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- My family's income hasn't changed so far in response to the coronavirus, so we've decided to use our money in four ways to support others and save for future goals.
- We're buying gift cards for small businesses and ordering delivery from local restaurants, and we're adding our stimulus checks to our son's college savings fund.
- We're upping our investments, too, since shares are "discounted" while the market is down.
- Read more personal finance coverage.
There's no question that the coronavirus pandemic has created a massive global health crisis. In fact, recent models have predicted death tolls in the US to top out between 100,000 and 240,000.
But for some, the pandemic has already had disastrous financial impacts, from small business owners to those in the food service and retail industries. My husband and I are lucky enough to be a dual-income family, and neither of our incomes has suffered as a result of the pandemic. He works for a large company in our area and was instructed to work from home several weeks ago. His salary remained intact.
I'm a freelance writer, and as such, I've seen an increase in coronavirus-related assignments in recent weeks. I know we're lucky to be OK financially right now when so many others aren't. I'm also fully aware that things might change for us down the line.
We've changed our financial strategy somewhat in recent weeks to account for changes in spending, and we've also reallocated some of our cash to help friends in need.
We're reallocating our stimulus checks
When President Trump signed the $2 trillion economic relief bill that would, among other things, issue stimulus checks to Americans who were struggling in the face of a global health pandemic and months-long shutdown, I was pleasantly surprised. I didn't expect to receive any funds since we're dual earners with a healthy income.
However, we narrowly made the cutoff for a married couple with one child to receive a portion of the stimulus funds. (The amount for these checks is $1,200 per adult and $500 per child, as long as you're under the income threshold of $75,000 for singles and $150,000 adjusted gross income for married couples.)
But instead of using our expected check to cover everyday expenses or our monthly bills, we decided to earmark ours for our son's 529 college savings plan. If nothing else, maybe it will make up for all the extra screen time he's been getting while we've been trying to work from home with an active toddler.
We're supporting local businesses
We've also made it a priority to support small businesses. While I think the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic will eventually affect us all - even larger industries and those whose incomes are unaffected for the time being - it's the small businesses that are feeling the pinch right now.
That's why I've made it a point to support small businesses, whether it be purchasing a handmade item for my son's Easter basket via a friend's online boutique or re-upping my usual order a bit early from a skincare company I support.
We've also been regularly ordering takeout meals from local restaurants. While we don't normally eat out during the week, now seems as good a time as any to give ourselves a break and help support local businesses.
Stocking up on gift cards
Other businesses may not be able to provide their services right now. Think cleaning services, handymen, nannies, even those who provide self-care services such as spa treatments and nail services.
As a work-from-home mother of two, I'm not ashamed to admit I regularly use these services. So while we haven't felt comfortable having our regular cleaning crew come to the house, for example, we have bought gift cards to be used at a later date in hopes it can help keep her business afloat.
Also, a few months ago we made plans to have a local company install gutters on our home. Since the work will be done entirely outside with minimal contact and we can pay virtually, we're not canceling.
Upping our investments
In addition to an unexpected stimulus check, and since our financial situation hasn't changed much, we decided to reexamine our investment strategy and increase our contributions where we can.
We've saved a fair amount of money staying home these past few weeks, and I'm a firm believer in the fact that even though the market is down, everything is cyclical and it will find its way up again, so I'm not afraid to add money to the market right now.
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