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Job Search During a Quarantine, Edition 2: Your Financial Diet

By Marie Bankuti, ClearRock Career Consultant

If you were laid off prior to the quarantine being put into effect, then you’ve more than likely already made some adjustments to your spending habits. If you’ve been recently furloughed or laid off as a result of the quarantine’s impact, perhaps it’s time to review your financial picture.  

Medical doctors are advising us to fortify ourselves and boost our immune systems with a healthy diet in order to help fight off the virus, should we contract it. Perhaps applying that concept to our spending can help strengthen our financial immune systems and sustain budget health during the coming months.

Where can you trim the excess, consume less, be more intentional about how you spend your monetary calories?  Before deciding where to cut, determining your “monthly nut” is essential. It’s as essential as understanding how many calories we need each day to sustain our bodies.

What’s a monthly nut?

It is simply the amount of money you require each month to maintain needs for you and your family. This includes things like mortgage/rent, utilities, gas, food, insurance, internet cable, phone, loan payments, etc. Discretionary spending is where you can impact if you are disciplined. Think about items like: Netflix, gym memberships, daily coffee from Starbucks, take out, and the latest phone update when your current phone works just fine.

Here are some steps you can take determine your essential monthly costs and get your financial house in better order:

  • Identify all your necessary fixed monthly payments (i.e. mortgage, internet cable), then add your estimated variable monthly costs (i.e. food, gas). Add to that the monthly share of essential bills that are paid quarterly and annually (i.e. water usage, excise tax). This is your current monthly nut.
  • Make a separate list of all other fixed and variable costs that you can live without. Be sure to review your bank and credit card statements to find recurring monthly subscriptions and automatic withdrawals you may have forgotten. Put a plan together to discontinue these expenditures.
  • It may take a few passes to really trim the fat. Keep asking yourself, “Can I/we do without this at least temporarily?” Be honest with yourself.
  • If additional belt-tightening is required, take your current monthly bills and identify payments you may be able to defer or negotiate different terms for, either temporarily or permanently. These could include payments for your mortgage/rent, loans, utility budget plans, credit cards, and the like. Reach out to creditors sooner rather than later to explore options.

This will be your new monthly nut. Hopefully, one that helps increase opportunities and decrease stress.

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