As COVID continues to spread across the world, many of us are still forced to stay at home under quarantine.
Chances are, your spending habits have changed during this time.
Fortunately, with social events cancelled or delayed, it’s the perfect time to take an in depth review of your expenses.
Here are 9 expenses to review during COVID.
1) Eating Out
With more time at home, it’s an excellent time to learn to cook! And depending on where you live, restaurants have various degrees of operations.
While it’s always amazing to support local businesses if you can, it also doesn’t hurt to review your eating out budget. Now that you’ve gone a few months eating at home, do you need to eat out as often as you were? Could you reduce this expense in the future? Take a look at how much you’ve spend on eating out these last few months, and make a plan moving forward.
2) Savings Rate
One “expense” I reviewed in depth was my savings rate. While savings isn’t necessarily an expense, you need to set aside money for it in your budget.
With COVID, there was a huge degree of uncertainty in the job market. Many people were furloughed or lost their jobs permanently. Such tragedy really makes you consider your emergency fund. Do you have enough to safely fall back on if needed?
If not, you may want to consider boosting your emergency fund savings rate. Depending on your circumstances, you may even want to consider saving enough for a jumbo emergency fund.
While interest rates have gone down consistently since COVID took a hold, we recommend using an online bank like CIT Bank for your savings account. They offer a (much) higher interest than brick-and-mortar banks, who typically offer something abysmal like 0.01%.
3) Clothing
As many of us continue to work from home, and likely will for the foreseeable future, you may want to reconsider your clothing budget.
If you’re like me, you’ve been wearing the same wardrobe basics on repeat during quarantine. I’ve noticed this, and taken a substantial amount of time cleaning out my wardrobe and pulling items to donate. Some of the stuff I chose to donate was relatively new! During this time, I’ve definitely noticed I overspent on clothing in the past. I’m much happier with a simpler and more minimalist wardrobe, and don’t need to spend nearly as much on clothing.
4) Gym Memberships
Most gyms across the United States still aren’t able to reopen. Many Americans turned to at-home workouts for a much reduced cost.
While you may be itching to go back to the gym, it’s worth it to consider if this is an expense you really need, or if you can find alternative ways to exercise for less money.
5) Fuel Costs
Fuel is expensive. But if you’re still working from home, you’ve likely noticed a drastic reduction in the amount you are spending on fuel each month.
If you anticipate working from home for the foreseeable future, be sure to adjust your fuel expense in your budget. You can put your fuel savings toward building your emergency fund instead.
6) Car Insurance
Along the same lines as fuel, when you’re driving less, theoretically, your car insurance should be less as well.
Some car insurance companies offered a temporary discount to consumers during the initial COVID crisis. Their rationale was many Americans were struggling financially, plus they were driving less.
Well, if you are still driving less, give your car insurance company a call to ask about a rate reduction. Be sure to have an updated estimate of how much you drive your car each week. It may not be a huge savings, but hey, i doesn’t hurt to ask!
7) Travel
Since travel is restricted during this time, it makes sense to review your travel expenses for the future. Do you anticipate going on any trips in the future? Do you need to adjust travel plans, or cancel entirely?
Even if you are able to travel, chances are, it will look significantly different. You may choose to fly instead of drive, or you may plan to make your own food instead of eating out. Whatever you decide, take some time to plan and adjust your budget accordingly.
8) Entertainment
Oh entertainment. Most entertainment facilities, such as clubs, sporting arenas, concert halls, festivals, and other means of entertainment are not permitted to be open at this time. And due to the restrictions on the amount of people who can gather at a time, it’s not likely that entertainment venues will be up and running anytime soon.
But while typical means of entertainment may be closed, it doesn’t mean that you won’t have any entertainment expenses. It might simply look different. You may find yourself spending more on new hobbies instead of going out to spend money. Either Way, it warrants a second look at your entertainment budget to determine how much you plan to spend each month.
9) Giving
Lastly, everyone has a different financial circumstance and may need to adjust their giving accordingly. Maybe you’ve lost your job and can no longer give at the level you once were. Or maybe you still have your job and feel compelled to support those around you who weren’t so fortunate. Either way, consider your giving budget and adjust accordingly.
Related:
Check out some of our favorite personal finance resources:
Are you getting the best credit card rewards? Check out the top cash back credit card offers (updated daily)
Make extra money: 15 ways to make money from your computer
Get the First Chapter Free!
Join our online community and get the first chapter of the book Student Loan Solution absolutely FREE!
Agree but not only during Covid, always. If you’re tryung to save budget is the key and plan expenses and eating out is always a good idea. All your tips are really useful thanks for sharing!!!