If there's one thing that the recent COVID-19 pandemic taught us, anything can occur at any time, and we can't predict what will happen. People lost loved ones, businesses went out of business, and incomes dropped, so everyone could see how bad and destructive the pandemic was.

5 Financial Planning Tips To Help You Through The Stormy Weather

Not only that, but COVID-19 makes things worse in the long run. The economy of the whole world is going into a severe recession. There are thousands of businesses going out of business, millions of people losing their jobs and almost 70% pay cuts. The truth is that this is not the best time. There is a big threat to people's ability to pay their bills.

In this unpredictable, worsening time, it is important to be careful. Managing your money well might be the best and most useful thing you can do to prepare for a worsening future. Putting money away for "rainy days" can help you deal with problems and stay financially stable. Here are some hints on how to keep the money for bad times.

Start a separate bank account for emergencies

It's easy to get excited about spending money and not save anything. For this reason, it might be a good idea to have a separate bank account for "rainy days." You must choose a certain amount and put it in your "rainy day" bank account every month.

The amount may be a fixed dollar or a share of your monthly salary. Remember that this account should only be used to save for rainy days and not for anything else. Let's say you run out of money for a short time for any reason. In that case, you should consider your choices before taking money out of your emergency fund.

You can also find a provider to help you get a loan quickly. But you should still open a bank account even if you can't save money right now. The most important thing is that you want to save. Once you decide what to do, you'll start saving slowly.

Make saving a habit

As was already said, saving money can be hard at first, especially if you are used to buying things. But here, commitment is very important. Start putting away everything you can, no matter how little. Once you get into the routine of saving, you need to force yourself to keep it up.

Remember that saving becomes much easier once it becomes a habit. Consistency is very important, especially when you're just starting. All you have to do is save a certain amount each month. With automatic savings, it will be much easier to stay on track.

Automated savings help you save money based on your needs, put money away without thinking, and set up an emergency fund quickly. Start setting aside a certain amount of your investment income, save your tax refund, split your direct deposit, and use a credit card that gives you cash back.

On time, pay your bills

The best managing money tip you will ever get is to pay your bills on time. When you make payments on time, your credit score goes up, and eventually, you'll be able to get bigger loans. Also, the interest rate on your credit card account will go down. You also don't have to charge a late fee or penalty, which saves you money. This habit lets you waste money on things you don't need and keeps you from being stressed out.

 

Also, consider using a debit card instead of cash to pay your monthly bills. The problem with credit and debit cards is that you might have to pay high-interest rates if you only make the minimum payment amount every month. These interest rates sometimes cost more than the total cost and worsen things. On the other hand, debit cards don't have extra fees and only start charging you for what you buy.

Budgeting

We can't say enough about how important budgeting is. Budgeting is a great way to see how responsible you are and be ready for bad times. It maintains you from spending money you don't have on things you don't need. It lets you think about how you waste money and lets you concentrate on your financial goals.

Also, making a budget helps you stay cognizant, pay off debt, prepare for taxes, and set goals. If you don't make a budget, you might not have enough money for an emergency, you might not be able to get money to invest, or you might not be able to get a loan.

Budgeting can be very hard to understand. Setting up a budget is easier if you know how the economy works, consider all incomes, consider long-term needs, and overestimate expenses. You might want to use a spreadsheet to keep track of your monthly costs.

If you don't require that, you can buy budgeting software to do all the math and show you how much you've spent and saved. Also, the 50/20/30 rule for budgeting might be useful to you. The formula says you should spend 50% of your revenue on necessities, save 20%, and spend 30% on extras.

Eliminate Credit Card Numbers from Online Accounts

Online shopping has become popular, and many apps and websites offer ways to pay online and save information to make it easy to buy again. When you don't have to re-enter your credit card information and other information, it's easy to spend more. All you have to do is put things in your shopping cart and click "checkout."

But having your card info saved on multiple online accounts will only make you want to buy more things you don't need. This is why removing your bank account information from websites and apps is important if you want to control how much you spend. When you have to re-enter your information, it gives you time to think about whether you want to buy something and often makes you give up.

Conclusion

You can have more money in two main ways: spend less or start making more. And we all understand that spending less is much easier than making more. Still, it's hard for people to save money. It's mostly because most people don't save money regularly or with much dedication.

Either they don't save money regularly, or they continue to spend cash from their emergency funds on things that aren't emergencies. So, to save money more effectively, be consistent and sure of what you want to do, and the rest will fall into place.