Editor's note: the below blog post was originally sent as an email to our clients on April 1, 2020.
With the stay-at-home mandate in effect, you may have some extra time on your hands. How are you filling it? (According to Forbes research, most people are filling it with streaming services. I know there has been an uptick in my household, too!)
Remember all those things you said you'd do, if you only "had the time"? Was it working out, reading a book, learning a language, playing an instrument? If you said "budgeting", well then you're in luck! I've got just the thing.
(Narrator: nobody said budgeting.)
There are tons of great books and resources on budgeting. My favorite comes from Ramit Sethi at I Will Teach You to be Rich. More well-known are Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace and Total Money Makeover. Both are great. Check them out, and do something good with this free time!
I understand that your income and expenses are likely going to be affected by the coronavirus, and hopefully these changes are temporary. One of the first things Dave Ramsey, Ramit Sethi, and nearly every other personal finance advisor recommends is establishing an emergency fund. Many of ours will now put to the test! Use these budgeting tools to help navigate the next few months, and hopefully we can all come out stronger once the mandate is over.
Give me a call or email if you'd like more budgeting resources. I have books, free online tools, pdfs, and more that I would be happy to share at any time.
Stay healthy,
Marc R. Stasik, AIF®, MBA