How are you feeling about the current economic situation?
According to the economist who predicted the 2008 crash (He is now called Dr. Doom): we should expect a “long and ugly” recession in the US and globally occurring at the end of 2022 that could last all of 2023.
As a Financial Literacy Counsellor, here are the 4 ways that I’m getting ready for the recession:
I’m making sure that my budget is a true reflection of my income and expenses.
I see this all the time when clients start working with me – the budget that they use doesn’t have the correct income AND they also tend to leave out a bunch of things that they spend money on.
Of course, because of these discrepancies, it will be impossible to stick to the budget and then they say to me that they’re just not good at budgeting. It’s not that they’re not good at it, they just need a proper budget that reflects their true numbers.
Remember: having a budget and not sticking to it, is the same as not having a budget.
I am going through all my subscriptions and getting rid of the ones that I don’t need or use.
I recently went through this with a client, and we found out that she was spending about $1,200 a month on subscriptions. I usually say that having a budget with only “needs” is a boring budget, but in light of the impending recession, I believe it will be prudent to unsubscribe from the apps that we don’t need. This might mean that we have to put up with a few advertisements, but I feel that in the long run, we’ll be happy that we did.
Remember, this recession will not be permanent, things will get better.
I’m reducing my food bill.
On average, food prices in Canada have increased by about 10% and will probably go higher before it starts going back to normal.
Here are some of the ways that I’m reducing my food bill:
- Planning my meals around what is on special at the supermarket.
- Buying only what is needed as I find this avoids things going bad or expiring before I could use them.
- I’ve started buying my meats directly from a farm.
- One week every quarter, I go through my freezer and pantry and use up what I have. This challenges me to get creative and think out of the box.
- When fruits and vegetables are on sale, I buy extra and then freeze them.
I’m topping up my emergency fund.
Since the pandemic started, I have had to dip into my emergency fund many times. My focus now is to replenish it to what it needs to be i.e., the equivalent of 6 months’ income.
BONUS:
If you have consumer debt, you really need to get on a plan to start paying it down. It’s important that this plan doesn’t damage your credit. Depending on the amount and type of debt you’re carrying, this may not always be possible, but you want to avoid damaging your credit as much as possible. If you want help to get you ready to face this imminent recession, please check out
my Prosperity Circle Intensive Group Program. It’s designed specifically for women who are ready to change their relationship with money so they can live the life they want to live, even in these crazy economic times.
It’s a 90-day (13 weeks) group program where we meet on Zoom once a week. See here for next start date.
The cost is $600 a month for each of the 3 months of the program. This price includes the program as well as a private session with me. You can pay via credit card or e-transfer.
Here’s what you’ll walk away with:
- The confidence to ride the waves of these economic times and come out on the other side standing tall.
- An improved money mindset: move from a poverty/limiting belief mindset to one of growth and abundance.
- A Balanced Budget that is not only aligned with your values and goals but avoids you from going into debt, especially in these times.
- A Debt Repayment Plan that gets you debt free without damaging your credit.
- Two Net Worth Statements (one at the beginning and another at end of the program)
- A system for organizing your money that is personalized for how you function and work.
- Knowing your money beliefs and how to make them work for you.
- Learn how to apply post-traumatic growth principles to your money trauma.
- A Savings plan for your money.
If you would like to talk about how you too can get ready, please book a call here or email me.
