This isn’t a post about or whether our country’s belated reaction to the coronavirus is in fact an overreaction. I’m not writing about whether or not we should self-isolate*, or whether schools and public venues should have closed, or whether we’ve lost our collective damn mind in terms of toilet-paper hoarding.
I just want to point out that frugality (or intentional living, or whatever you want to call it) positions us to outlast both minor and major emergencies. Personally, I think that the coronavirus is both minor and major.
It’s minor (thus far, anyway) in that relatively few people are actually sick. If the epidemiologists are correct, “flattening the curve” may keep the medical system from being too overwhelmed to provide care for all.
It’s major in that many people’s livelihoods (both regular jobs and side hustles) are being hammered. When your finances are already chancy, losing a couple of weeks’ worth of work doesn’t just hurt – it might actually take you down.
Which brings us back to intentional living. If you were able to reduce/pay off your debt and build an emergency fund, then you are now better-equipped to handle the coronavirus troubles.
Facing reduced hours at work or even outright layoff because customers have disappeared? No longer able to pick up those extra 10 hours a week walking dogs or selling hot dogs at the basketball arena? Or maybe your job hasn’t gone away, but you now need to pay for weeks of childcare due to school closure.
That stinks, to be sure. It won’t be fun to use some (or all) of your EF to make up the difference. Instead, try thinking of it this way: I’m very glad I took the steps to build this cushion. And when this is over, I’ll get back to rebuilding.
Even if you were able to pay off only some of your debt and to save only a modest EF, you’re still in better shape than you might otherwise have been. Think back to the days when you had a nice big chunk of consumer debt and only a few bucks in the bank. Imagine what your reaction would have been to “Sorry, staffers, I’m cutting everyone’s hours” or “Schools are closed as of Monday – hope you can find a place for your kids.”
Panic, maybe, or despondency. Any loss of income/additional expenses might have broken your budget beyond repair.
Certainly a lot of unprepared and/or overextended people took it on the chin during the recession. Remember the lost homes, repossessed cars, defaulted student loans? How some people maxed out their credit cards to pay for basic expenses? And some of the older people who got laid off at that point were, in fact, retired – they just didn’t know it yet.
So even if right now you feel you didn’t prepare quite enough for the C-word, try to focus on what you did right. Without such progress and preparations as you were able to make, coronavirus might have left you much, much deeper in the hole.
<<Building EF isn’t always easy. Click here for free access to “Challenge Yourself to Save,” a chapter from my first book. It’s a Google Doc that you can share with others.>>
Getting to self-sufficiency
Frugality/intentional living isn’t just about squirrelling away the bucks, though. Mindset and habits are the other two legs of the stool.
For some people, “throw money at it” is the default solution to all problems. Frugalists tend to think their way through non-urgent problems, looking for affordable answers (including DIY, if practical and advisable) rather than reacting impusively. We trade labor, share tools, ask for help from friends/family or from the larger world (such as our Buy Nothing Facebook groups).
When possible, frugalists do things like:
- Cook some or all of our own meals
- Make some of the foods other people buy: yogurt, bread, iced tea, potato salad, soup stock
- Grow and preserve some of our own food
- Clean our own houses
- Sew our own clothes (full disclosure: I don’t do this)
- Make our own gifts (ditto, except for candy and baked goods)
- Shop very carefully for clothing and gifts, as well as for books, housewares and other needed items
Doing these things can provide a real sense of accomplishment and satisfaction. It’s not necessary to fill every free moment with these and other tasks. In fact, if you work a lot of hours I think outsourcing is a fine idea. (So is a judicious relaxing of standards, as needed.)
Taking care of our own business gives DF and me a feeling of partnership and, more important, of self-sufficiency. We don’t panic in the face of bad weather, an earthquake or a market downturn. Instead, we look at the situation, figure the best way to do things, and then do them.
Adulthood: It can be very gratifying.
Coronavirus lessons
If you’re struggling right now, I sympathize. I hope this article, or any of the ones I’ve written in the past almost-10 (!) years, will give you a boost. Here are a few archive links to get you going:
General frugality: https://donnafreedman.com/tag/frugality/
Spending: https://donnafreedman.com/tag/spending/
Home/living hacks: https://donnafreedman.com/tag/home/
Money mindsets and more: https://donnafreedman.com/tag/money/
Frugal hacks: https://donnafreedman.com/tag/frugal-hacks/
Saving money: https://donnafreedman.com/tag/saving-money/
(Note: There’s a bit of overlap among some of these archives. Please be patient.)
<<Need some money advice? Take a look at “7 free financial resources” for help.>>
And if you’re sitting pretty? If you’re still mostly or completely employed, and have a nice stockpile of food and the ability to entertain yourself affordably? Considering paying it forward.
Call, text or Face-Time relatives and friends who may have been affected by the coronavirus shutdowns, to see how they’re doing. They might need to vent. Surprise them by having a pizza or some Thai food delivered. Provide a drugstore, supermarket or gas-station gift card to help them cover the essentials.
Make a contribution to Feeding America, which is helping food banks and schools deliver grab-and-go breakfasts and bag lunches to families whose kids are usually fed one or two meals a day at school.
Or make a contribution locally. Maybe there’s a social services organization or food bank that’s helping financially stressed folks stay on an even keel. If you have a place of worship**, ask if you can help fill any pressing needs. Offer to shop for an older or immunocompromised neighbor who’s afraid to go to the store.
And if you’re not self-isolating entirely, try to patronize smaller local businesses. Even if you’ve decided to be completely safe and not leave the house, contact your favorite coffee shop, diner, nail salon, personal trainer, massage therapist or dog walker and ask about a gift certificate or punch card. My guess is many such businesses will be glad to mail you those gift cards, and your dollars will help keep them afloat until times change.
Readers: How have you adapted to this temporary new normal? Are you laid off and nervous, or a member of an essential trade that has to work no matter what?
*I drove past a shopping mall today that looked anything but isolated.
**DF’s church is closed for the next two weeks. Finally, he says, he’ll have the option of sleeping in and/or listening to the weekly “Sacred Concert” program on the local classical music station.
Related reading:
- The low-maintenance preppers
- A satisfied life
- 12 ways to save money on groceries
- Using up the stockpile
Interesting that no one has chosen to comment yet. Maybe they are all at Walmart looking for toilet paper. All I want to say is how grateful I am to have found you years ago, and that I took heed of your long ago advice about the EF you can eat (groceries). My DF and I are in good shape thanks to the food stockpile and have not needed to participate in the pandemic of panic at the grocery store. Thank you for all you have done for me and for thousands who have read and heeded your sage advice. Be well and prosper (frugally).
Awww, thanks.
Excellent post, as always. I just take issue with one statement you made.
The idea of “flattening the curve” is designed to slow the rate of novel coronavirus infections, not, I believe, the ultimate number of people infected. This effort will hopefully prevent our healthcare system from being overwhelmed, as it is right in Italy. Italy has been forced to employ battlefield triage principles in deciding who gets care and who doesn’t, This a truly frightening prospect, especially if you’re in one of the “high risk” groups.
I believe the ultimate percentage of people who will contract the virus is projected to be anywhere from 30% to 60% of the population. Fortunately, most of them will not become seriously ill. By “flattening the curve”, those who do become seriously ill will be able to obtain care – provided they don’t all need hospitalization at the same time.
Right you are! Thanks for the heads-up.
DH & I were just having a conversation yesterday about what you so eloquently point out in this post. The current climate is a perfect example about the rewards of living a frugal lifestyle. While the stock market fluctuations are terrifying, the reality is that years of living below one’s means provides stability & calm during economic crisis.
Hear, hear.
My retirement account balance has dropped, noticeably. I swear I’m not going to check it again until six months from now.
Not checking mine either. Also a bit concerned about our pensions who derive their gains from investments. We are preppers so will not go hungry and a able to isolate mostly. I am a volunteer firefighter so was concerned about medical calls, but I think our County has a plan that will go into effect in a few days to have only special teams respond to those calls to limit exposure and to have the proper attire supplies available to them. We certainly don’t have them. Can’t have all your firefighters on a 14 day lockdown at once!
Agree with that!
My work hours prevented me from getting to any stores before the panic shopping began. When I got home and checked my supplies I decided I can wait for days or a week to shop. I have limited storage space. but keeping basic supplies on hand is keeping me from panicking or shopping for now. I started keeping track of what I have and what meals I can make from those ingredients a few years ago. I can’t imagine living any other way.
A well-stocked pantry makes me feel calm. And safe.
Thanks for reading, and for leaving a message.
Thank you, Donna, for your calm, measured perspective and your wonderful way with words. There are several things I have noticed and thought about the past several days. I don’t know if it’s because of where I live, but I haven’t noticed what I’d call “panic.” Yes, a lot more people out shopping, and yes, a lot of empty shelves, but to me that makes sense. If a person believes that there’s a chance of having to be isolated for two weeks, it makes sense to buy what is needed to deal with it. Multiply that by tens of thousands of people, and that’s where we are. The corona virus may not directly impact the need for toilet paper, but if a person can’t get out, it makes sense to have enough on hand. If schools are closed, and ours are at least for one week, school, it makes sense to buy more food if the kids usually get their lunches at school. With the exception of ONE annoyed shopper talking about “hoarders” on her cell phone, I have only encountered friendly, courteous people waiting patiently in line. I am grateful for that. Not realizing that there was a line behind me, I accidentally got ahead of someone in one store. I was mortified as soon as I realized it and apologized, but she wasn’t the least bit upset. I did go to the back of the line. The freezer in our refrigerator chose to go out this past Wednesday night, so we had to buy a new refrigerator, have it delivered, get rid of the bad and suspicious food, and restock. I am grateful that we were able to do that. Finally, I am grateful to all those who work so hard in our grocery stores and supermarkets. They work hard in the best of times, and this has been such a challenge for them. My mother was a cashier, and I have a soft spot in my heart for those who work in our stores. I realize that this is a long post, but I thought that it was important to say. I hope that we all learn the lessons that we’re supposed to learn from this and don’t just go back to “business as usual.”
Well said!
And I, too, hope we learn something from this. However, I doubt many people will. Case in point: previous recessions that, when ended, did not lead to smarter money habits overall.
I’m hoping my job stays stable. We will probably be affected as a small company and with supply line issues. Of course my retirement funds will be affected but I don’t need it for about 15 yrs. Luckily gardening and chickens is what we do for a hobby so we can use the eggs and produce to help out if money is tight.
I am retired and am in good shape with food and household goods, mainly because I try to keep enough to get by in case of power outages(common in our area), tropical storms, hurricanes, etc.-all possibilities on the Texas coast. Went to church this morning, attendance was light but I was glad to be able to go. We are playing it day by day in the Houston area as far as the amount of lockdown. Meanwhile, I noticed on my neighborhood Facebook page that many younger women are volunteering to shop for older residents who don’t feel they can get out. My hope is we will all learn something from this experience on being prepared, frugality, and being a good neighbor.
We’ve had a lot of changes lately (required WFH, then the schools closing. All activities for the kids being cancelled, including the library.) It will be a challenge to keep everyone on track & not going stir crazy, but like you, we feel lucky that we have the resources we need. We have food, we are in good health, and we have plenty of financial options. Given that, we want to help others.
Excellent post Donna!
Why, thank you!
Is it wrong that when you mentioned toilet paper stockpiling, I immediately thought of your daughter’s Black Friday stock-up of the stuff?
I mostly stay home anyway, so I haven’t felt directly afected except that I haven’t been to church the past two weeks. MrH said there were maybe twenty people there last week. He stayed home this week, less from concern than because it’s been a busy few weeks for our family and he wanted to sleep in.
We don’t stockpile, but we do try to keep staples on hand, both because of hurricane season and because it helps if I can cook meals without having to send MrH or our sons to the store. I’m a little annoyed that I was getting low on rice and dried beans and the stores have been out for the last couple weeks. But if that’s my biggest worry, well. We’re not about to starve.
I’m less worried about the Corona virus than potential panic and hysteria. I think canceling or postponing large gatherings and a soft quarantine (stay home as much as possible, avoid social contact for a couple weeks) is a good idea. It may help nip flu season in the bud, too.
Stay safe, everyone! We’re going to be okay.
Yep, Abby’s hall closet is stuffed with packages of toilet paper. She’s set for months, and indeed has been since Black Friday.
Our household is in good shape to wait this out. I did shop on Friday and picked up an extra gallon of milk, more eggs, and potato chips (comfort food!) in case we need to wait this out. My fellow shoppers were polite and respectful of one another. Kindness is evident and people reach out through social media to help out.
Like most, my 401k is damaged and I don’t want to look at it now. But I believe we will get through this, hopefully kinder and wiser.
I am not Mormon but I have always admired their emphasis on being prepared and so we have at least six months of goods to keep us. I didn’t do this all at once, for a few years I would buy at least one can or box of something for the storage cupboard, in addition to our regular shopping list. Now it is more a matter of rotating things, so use something from our stockpile and replace it with a newer can of box of stuff. And we have a huge garden, so I dehydrate and can and freeze like crazy in August. My parents were in the camps and then a displaced person camp for two years, waiting to emigrate to some country that would take them in after the war. I grew up on stories of longing for good food and toilet paper. I grew up with cases of TP hidden everywhere and I am afraid I carry on the tradition. I feel happier knowing we have a lot of it, so we started this panic with 20 cases already! Now that people are buying it for the possible stay at home period, I can leave them to the current supplies, content in using my own supplies!
I think the actions/suggestions of the various government agencies seem over the top, but we’ll never know. If they work, we’ll have less of an epidemic but then we will hear complaints that they over-reacted—precisely because the warnings worked. If they did nothing and thousands died, people would wonder why they didn’t enforce more limits on social gatherings. This is one instance of damned if the government does and damned if it doesn’t. After reading that article in the NY Times by the Italian who said they all snorted and complained and the government did not act until it was too late and now they are triaging who gets the respirators in the hospitals and who is left to die for lack of those machines.
My stockpile of some things is down due to health issues the past few months, but we have at least a week’s worth of toilet paper. The big freezer died last summer and we haven’t replaced it, so we may need to get meat at some point. DH went out to get milk on Friday and went to Quickcheck to avoid the panic buying. It’s more expensive, but worth what I call the convenience tax. Even if something is a bit more expensive where I’m at than someplace else, I might pick it up to save to trip. If I go to one the big box stores for milk, I usually come home with $60 worth of other stuff.
This weekend, after seeing/hearing reports of the grocery store frenzy…..I happily looked around my kitchen and thought I could eat for a few weeks on what I had on hand without shopping! My niece works at Publix, our largest grocer, and she reported it is 100 times worse than when a Hurricane is approaching!
Just before this went crazy, I pulled the trigger on new flooring installation with a local company (that I had been saving for) – hoping that will help stimulate the local economy 🙂
Last night I went to the local Tastee Freez and bought $50 worth of gift cards. Won’t use them right away because it’s takeout-only in all Anchorage restaurants, and I prefer to eat my meals hot. (Also like to be able to refill my soft drink.)
Point is, this particular restaurant has been very good in terms of community engagement. Every year it donates articles to my nephews’ school auction, it collects turkeys for the food bank and keeps them in the freezer until Thanksgiving, and so on. It hires a lot of very young kids (14 is when you can get working papers), which lets them learn the joy of having your own paycheck. So I wanted to support them in a small way until things get back to normal.
Next up: Gift certificates to Harley’s Old Thyme Cafe, where my friend Linda B. and I have lunch every week.
My favorite remark about the pandemic is from my daughter in law.
“America has a new currency……toilet paper.”
Love, love, love it.
I just filed for unemployment. I’m a cashier, and we are closed due to the pandemic running through. We are going to have to do some juggling to make up for the lost income. I do have a full freezer, so that will help. As you said, we would be in a worse position had we not started paying down debt already. This is not going to be fun for anyone though.
You’re right: A person can get through just about anything, but that doesn’t mean it will be enjoyable.
Now that you’re home, are there any long-delayed chores you wanted to tackle — cleaning closets, shredding old paperwork, organizing the garage? Staying busy will not just keep your mind off worst-case scenarios, it will remove those nagging thoughts of, “Dang it, I really must do something about that (whatever).”
You could also think about ways to make the most economical (and tasty!) meals possible with the food that’s available. Plenty of recipes online, especially the retro ones from wartime.
Glad you can get unemployment, at least. It’s something.
Thanks for reading, and for leaving a comment.
Like others, my 401k took a hit but I’m healthy and I’m grateful to my company for allowing work from home. I have a decent stockpile of food, hygiene products and books to read. I’m very lucky.
But it broke my heart to see elderly people limp into the stores in search of TP and medications people had already snatched up. So many of the elderly have such limited resources and ability to get out into the world.
Members of my Buy Nothing Facebook group were offering to shop for anyone (including the elderly) who couldn’t make it into the stores. Apparently this is happening elsewhere as well. I hope people continue to be kind after this has all blown over.
Not holding my breath, mind you. Just hoping.
Thanks for reading, and for leaving a comment.
Great article Donna!
Why, thank you.
I have lived by The Pantry Principle ever since I read about it in “The Tightwad Gazette”. It does give me comfort that we can eat well for a long time if need be. The only shopping I’ve done since this came on is for a few perishables. I happened to have plenty of TP on hand, and had even purchased some paper towels recently, which is a rare splurge for me, so no need to resupply or stand in long lines.
As for account balances, I haven’t looked and don’t intend to. At some point very soon, I will finally fund our 2019 Roths. While I’m at it, I’ll do 2020 too.
In the meantime, I am working on an incredibly difficult Photomosaic jigsaw puzzle, purchased for $1.00 at my favorite thrift shop. I still have a big pile of new-to-me puzzles to work through, if I ever finish this one.
We are still amazingly privileged, and I am so very grateful.
Liz Weston calls it “the emergency fund you can eat.”
Excellent one Donna!
Yes Corona is an Challenge to Every Countries and now we all should recover ASAP, Countries economy is the main thing right?