{"id":26286,"date":"2021-07-01T14:45:49","date_gmt":"2021-07-01T18:45:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.eztaxreturn.com\/?p=26286"},"modified":"2023-06-05T13:25:05","modified_gmt":"2023-06-05T18:25:05","slug":"getting-your-finances-back-on-track-after-covid-19","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/staging.eztaxreturn.com\/blog\/getting-your-finances-back-on-track-after-covid-19\/","title":{"rendered":"Getting Your Finances Back on Track After COVID-19"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">2020 was a rough year financially for many people.\u00a0 Some lost their jobs, saw their hours cut, or were forced to drop out of the workforce temporarily due to childcare issues.\u00a0 Now that people are getting <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/COVID-19_vaccine\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">vaccinated<\/a> and businesses are reopening, we\u2019re starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel.\u00a0 It may take some time to bounce back completely, but there are steps you can take to get your finances back to normal faster.<\/p>\r\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Evaluate your financial health<\/strong><\/h2>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">During the <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/COVID-19_pandemic\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">pandemic<\/a>, many people found themselves in survival mode.\u00a0 Businesses were shut down, but the bills kept coming in.\u00a0 With limited income, some people were forced to focus solely on their needs (rent, food, utilities and transportation) because they didn\u2019t have enough money to pay the rest of their bills.\u00a0 Now that things are slowly getting back to normal, it\u2019s time to assess your financial situation.\u00a0 See how much you owe on your <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Credit_card\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">credit cards<\/a> and other bills.\u00a0 Then check your bank accounts to see how much money you have available.\u00a0 It\u2019s also a good idea to check your credit report.\u00a0 You\u2019re entitled to a free copy from each of the credit bureaus annually.\u00a0 Doing these things will show you exactly where you stand so you can strategize how to do better.<\/p>\r\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Create an updated budget<\/strong><\/h2>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">You\u2019re less likely to waste money if you plan how each dollar will be spent.\u00a0 So, it\u2019s time to create an updated <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Budget\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">budget<\/a>.\u00a0 Start by calculating your monthly income and creating a list of your <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Expense\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">expenses<\/a>.\u00a0 A lot has changed in a year and it\u2019s possible that the things you used to prioritize don\u2019t matter as much anymore.\u00a0 Carefully review your expenses and decide what you can live without or what you\u2019d like to add to the list.\u00a0 Maybe you found a new love for at-home workouts and no longer need a gym membership.\u00a0 Or maybe you want to set aside money for crafting and spend less in another category.\u00a0 Do whatever works for you.\u00a0 If you find that you\u2019re spending a lot more than you make, look for ways to reduce your expenses or earn more money.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Track your expenses<\/strong><\/h2>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Creating a budget is only helpful if you actually follow through and stick to it.\u00a0 So track your spending for the next month to see if the budget you created is realistic.\u00a0 The easiest way to do this is to use a budgeting app, but you can always use an Excel spreadsheet if that\u2019s what you\u2019re comfortable with.\u00a0 Everything you spend must go on the list even if the item only costs a quarter.\u00a0 It\u2019s important that you pay attention to the results because you may find that you\u2019re overspending in an unexpected area or less than you anticipated in others.\u00a0 Either way you\u2019ll be able to adjust accordingly.<\/p>\r\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Start saving now<\/strong><\/h2>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If you were forced to dip into your savings or didn\u2019t have any money saved to begin with, building your <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Rainy_day_fund\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">rainy-day fund<\/a> needs to be a priority.\u00a0 Emergencies can happen anytime and you need to be financially prepared.\u00a0 Ideally you want to save between 3 to 6 months of living expenses, but since it\u2019s been a rough year, you can start small.\u00a0 Aim to save $1,000 then work your way up from there.<\/p>\r\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Catch up on your bills<\/strong><\/h2>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Earlier in this article, we told you to find out how much you owe on your credit cards and now it\u2019s time to put that information to use.\u00a0 Create a list of your debts from the smallest to largest balances.\u00a0 You\u2019re going to use the <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Debt-snowball_method\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">snowball method<\/a> to pay them off.\u00a0 How it works is you\u2019ll put most of your money towards eliminating the smallest balance while making the minimum payments on everything else.\u00a0 Once that bill is paid off, you\u2019ll move on to the second smallest balance.\u00a0 Continue the cycle until you\u2019re completely debt-free.<\/p>\r\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\r\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\r\n<h2 style=\"text-align: center;\">File your taxes fast and ez in 30 minutes or less.<\/h2>\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>2020 was a rough year financially for many people.\u00a0 Some lost their jobs, saw their hours cut, or were forced to drop out of the workforce temporarily due to childcare issues.\u00a0 Now that people are getting vaccinated and businesses are reopening, we\u2019re starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel.\u00a0 It may [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":26410,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"off","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-26286","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-personal-finance"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v20.13 (Yoast SEO v20.13) - 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