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Stimulus and Confusion

April 15th, 2020 at 11:27 am


This week has been rough, work is very stressful. I’ve got to learn to let things go. This is not my organization.

Financial news, my stimulus/loan hit my account today, $1200. I added this to my emergency fund. I also, received the check from my side gig (last week) and decided to pay my car insurance for three months, saving me about $16.

Though I’d really like to tackle my CC right now, a part of me is telling me to save. Save as much as I can, and pay minimum payments on bills. I’m so confused about what I should do. Save, pay debt, save pay debt.

My student loans payment automatically stopped.

I’m just confused 🥴

Posted in Emergency Fund, Debt | 9 Comments »

9 Responses to “Stimulus and Confusion ”

  1. mumof2 Says:
    April 15th, 2020 at 01:16 pm 1586952996
    1586952996

    put some into savings and some onto your CC debt...if worse comes to worse then you will still have the CC to use if you get desperate...good luck

  2. latestart Says:
    April 15th, 2020 at 01:29 pm 1586953792
    1586953792

    I am saving mine. In fact I have stopped paying anything but the minimum on my debt (mortgage and Helco). I pay my credit cards off every month. I say follow your gut.
    When things settle down to the new normal you can always pay down your debt at that time.

  3. Smallsteps Says:
    April 15th, 2020 at 02:17 pm 1586956644
    1586956644

    I think you should do what you feel comfortable with.
    When the student loan payment stopped does Interest still apply?
    It would be a shame if even though people may need relief in bills now, after this is over the situation is worse.

    I think many are saving in liquid type accounts but I can't seem to stop paying extra. I just lowered my extra payments.
    Mortgage for example I have been paying an extra 200 I cut it back to 40-50 and so I am still rolling along just at a slower pace.
    No one has a crystal ball to know where things might go.

  4. Amber Says:
    April 15th, 2020 at 04:10 pm 1586963441
    1586963441

    Hi SmallSteps,

    The student loan interest stops as well

  5. creditcardfree Says:
    April 15th, 2020 at 04:47 pm 1586965654
    1586965654

    While I love to see people pay off debt, I do think these are unprecedented times as far as jobs may be concerned. Therefore, I do not think it is wrong to pay minimums and stockpile cash for now. If you can consider tracking what is 'extra' and plan to use it to pay down debt when things settle down. Your instinct is your guide.

    The only downside is that some of your debt will continue to climb. That is the price you pay for having debt and holding on to the cash.

    I talked to a friend whose husband is almost to VP level at an engineering firm. His job is changing, if he doesn't take the new position (2 hours away) he will not have a job. It's probably going to pay more in the end, but it has definitely changed their world and they are thankful for the job. There really be a lot of shifts are the economic parts of this play out.

  6. Lots of Ideas Says:
    April 15th, 2020 at 05:32 pm 1586968359
    1586968359

    Amber does your credit card statement show you what you pay in interest each month?

    I am in the group that says keep paying your credit card off because you have an emergency fund. You ‘save’ money that way because you are lowering the total interest you will pay, and credit cards charge ridiculous interest.

    If the worst happens, you have credit and you could charge most of your expenses (not mortgage, but there might be forbearance for that). Perhaps look into what of your bills you have to use cash for, and make sure your emergency fund plus the uninsurance you would cover them for three or six months.

    I know you are not ready for this step yet, but I pay almost all my monthly bills via a cash back credit card each month and I ‘make’ about $50 a month from this. Finding out which of your bills would be eligible for this might be a first step for you. (I pay in full each month of course!)

    For your student loans, I agree with the interest meter not running, you should redirect that money. I think to the credit card, but if you think saving it would feel better, that’s a good plan too.

  7. jp Says:
    April 15th, 2020 at 05:47 pm 1586969253
    1586969253

    My suggestion, Amber, would be to redirect the student loan payment to the credit card (as long as you are 100% sure the interest meter is not running!) in addition to paying the minimum, and save everything else. Set it aside in a separate account to just sit there. If you come to need it, it's there and once we're out of this, it's still there waiting for you to dump on the debt. These are truly different times, so different approaches need to be taken.

  8. FrugalTexan75 Says:
    April 16th, 2020 at 02:29 am 1587000582
    1587000582

    What if you did a 50-50 approach? Put 50% of what you'd want to send to debt in a separate holding fund, and send the other 50% to your credit card. This way you are keeping a cash position, but also reducing your debt. When things look more stable, then you can throw all the holding funds at debt.

  9. Lucky Robin Says:
    April 16th, 2020 at 05:10 am 1587010204
    1587010204

    I've been wavering on that, too, but I am leaning heavily towards saving right now. My thinking is that if things get much, much worse I will have that money in the EF, and if things get much, much better, I can go ahead and take the money I saved and pay it off. I would still like to make some kind of payment each month, but I am going to wait until May and play things by ear. If they get that antibody test out and people can start getting back to work who have already had it, things could turn on a dime.

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