It seems that the world has gone crazy. Everything is closing, shutting down or being cancelled in a way we've never seen in our lifetime. If you aren't taking it seriously by now, you should be. I'm not talking about fear of getting the virus (although, that should not be discounted). I'm talking about the repercussions of what is happening in the world. I'm worried. Yes, starting to get frantic about the economic consequences. I can only imagine the stock market is going to continue to dive since everything is being closed. Can't make money if you aren't open, right?
Is your job recession proof? There aren't a lot of those types of jobs out there. My husband is a commercial printer. Yes, commercial. If the economy takes a hit, so will his hours. We are already in a bit a of a financial squeeze so I'm extremely worried about this. We likely won't see any repercussions right away. The jobs he is scheduled to do right now have been in the works for weeks. But some of them may start cancelling. And as the weeks go on there will be less and less orders. Am I catastrophizing? Yep, sure am. How can I not with the state of the world right now.
It's not just my own personal finances I'm concerned about. It's the economy as a whole which in turn leads to my own finances. Let's look at where we are. All major and minor sports have suspended their season. Disney World and Disneyland have been shut down for the rest of the month. Parades and celebrations are being cancelled. Broadway has shut down. There are travel bans. Would anyone even consider going on a cruise at this point? What does all this mean? It means no one is making any money. In fact, money is being lost every second. It will be tough for the airlines to survive after this. And in turn, get ready for much higher prices in the future. We all like a good deal and things to be affordable, but these companies need to make money in order to stay in business.
What to do, then? Take every precaution. Get enough food in the house to last a 2-week quarantine. I would get some cash out to keep on hand just in case you need it. Really think about your finances and determine if you and your spouses jobs are recession proof. If not, stop spending and start putting money away. As much as you can. It's not like you can spend a lot going out, nothing is open! Think about what you can do at home. How is your cable package looking? Do you have some great channels and streaming services because it looks like we will all be spending more time at home.
What can you do to make your time at home more enjoyable? Take some time to organize things. Clear the clutter and clean up the area. You know how it is after you've let things pile up for awhile and when you finally clean up it's such a nice feeling looking around at your clean, organized home. It looks so nice! If you don't already, put some things out in your area of view that you love. Maybe some fresh cut flowers, a favorite piece of art, candles. Make the area you are spending so much time in enjoyable, visually appealing. Start eating on the good china. Bring out the elegance. Dress up as if you are going out to dinner and have a private dinner party for your family. Make something fancy. Experiment a little with cooking and attempt something you've never tried before but always wanted to.
This is the time to surround yourself with all your favorite things. When you are snuggled up on the couch under your favorite throw or blanket, take notice of how comfortable you are. Drink from a fancy glass. Put on your favorite music and have a dance party. Does it all sound a little silly? Just try it and see how much fun you have. If it's really not your thing then pivot to something different but just be open to things you don't usually do to keep yourself entertained and occupied. Settle in to your home and really appreciate all the things you love about it.
It is cocktail Friday so my last piece of advice is to make sure you are stocked up on your favorite adult beverage. Focus on the positive during this tough time. Be smart but don't take things too seriously until you must. Go have a weekend and make today your best day yet!
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