Are You Prepared Financially For Coronavirus?

I learned from the financial crisis back in 2008 the importance of having enough money in savings.  Ever since then, I have been vigilant about keeping a heavy stash of cash in my emergency fund. 

When I had to have my hips replaced, the medical bills came to almost a year's worth of my living expenses.  Because I had read Suze Orman's book, I had enough money in my account.  She said that self employed people should have in savings enough money to meet their yearly expenses.  I had been slashing them by cutting out cable, taking the bus, walking, and cycling, growing my own food, cooking from scratch, and only buying needs.  I had also taken on a side job at a farm, selling produce in the mornings.  I would go to work at the dance/yoga studio in the afternoon and evening.  That extra $250.00 a week, plus the free produce, totally saved me.

When I closed my dance and yoga studio, it was because my profits had dropped 60%.  "It's mirroring the market," my father explained.  I ran the numbers, paid back all of my students, and quickly closed the doors.  I'm so glad that I didn't wait.  I knew the ship was sinking.  Many of my friends with studios stayed open and tried to make it.  They were flying to Korea to teach, working two jobs, and just making enough to pay their business rent.

Thanks to listening to Suze, things worked out for me.  The older I get, the more conservative I become, financially.  Her podcast today discusses the pandemic.  Here is the link.

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