Costs To Cut During The Coronavirus Lockdown

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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.

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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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Some entertainment subscriptions

Understandably, we all need something to watch right now when we’re staying home. But do you really need Hulu, Netflix, HBO, Showtime, and Amazon Prime streaming? There is more content than you can watch in a lifetime on just one of those. And all together, you could be spending easily $100 a month to have each one.

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Cable

Some may not like this, because you’re getting your news from cable. But…how is the news treating you? Some research has even found that news consumption can lead to depression and anxiety. Maybe just get the reader’s digest version from one online periodical you trust every day, rather than watching the doomsday reports that are on TV all day.

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Pet luxuries

Naturally, your pet needs the essentials like food, flea control, and medication. But perhaps you can start grooming Fido yourself. By the way, in place of expensive dog shampoo, you can just use baby shampoo—it’s nice and gentle on pets. A nail pet grinder can be $20, and saves you the cost of paying a professional $15 each time.

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Professional hair care

I’m dying my hair right now with $5 dye that I bought in a box at the pharmacy. Does it look amazing? No. Is anyone going to even see it while we’re on lockdown? Nope. I’ve been trimming my own hair, too. This brings the cost of that salon visit down from around $140 (with tip) to…$5! Or if you do want professional hair care, know that many stylists will come to your home and charge you a fraction of what they were charging at the salon—their usual price includes renting their chair and now they don’t have to pay that.

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Be a makeup minimalist

Nobody cares what you look like during quarantine. So you can probably do away with most of your usual beauty routine. I’m not wearing any makeup during this. I’m not painting my nails. I’m not putting on fake eyelashes. I’m not using brightening serums or using pricey exfoliating masks. I’d rather have money for groceries than flawless skin.

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Cut back on laundry

Doing laundry a lot can really add up. You’ll see it in your water and power bill. If you typically do laundry a couple of times a week, cut that out. It’s time to get a little resourceful, and maybe a little grimy. If your clothes don’t smell, don’t wash them. Also, perhaps cut back on all the jogging because it creates too much sweaty laundry, and you should shelter in place anyways.

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Get a better phone plan

Even if just for now, see if other phone companies offer first-year introductory deals or new customer discounts. You can probably reduce your data plan, too, since you’re mostly home now, so you can just use your home Internet to text and browse the web.

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Bring in a roomie

You’ll obviously want to make sure that roommate is healthy, given the current circumstances. But there are a lot of people out there looking to downsize their living expenses, who might be happy to sleep in your office or even on your couch for a couple of months for, say, $500 a month instead of the $1,500 they were paying for an apartment.

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Don’t drive

Don’t drive. You’re not really supposed to go anywhere right now anyways, right? If it’s safe, just walk to the store for groceries and other supplies. I personally spend around $100 to $120 a month on gas. So by not driving right now, that’s an extra $100 in my pocket.

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Scale down your car insurance

So, if you aren’t driving, then you’re probably paying for some elements of car insurance that you don’t need, right? If your car is just parked in your garage, there isn’t worry of, say, getting a flat tire. So do you need to pay for the tow service in your plan? If you aren’t driving, your car won’t be in the shop, so do you need to keep paying for the car rental included in your plan?

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Ask for rate deductions

If you have a car loan, credit card debt, student loans—call your lenders, tell them you’ve lost your job or been impacted by the coronavirus, and need help. Ask for a rate reduction. Ask for a payment deferral that won’t accrue late fees. Many financial institutions are ready to help.

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Monitor your thermostat

If you run your thermostat day and night, you’ll see a hefty power bill at the end of the month. It could be time to turn that thermostat to near room temp, and just bundle up. Light a fire if you have a fireplace. Unless you live somewhere with a severe winter, you can likely warm yourself sufficiently with clothes and blankets, and set the thermostat to 65.

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Plan a menu based on expiration dates

Don’t let a bite of food go to waste. Look at what you have. Plan a menu based on expiration dates, cooking the stuff that will expire soon immediately and pushing the other foods back. Buying foods that last a long time can help, too, and that doesn’t just have to mean canned or frozen stuff.

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Rent your parking spot

Whether you realize it or not, you pay for your parking spot. It’s included in your rent or your mortgage payment. Then there are others in town who don’t have a parking spot, and would gladly pay likely $100 to $200 a month to use yours. If you won’t be driving much now anyways, you can just find a good street spot for your car, move it on street cleaning days, and stop paying for your parking spot—have someone else rent it.