut recurring expenses

While it's nice to have five or six streaming services to choose from, you can probably get by with just one or two, getting rid of at least a few monthly recurring subscription fees. Look for as many ways to cut monthly expenses as possible, including utilities, groceries, dining out and other costs. Then deposit savings into your emergency fund.

6. Pay ahead if you can

If possible, try to stay at least one month ahead on large monthly expenses such as rent, mortgage or car payments. Knowing you have that cushion if things go south financially can lower your stress over money significantly.

7. Live within your means

Living within your means is a crazy idea to way too many people. But buying only what you can afford when it comes to housing, groceries, dining out, clothing and online purchases is the best way to ease financial anxiety, even when there’s no pandemic creating economic upheaval.

So, ignore peer pressure to keep up with your flashy-car, fancy-house friends and keep purchases within your means instead. Those deep-in-debts friends will be envious later – when they’re struggling to pay the bills and you’re not.

This article by Deb Hipp was originally published on Debt.com.