Budgeting in challenging times Coronavirus // You Need A Budget (YNAB)
Budgeting in challenging times Coronavirus
So the world as we know it has been turned upside down with the Coronavirus. I heard something the other day that made so much sense. It said we are all weathering the same storm, but we’re not in the same boat.
So some of you may be working from home, still getting paid your full time salary, but trying to juggle the children and homeschooling, you may have lost your job and you received unemployment. You may have lost your job and you’re still waiting to receive unemployment. There are so many people struggling right now and so many people in totally different situations.
In this video, we’re going to talk about three different ways you can weather the storm and come out feeling confident about your finances. No matter where you are. Right now. We help women start service-based businesses. So whether you’re a freelancer or you’re a full time entrepreneur, please subscribe to Six Figure Business Coaching youtube channel.
Hi, I’m Kirsten Graham with six figure business coaching before I started coaching, I was in the mortgage business. So I’ve spent many many years helping people understand their finances. budget and save to buy a new home, as well as help them fix their credit.
So in this video, we’re going to talk about three major things that you can do right now, to improve your financial situation in this very challenging time.
The first thing you can do is make decisions based on information. And this is where a really good budget comes in.
Software Budget Calm
If you’re struggling and you have your head in the sand, things are not going to get better. And I know it’s scary and I know it’s overwhelming, but you need to put together a really solid budget that lets you see where every single penny you have coming in where it’s going. I recommend a software called you need a budget calm again, you need a budget calm. It is fantastic software. And I’ve helped clients for years and years and years with budgeting and this is my favorite software. They offer a free trial for 34 days, not sure why it’s 34 days in that 30 but it’s a 34 day free trial and then it costs around eight or $9 a month at the time of this recording, but it is worth every penny and I know what you may be thinking Oh my gosh, I’m struggling, I’m out of a job and you’re trying to tell me I should pay for budgeting software.
The company is so amazing if you try the software and you really love it, and you reach out to them and let them know that you’re struggling, I’ve heard many, many times before that they have extended the free trial. I can’t promise you this. But inside of the private Facebook group, I hear it all the time that I’ve asked for an extension for a few months for the free trial, and they’ve given it to me.
So there’s a very good chance they would do that for you as well. The reason why I love you need a budget calm the software is that it’s very, very user friendly. And it’s a zero-based budgeting software, meaning each month you’re going to get every dollar a job. Once you get used to using the software, you’re going to feel very empowered, because you’re going to know exactly where your money’s going, even if times are very, very challenging and you’re struggling.
So either you know where your money’s going in challenging times, or you’re struggling and you don’t know where your money’s going. Either way, you’re struggling but the information from your budget can help you make really solid decisions about how to move forward. And I’ll share some more stories about that in just a second. In the comments below, let me know your favorite budgeting software.
The second step is once you have your budget all set up and you can clearly see your finances.
Now you can make some tough decisions. So one of my friends was in the exact situation. We sat down, we did her budget, and she was in panic mode. She was very upset. We really cut everything back. We looked at every category in her budget, and we realized she was about two to $300 a month short of just surviving, I’m talking just electric internet because you kind of has to have internet these days with, you know, your child doing homeschooling, and food and gas, just the basic things. She was really struggling. She was going to be two to $300 a month short, but at least she knew where she was.
Okay, so now she has the information that she needs to try to move ahead. So she has some great skills. She can do copywriting and copy editing. So she posted on her Facebook page that she was looking to do some freelancing work. She also went and checked out several freelancing websites and set up a profile in hopes of getting work. What happened was really interesting. One of her friends said, Hey, there is an organization that is helping single moms, you can pick up food there and a couple of nights a week, they offer hot meals.
So this was a resource that she did not know was available to her. She’s never been in a situation where she couldn’t pay her bills. So it was
awesome to find out that there were local resources available to help her out. But something else really amazing happened. And that was another friend reached out and said, hey, my friend is a PA. And she’s working obviously because she’s essential to the hospital. And she has two children. She had a neighbor who’s been taking care of them since school and daycare shut down, but she’s not feeling well. And it’s a little overwhelmed. She’s an older woman, and she took this on to help out her neighbor, but it’s just been a lot with two small children. Would you want to babysit them? So she said absolutely.
So right off the bat, she ended up getting this part time job babysitting these children. Was that what she was looking for? No, she was looking for copywriting and copy editing work. But the idea of having a steady amount of income coming in and helping another single mom take care of her children was a total Win-win. Plus her daughter now has someone to play with.
So once she got this side job of babysitting, her income went up a little bit. And so now she’s able to cover all of our expenses and has a little bit left over. And what she said to me was, I feel so empowered because once I realized where I was, and I started putting feelers out, things started to come to me that allowed me to survive, but she decided to take it a step further, she continued to look for work doing copywriting and copy editing, and she finally got a small project. It wasn’t anything big, but again, another source of income will really help out right now.
So she is positive and excited because she found out where she was after she set up her budget and looked at everything you Yes, it was scary. And yes, she was in tears. But once she had that information, she was able to think, Okay, what can I do to bridge the gap? What can I do to help my family survive right now, and those things came up for her a babysitting job and one small copywriting project.
So as you can see, if you know where you are, it gives you the opportunity to make informed decisions and start taking action to improve your situation the best way you can.
So the third thing I want to recommend is getting involved in something like a Facebook group.
You need a bunch of.com has a fantastic Facebook group. Some of the people in there are celebrating because they’re paying off their final student loans. Other people in there talking about how do I defer my student loans and my car payment, my mortgage because I’m struggling right now. Other people talk about the concept of possibly needing to file bankruptcy. So there are people in this group from all walks of life. But what I love about that Facebook group is everyone is very supportive and very kind. So if you set You need a budget comm you have an awesome support group in that Facebook group.
Now you need a budget calm is very easy to use. And inside the software, they have tons and tons of amazing training videos on exactly how to set it up and how to use it. There’s also another YouTuber, his name is Nick true. So if you get a chance, check out his channel, because all of his videos are about how to use you need a budget calm, and he’s fantastic.
So all of the resources are available for you, you have an opportunity to set up a free budget and use the software for at least 34 days for free, perhaps ask for an extension on that. It’s not an expensive software. I know it’s less than $10 a month. But it is an amazing software and they can help you feel in control in these very scary times. And for me, I mean, I don’t know about you, but for me feeling in control is so important.
It just makes me I don’t know, maybe I’m a control freak. It just makes me feel better. There’s also so many resources out there to learn how to use the software You can have a support group. So if you’re struggling financially, please take advantage of this budgeting software or another budgeting software. If this one’s not ideal for you get really clear on all of your expenses and the income that you have coming in, and then make the best decisions you can. Again, these are times that we’ve never been through. Hopefully, we won’t go through them again anytime soon. And it is hard but facing this challenge with information and other people that are in a similar situation can make it a lot easier to weather the storm.
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