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cutting costs at home

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In the wake of the recent job losses due to COVID-19, the country is seeing more unemployment claims than ever. Unemployment offices are completely overwhelmed and those making these claims are facing outlandishly long wait times, either in person or over the phone.

Though the government is working on a stimulus package, it may take some time for people to receive their checks, not everyone qualifies, and some may qualify for less money than they’d anticipated.

Our economy relies on people leaving their homes—something we’re very much not allowed to do right now. The delicate string of dominos holding us all together completely collapses, one after the other, when we’re all ordered to stay indoors. My dad makes money as a private lender, but, right now, with several of his borrowers working at brick-and-mortar locations that have sent their employees home, his borrowers can’t make money, they can’t pay my dad his monthly interest, and he’s having to make appeals to his credit card company for late payment forgiveness. Just like that, the closure of one business impacted three people or operations.

Without income, a lot of us are having to make cost cuts. And, again, that’s another way the dominos keep falling. If I’m no longer getting my monthly treat of a massage at the little spa down the street, they lose that money. But then again…they are closed right now. The point is that many individuals have to pay for just the essentials right now. If you’re one of them, you may have overlooked some of the non-essentials you’re still shelling out cash for. Every dollar counts if you’re looking at paying rent or a mortgage for months without an income. Here are costs to cut during the COVID-19 economy shutdown.

cutting costs at home

Source: urbazon / Getty

Gym membership

Considering that the gyms are closed in most places right now, there’s not much of a point of keeping that membership going. Hopefully, gyms that are shut down aren’t currently charging monthly fees. But if you are paying for a gym you aren’t using, it could be time to cancel that. Even if they threaten that it’ll be far more expensive to join when you come back, I promise it won’t be.

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