Beating Broke

Personal Finance from the Broke Perspective

Five Businesses Opening Up with the Economy

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The pandemic is lingering on. People are getting vaccinated, but cases vary in different states. California’s cases are going down, but they are going up in a variety of other states. Still, it is imperative for the economy to reopen. We all need to have the ability to live our lives and go back to work. While the pandemic isn’t going away soon, it’s very important to open businesses. Everyone is excited for certain businesses to return. Here are a few that people will welcome back in the coming months.

Hair Salons

It depends on when you are and how tight the restrictions are, hair salons have been closed in fits and starts. There has been a lot of controversy surrounding this issue. Most notably, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi was caught getting her hair done after the salons in her district were closed. What’s more important than opening salons is returning to the relaxing atmosphere of these businesses. It also depends on where you are, but whether you’re looking for a salon that specializes in blowouts in Los Angeles, styling natural hair in Washington DC, or a cut-and-color in San Antonio, start looking at the social media accounts of your favorite salons. They are opening back up.

Movie Theatres

Nearly everyone is excited to go back to the movies. They’ve been shut down for the obvious reasons. Theatres are dark and musty. Everyone breathes the same air that isn’t circulated well. People are in close proximity. But as we get a hold on the virus and people get vaccinated, more people will feel comfortable enough to go to the movies. We all need this kind of escape in our lives, few will be angry that movie theatres are opening.

Music Venues

One thing that people miss is going to see live music. Venues where live music is held have struggled immensely. This is another thing that people need to relax, let loose, and escape their problems. Music does wonders. It is even a proven form of therapy. Live music is even more impactful than on recording. Volume is powerful and can both physically and mentally change the way we feel about our lives. Live shows will be welcomed back with open arms and music venues can finally dig their way out of their financial holes.

Indoor Dining

Indoor dining has been open in a variety of states during the pandemic and has recently opened back up in California, where the restrictions were some of the most stringent, but it arguably hasn’t fully gone back to what we used to know. Many people are skeptical about dining inside. The atmosphere is different. Tables are separated. People wear masks when not seated, eating, or drinking. In the United States, eating out is a big part of our culture. So many people will be excited to go eat inside without worries and regulations.

Dive Bars

Most of the bars that are getting enough business have outdoor seating. These include beer gardens with patios and other outdoor drinking establishments. While plenty of alcoholics have frequented dive bars regardless, a lot of people have forgone these musty indoor watering holes in favor of outside bars and restaurants. While we all miss cheap drinks and shenanigans, being able to freely walk in a dive bar will return and you’ll remember what you loved and hated about them.

Let’s be honest. The pandemic is far from over. By definition pandemics are a global issue. Few people in the grand scheme of things have been vaccinated. Yet it is imperative for all of us to go back to work and live our lives. The economy is suffering and the impact of lockdowns and regulations are yet to be known.

If we truly want what’s best for ourselves, our society, and the world at large, it is time to start earnestly weighing the pros and cons of how many people will die from the virus and how many people suffer due to the precautions. It isn’t a pretty debate to have, but it’s a conversation that must be had. The fear needs to be lessened and the hysteria needs to stop. With such a provably low death rate for those who contract the virus, we start to ask ourselves—what are we doing here?

How to Find Work During the Pandemic

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If you are like most Americans, you have been impacted by the pandemic in some way. Many companies have gone out of business in the last year. People have cut back on their hours in order to keep their business afloat. Thousands of people have received unemployment for the first time ever. And for most, it is a hard journey to find a new job that can compare to the old one they used to have.

It is estimated that 4 out of every 10 people have been financially impacted by the pandemic. Maybe you are looking for supplemental income to make up for what you have lost or you are looking for a completely new job. Regardless, there are plenty of ways you can find jobs still. To make the hiring process easier, you may want to do some research. Find out where you will get your background check for the job. That way you can schedule a time to get it done in advance. A simple background check is often the last thing standing in the way for you to start your position!

Search Online 

The best place to start looking for a job is online. Due to the pandemic, many jobs have shifted their open business hours and have various policies on people walking in. You don’t want to drive around all day just to find out the job has an online application.

If you know which jobs you are interested in, go to their website first and search under the tab “careers.” Most websites will have open positions listed under this tab and details on how to apply. If you don’t really know where to start and do not have specific companies in mind that you’d like to work for, try Googling it. There are a variety of search engines that you can find on Google to direct you to open jobs near you. Some of these websites even allow you to upload your application and apply to multiple open positions at a time easily.

Those search engines stay up-to-date with the newest open positions and can let you sort through the options effortlessly. You can find information on the salary, benefits, required hours, and a job description on these databases.

Call Around 

If searching online doesn’t yield you the results that you’d like, you can always try calling around. It is possible that by calling various businesses that you will find vacancies that have not been posted on online portals yet. If they do not have any openings, you can ask them if it’s possible to submit an application in case there is an opening. If you do this, they might look at your application before others. It is possible that they may even call you before they decide to post the job formally online.

Ask a Friend

Lastly, it never hurts to ask around. Talk to some of your friends about if their workplace is hiring. It is possible that a coworker may know of current and future openings within a company before anyone else. Ask your friend to put a good word in for you with their boss if they are able. Word-of-mouth can go a long way in many companies.

Reach out to former coworkers and see if they ended up somewhere that might interest you. Having a friend that you can talk to openly and honestly about the job you were applying for is a great benefit. You can discuss management, salary and work environment before you ever go into the interview. Hopefully, by doing this, you will know whether or not you are a good fit for this job before you even apply.

Keep searching for that perfect job! Don’t be afraid to search in unfamiliar places. And while you wait, always keep your resume up to date.

Why We’ve Decided Not to Throw Extra Money at Our Debt Now

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Going into debt is a bit like gaining weight.  It’s much easier to go into debt than to get out.  But, when you’ve finally decided you want to break the debt cycle and live debt free, it takes a lot of time and effort, much more effort than it took to go into debt.  Likewise, when you decide you want to be fit and healthy, you have to work much harder than you did to gain weight.  With either situation, when you decide you want to make a healthier change, you want it to happen.right.now!  That’s why so many people who want to be debt free decide to save only a $1,000 emergency fund and put the rest of their money on debt.  We’ve tried that before, but there are several reasons why we’ve decided not to throw extra money at our debt now.

Get Off the Debt Repayment Roller Coaster

Why We've Decided Not to Throw Our Extra Money at Debt Now
Photo by Matt Bowden on Unsplash

With COVID-19, we’re living in unstable times.  But honestly, even before the virus, a $1,000 emergency fund was never enough.  My husband and I have been in debt most of our lives.

When we were first married, we had student loan debt, car loan debt, and credit card debt from our time in college.  We followed financial gurus who said have a $1,000 emergency fund and put the rest of the money on debt.

Some months, we had phenomenal success and paid down a significant amount of our debt.  But other months, because we were living so close to the edge with only a $1,000 emergency fund, we’d have the unexpected happen such as a $2,500 car repair.  Our emergency fund would be wiped out, plus we’d go back into debt to finish paying for the unexpected.

Going back into debt a few thousand dollars when we were trying to pay down debt was depressing.  Plus, we’d have to pause our debt repayment and start back over to rebuild the emergency fund.

We paid off the credit cards eventually, but a few years ago, we went back into credit card debt when three things happened one summer—our HVAC system died, our house had mold and had to be remediated, and our child had a medical issue that wasn’t completely covered by insurance.

Since then, we’ve been working to build a more substantial emergency fund AND pay down debt.  No more debt repayment roller coaster for me.  This time I vowed when we paid down our debt, it would stay gone.  But for that to happen, we needed a bigger emergency fund.

The Economy Is Too Uncertain

Now that COVID-19 has hit, we’re not paying any extra on our debt.  We’re funneling all of our extra money to our emergency fund with the goal of hitting a 6-month emergency fund.

Why?

No one knows for sure what the economic impact of this virus will be.  I want to make sure my family has enough cushion to survive.  That means creating an ample emergency fund.

Prepare for Potential Job Loss

Why We've Decided Not to Throw Our Extra Money at Debt Now
Photo by Alexander Mils on Unsplash

We’ve been lucky that my husband hasn’t lost his job.  He’s in the higher education field, which is being hit especially hard by this pandemic.  He has to furlough for 39 days this upcoming year, which means we will essentially be losing two months of pay in the next 12 months.  However, we’re grateful that he still has a job.

But what will happen next year?

There is a very real possibility his job could be in jeopardy next year, depending on how badly this year goes.  We want to be prepared.  Sure, it would be nice if we could get our debt load down, but right now, we’re just focusing on piling cash in the bank.  We want an ample security net.

Much of the country is in the same predicament.  If you work for or own a small business, how long can the business hold out?  We’re already seeing some small businesses closing permanently, which means all of those employees will be looking for jobs.

I don’t want to advocate irresponsibility, but if you’ve lost your job and aren’t able to get a new one, you can always negotiate with your creditors or worst-case scenario, not pay your bills.  However, if you don’t have money in the bank, you’re left without resources.  Having a savings account in this situation always comes first.

Only Pay Down Debt After a 6 Month Emergency Fund Is Established

If you pause paying down your debt and only pay your minimum payments due, you can always change your plan later and pay more on your debts in a few months.  That’s one of the major reasons why we’ve decided not to throw extra money at our debt now.

We’re going to save, and save, and save.  If we, as a country, as a world, ride out this virus and it is no longer a threat, things can change.  Let’s say my husband and I do save a six-month emergency fund.  If, in another year or two, his job is stable, and the world is back to normal, we can change gears.  Maybe we take three months’ worth of our emergency fund and throw it on our debt to pay it off.  We can do that.

Final Thoughts

Though you may want to be debt free or carry a lower debt load, there are several good reasons to pause that goal.  The main reason why we’ve decided not to throw extra money at our debt now is because having money in the bank is priceless, especially in the age of a pandemic.

We can later decide to take some of that large emergency fund and put the money on our debt.  However, if we pay down our debt and stay with a $1,000 emergency fund, we’re extremely vulnerable financially to what may happen in the upcoming months.  We intend to protect ourselves as well as we can from economic instability by saving as much as we can.  There will be time later to aggressively pay down debt.  We don’t believe now is that time.