Another Shutdown… Now What?
Yep, it appears as if this is becoming something we, as government employees and families, can count on. Seeing as this is the longest shutdown on record, with no current end in sight, let’s talk about How to Survive the 2019 Government Shutdown. Regardless of your political views, or if you’re furloughed or working without pay, we’re all at a point where times are tight, financially. The average American family lives paycheck-to-paycheck and the burden of a government shutdown without savings on hand is scary and overwhelming. It’s 100% out of our control when the government will reopen and we’ll return to receiving those hard earned paychecks, so let’s control what we can in the meantime.
It’s time to save where you can, cut any costs that are pure luxuries, consider selling household items you’ve been holding onto for far too long, and maybe even pick up a side job.
Ways to Save Money
1. Reevaluate monthly subscriptions
While this might seem silly, those $9.99 subscriptions begin to add up! What was once a way to unchain ourselves from the cable company has turned into spending almost as much monthly between all of the providers. Maybe one or two of those can go, at least for the time being.
2. Ditch the Restaurants
One surefire way to hold onto your money is to limit the amount your family eats out… if not remove it completely until the government shutdown is over. Pack lunches for work, bring your own coffee from home, and get busy making dinner!
3. Meal Plan
Start with taking a full inventory of your pantry, cabinets and freezer. You’ll want to strategize your meal planning recipes around what you already have on-hand in order to stretch that money as far as you can. You’ll be surprised what full meals you can pull together with minimal ingredients needed from the store.
Try to think of meals you like to make that blend into others, and use your leftovers for that! And don’t forget to add in a leftover night. This will help you on having to cook that night, as well as needing to budget out for another meal. Try out my Stuffed Cabbage Rolls, Meatball Subs, and General Tao Chicken dinner recipes for some ideas! One of my favorite meal planning resources is Once A Month Meals. They have a monthly service available, but I prefer to use their free recipes instead.
4. Free Family Fun
Search your local Facebook pages and community newsletters. Free family events are constantly going on in your community, you just have to look. The library is a great place to start. Search ‘things to do in …..’ and you’ll be amazed at what pops up.
5. Have a Sale
You know that ever-growing list of things you plan to sell? W
6. Get a Side Hustle
Do you have any skills you can use to earn a few extra bucks? Maybe you fix things, repurpose furniture, dabble in photography, or make hair accessories for little girls? Other great areas for fast (and relatively easy) cash are babysitting, delivering pizzas (if that’s a thing in your area), and dog walking. The options really are limitless, you simply have to decide what you are willing to do. Have you ever thought about starting your own gig but haven’t quite had the courage? Well there’s no time like the present!
7. Pay Your Priorities
In the words of Dave Ramsey, you take care of your 4 walls first. Those are house, food, utilities and vehicle. If you’re stressing about credit card payments, let them sit until payday arrives. They are NOT your core priorities and they will be waiting for you when this is all over. I promise.
It’s Up to You
As much as we all need our hard earned checks from our “stable and safe” government jobs, this is all up to us individually. Nobody is going to ride in on that white horse to save you or me, we have to do it ourselves and for our families. As frustrating as all of this is, it will end eventually and the government shutdown will be over… until next time. So take a breath knowing this is all temporary. Do what you can while we’re in the thick of it and bust your butt to make ends meet. It will end and when it does, you can work on building your emergency savings. We can’t avoid this because it’s beyond our control but we can control how badly it hits the next time a government shutdown strikes.
Is the government shutdown hitting your family financially? What is helping you get through this tough time?
