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Nervous

April 17th, 2020 at 11:03 am


This is tough for me but I decided to hoard cash and only pay the minimum on my debt. Though I think/feel like my job is stable, with this pandemic, things can change over night.

I reached out to our controller, after reading an article that the loans for small businesses had reached its cap. He was always adamant that there is a possibility that the organization wouldn’t get it, as with I, but just to read about it, it did something to me. Our organization’s loan application and backup documents are in, at this time we are just waiting.

Then a friend of mine, who has a small business, was in the middle of underwriting when he received an email, his loan was denied due to depleted Paycheck Protection funds. He actually shared the email. This is so heartbreaking, as well as my validation to save more aggressively now.

Honestly I’m nervous about food. I went on Walmart Sunday, and the shelves were empty, no eggs, milk, orange juice, nothing.

I know we’re told not to hoard things, but I’m heading into the grocery store today to get a few perishable items, and water. We’re heading into hurricane season, and if we have an active season, with this pandemic, only God knows what will happen.

For the most part I feel good but I can’t help but be nervous.

Posted in Emergency Fund, Debt | 10 Comments »

10 Responses to “Nervous ”

  1. Stephanie Says:
    April 17th, 2020 at 11:58 am 1587121096
    1587121096

    I live in the Jacksonville area and have noticed more canned and box goods on grocery store shelves than in prior weeks. I worry about flour, sugar, meat, poultry, etc. I am not "hoarding" but I do buy an 2 of an item if I am lucky to find it.

    I fortunately have an "essential" job and my paycheck continues. I've been stretching the dollars so that I can support my church and favorite charities. I have friends that are waiting for unemployment to kick in. Once it does, they are supposed to receive state dollars plus the $600 per week from the federal government. They will actually receive more money per week than they would earn on a regular basis. I tell them to live frugally while they can.

    I understand your worries. I would save my dollars too. I pray that all turns out ok. Stay safe, stay healthy!

  2. LifeBalance Says:
    April 17th, 2020 at 12:31 pm 1587123100
    1587123100

    I think it's okay to plan for the worst while you hope for the best. It's not unhealthy. It gives you peace of mind to have an EF and a food stash to know you'd be okay in terrible circumstances that probably won't happen. I'm learning exactly the same lesson now. For the food stash I don't worry about milk-bread-eggs. Those aren't the healthy life sustaining foods I think we'd need. My boys do disagree with me. They think it warrants an 'emergency' trip to the store when we run out of milk.

  3. Carol Says:
    April 17th, 2020 at 01:31 pm 1587126684
    1587126684

    Amber, I think you might feel better if you made a plan for food just as you made a plan to buy your home and pay off debt. I don't know what you like to eat; for us, our comfort food are pasta dishes. I also like soups. They can make a lot, especially for a single person. However, if you made 2 different 4-6 serving soups or casseroles, you'd be okay for the better part of a week.( Or just had the ingredients in the house.) For examp!e: Tuna noodle casserole really stretches a can of tuna. Jessica Fisher has a popular online blog: " Good, Cheap Eats" with lots of good ideas.

  4. creditcardfree Says:
    April 17th, 2020 at 01:57 pm 1587128248
    1587128248

    Great points by all of the ladies above! Fear should be a motivator to take action, not freeze. So what could you do that would help ease your worries? Slowly stocking up on non perishables? I know that if I had to I could eat and live on rice, beans and oatmeal. I would not like it long term, but I could do it. Figure out what would give you a little more peace.

  5. Lots of Ideas Says:
    April 17th, 2020 at 06:02 pm 1587142923
    1587142923

    Amber this may not be true in your area but I am having good luck getting milk, bread, and eggs at CVS. I don’t buy juice, but they have that, and also canned soup. Their prices are reasonable, especially if you have a reward card.

  6. terri77 Says:
    April 18th, 2020 at 01:53 am 1587171199
    1587171199

    I think it’s a good idea to build up your cash cushion right now.

  7. Lucky Robin Says:
    April 18th, 2020 at 06:11 am 1587186717
    1587186717

    Amber, get what you need and get it now and stop worrying about hoarding. You need to do what you can to protect yourself right now. If this gets worse or gets bad again later in the fall like they think it will, do you want to be the person who worried about hoarding, or be the person who can feed yourself? I'm not saying buy a year's supply, but get yourself two months and if you can three months of food. You are the only person who will be taking care of you. The food banks are already overwhelmed and not being able to feed all of those in need. The processing facilities are closing down and affecting the supply chain. What is the worst that can happen? Do you want to be there for that worst? Or do you want to be home, safe, eating food that you planned ahead for? It's time to ask the hard question of what do I need to do to survive this in the best way possible for me?

  8. VS_ozgirl Says:
    April 18th, 2020 at 12:50 pm 1587210638
    1587210638

    If you feel saving cash will be better for your finances right now don’t feel bad - you can make whatever back up at a later point. Here in Australia we no longer have bare shelves thank goodness. The supermarkets put blanket 2 maximum purchase of any items. Now there is all meat available again, eggs, even toilet paper. I will say though don’t be afraid to try different stuff. For example all meat like beef and chicken was cleared out leaving turkey, ham and kangaroo (not eaten heaps here but we do eat it). We bought it because it is still meat (in fact turkey is yum!). You need to eat but when food is scarce you might need to switch it up a little if you can. Good luck, hope you find food that is ok and will last a bit and there are no hurricanes...

  9. disneysteve Says:
    April 18th, 2020 at 06:16 pm 1587230165
    1587230165

    There is a distinct difference between hoarding and preparing. If you're buying emergency supplies for the coming hurricane season, that's preparing. If, however, you're buying 500 rolls of toilet paper 'just in case' that's hoarding.

    Being prepared, whatever that means for each of us, helps reduce anxiety and lets up sleep better at night. That includes "hoarding" cash and beefing up our emergency funds.

  10. rob62521 Says:
    April 19th, 2020 at 07:14 pm 1587320063
    1587320063

    I think you are making the right decision to paying the minimum and holding back cash. As far as hoarding, I don't think you would be if you would pick up extra, only if you bought multiples of stuff like every can of green beans off the shelf, like a couple of cases. I am starting to build my pantry reserve up since things have loosen up some here. I'm doing it a couple of cans at a time, but I sort of wonder with farmers plowing under their crops since they cannot get them market, if there will be a shortage of canned goods due to more people hitting food pantries due to lack of work. I agree with what everyone else has posted above. Take care of yourself and I think DisneySteve defined the different between preparing and hoarding well.

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