Our Debt Free Family

Commit. Plan. Take action.

COVID-19 and Mental Health: Are You Checking in With Yourself?

| Leave a Comment

COVID-19 and mental health

The topic of mental health is no stranger to this blog. For our family, the debt freedom journey has been very much so a mental journey but it has been nothing like the mental journey we’ve been through the past few months. (And we were homeless at one point.) I knew if it was impacting me so significantly, it had to be having a huge impact nationwide. So, I decided to take a look at COVID-19 and mental health.

COVID-19 and Mental Health Numbers

There are a lot of things that can come up when you are urged to spend most of your time indoors. For many people, depression is one of the first things that starts to set in. In general, humans are social. Most folks look forward to human interaction. So, without it, it is easy to start to get depressed.

For individuals with pre-existing mental health disorders, the threat of a mental breakdown during this time is even higher. Add the struggles of the COVID-19 era into that, and you have the perfect recipe for personal disaster.

“We’re talking about a population that struggles with being housed, being able to feed themselves, being able to take care of medical issues, having enough of an income,” Dr. Fumi Mitsuishi told Healthline.

How Coronavirus Impacted My Mental Health

I struggle with anxiety and depression anyway (typically seasonal), but this entire ordeal has had me out of sorts. I’ve noted more mood changes recently and definitely more low/sad points. It hasn’t been a fun time and my life hasn’t changed that much.

There were a number of things I was looking forward to that were canceled (two stand-up shows, one concert, two trips). We also weren’t able to celebrate our first wedding anniversary the way we would’ve liked. Also, because we are stuck in a 500 square-foot studio apartment, we spend a lot of time right on top of each other.

But, we have a lot to be thankful for. We’re able to get by financially and we are both in good health. However, it is so easy to slip into depression or even fall back into bad habits with everything going on in the world.

If You Need Help

No one should let COVID-19 and mental health take over their lives. If you need help, there are resources available to you.

  • Have a friend or family member to check-in with on a regular basis.
  • Reach out to the Suicide Prevention Hotline if you are having suicidal thoughts or feel depressed. The hotline number is 1(800)273-8255.
  • The Mental Health Hotline can help you talk through your feelings. They can be reached at 1(800)950-6264.
  • Individuals with a substance abuse issue should call their sponsor or reach out to the Substance Abuse Hotline. Their number is 1(800)662-4357.
  • Call your health-care provider or therapist. Ask for their recommendations on how to handle your condition and feelings.

Remember, your own mental health and well-being is the most important thing. This will pass with time and you will come out on the other side stronger. Readers, how are you dealing with COVID-19 and mental health? 

Read More

Preparing for Financial Recovery

| Leave a Comment

financial recovery

No one has gone completely untouched by the coronavirus pandemic. Half of Americans say they’ve been financially affected by the virus. However, many states are beginning to reopen businesses and some folks are going back to work. What many people aren’t considering is how to begin setting themselves up for their own financial recovery.

What Will Your Financial Recovery Look Like?

Before you can start preparing to recover from this pandemic financially, you need to consider how you’ve been impacted. Everyone’s finances are set up differently. Some individuals have been hit way harder than others during this time. Certain folks are out of work, while others haven’t been financially impacted (much).

If you’ve been out of work, the first thing you may do when you get back to your job is get caught up on your bills. Others may want to focus on revamping their emergency funds or savings accounts. Many will look at how they can mend their retirement accounts after the market crash.

Depending on how you were impacted by the global pandemic, what you focus on will be different. So, think about how you have been affected by COVID-19 and what your first steps need to be.

Our Recovery

For us, our financial recovery will focus on re-establishing our emergency fund and focusing on rebuilding our credit. We decided to take a break from a few payments during this time so our finances wouldn’t be as tight.

This will undoubtedly have an impact on our credit scores and the length of our debt freedom journey, but it was something we thought would decrease our current financial stress. (Worth it, in my book!) Once we’ve rebuilt some of those areas, we will refocus on snowballing our debt with everything we’ve got.

On top of that, we are also going to be looking into some hustles to help us earn a bit more to make these things start happening sooner. My husband is looking at becoming a delivery driver and I’ve looked at some additional hustles as well.

For now though, we are continuing to stay in and stay safe! Readers, how are you prepping for financial recovery post-COVID?

Read More

Picking and Choosing What to Pay During the COVID-19 Pandemic

| Leave a Comment

COVID-19 pandemic

Jobless claims in the United States have reached more than 6.5 million as of last week due to layoffs amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Because of this, many people are falling behind on their bills, despite the stimulus package. In our home, our monthly income has been sliced in half, leaving us picking and choosing what bills get paid now.

Establishing a Financial Cushion

If you’ve been keeping up-to-date with our financial journey, you know we just recently established our $1,000 emergency fund (again). Well, due to my husband’s layoff, we needed to use a chunk of that to cover expenses of moving his tools and covering bills. After doing that in March, we are re-evaluating how we are going to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic financially.

Initially, I was just going to maintain all of my payments across the board, but that leaves us essentially paycheck-to-paycheck (which is a little iffy in the current environment). However, after seeing our EF drained, I reconsidered that and decided to take a break from 2 larger monthly payments just to refund our emergency savings. Having cash saved and on-hand right now would provide our household with some peace of mind.

That being said, my student loan is under forbearance until September and my car company is giving me a three-month break from payments. This will allow us to bank $768 each month for the next three months, which will be a nice emergency savings fund.

Consider What You Need

For us, having that buffer cash on hand is going to be key in keeping us financially stress-free during this time. Believe me, the last thing you want to do is to be stuck in the house with your spouse fighting about money. You may be thinking, “well, we HAVE to make payments on the credit card, car, etc.” That may not be entirely true.

Many companies are offering breaks on payments or lower payments in order to help individuals impacted by the coronavirus outbreak. Call and discuss your options with each business. Get your bills as low as possible.

If your available cash still doesn’t cover what’s due, consider what you need. Tiffany Aliche, aka the Budgetnista, told NPR in an interview, “then I would ask myself, is this something that I must pay for because I have to maintain my health and my safety? That comes first and foremost.”

So, if it doesn’t pertain to your health and safety right now and you don’t have it, take a breath. It is important to remember what you do and do not control at a time like this.

Putting Plans on Hold

COVID-19 pandemic

This photo will be us for a while: at home. Unfortunately, many of our plans have been put on hold, postponed, or canceled for the next few months. It is not yet clear whether some events will be refunded or not (I wish!).

We’ve put plans to visit home (Charlotte) on hold indefinitely. Hopefully, by mid-May, we can decide on a solid date to re-plan that trip. On top of that, just about everything else has been postponed or canceled in some form. This will likely help save us money and, in the long run, staying home will too.

Finding Ways to Stay Busy at Home

I’ve thankfully been able to continue working because I’ve worked remotely for more than five years. That isn’t to say being indoors isn’t driving us a little crazy! We have been able to find ways to stay busy though.

COVID-19 pandemic

I, for one, have been cooking a LOT. We recently discovered Sam the Cooking Guy on YouTube and his videos have me looking in my pantry to see what I have and what I can make. Here’s one of his quarantine recipes…

In addition to cooking, we’ve also been taking Enzo on a lot of walks (and he certainly isn’t complaining). Remember, you can still get some fresh air. Just avoid contact with people and if you can wear a mask!

COVID-19 pandemic

When we aren’t doing those two things, I’m fully reaping the benefits of some of our subscription services. Amazon has a plethora of free Audible books, Kindle reads, and things to watch right now. I’ve listened to about six books in the past week and a half (ha!).

No matter what you do to keep busy, it is important to stay inside and stay healthy. Remember, you have options when it comes to your finances. The most important thing is your health. Stay well. 

Read More

How Coronavirus is Impacting Our Debt Freedom Journey

| Leave a Comment

coronavirus debt

Over the past month or so, the world has gotten pretty crazy. Most people aren’t leaving their homes and tens of thousands of people have died due to the coronavirus outbreak. Because of stay-at-home orders and businesses suffering, many people have also been laid off. This includes my husband. So, needless to say, there are some changes happening to our debt freedom journey (again).

Our Update

Coronavirus debt

This photo depicts how we are feeling about being stuck in the house (but seriously).

Besides going a little stir crazy being inside, there has also been a profound financial impact on our family, and many others. We are lucky enough to have one of us still working and we are able to get by on that, thankfully. However, my husband being out of work again is going to put a little damper on our bet freedom progress.

We will only be able to make minimum payments over the next few months. I have also chosen to take a forbearance on my student loans during this time to help ease financial stress in our home.

But, that’s honestly okay. We are both healthy, able to pay our bills, and staying at home a little more may help us save a bit, eh?

Small Win

One small financial win we had in March is we paid off an account, which will free up about $106 per month. For now, we will bank that extra cash to re-establish some additional emergency savings.

We’re in This Together

Thankfully, the impact on us is minimal compared to how others are being affected. We will recover from this fairly easily, even though it will put a damper on any big debt payoff progress.

I think the biggest thing to remember for everyone right now is you aren’t going through this alone. Everyone in the world is dealing with this. Hopefully, when all is said and done, it will bring the people of the world a little closer together.

Readers, how have your finances been impacted by the coronavirus outbreak? How are you dealing with it? 

If you need financial help at this time, the government is putting together programs to assist individuals with recovering from the pandemic. Read more about the CARES Act on SavingAdvice.com.

Read More