The world economy is in a state of turmoil due to COVID-19 pandemic, leaving most of the population insecure about their jobs and finances. The financial anxiety is increasing at an alarming level during these tough times; it’s hard to make rational choices about the better ways to manage finances. However, making smart financial decisions by avoiding money mistakes are must to ensure your financial security in future. In this article, we are listing few tips to overcome financial crisis at a personal level.

→ Fuel up your emergency fund: Anyone can face an actual emergency such as a job loss or less income to pay regular bills. It is the right to beef up your emergency funds as financial experts’ advice to have three to six months worth of living expenses in your savings. Nowadays, when you are working from home, you can save so many bucks spent on the commuting, meals, and laundry towards your emergency funds. Moreover, you are unable to access any leisure activities like movies, restaurants, concerts etc., you can also put that money towards your fund.

→ Look on your spending habits: If you are insecure about your finances during this ongoing pandemic, have a closer look on your expenses. Try to spend on crucial expenses and cut down your unnecessary expenses to a minimum level. Your monthly bills have to be your priority, else can wait. Priorities essential utility bills like electricity, water, insurance premiums and loan EMIs. Look for a way to buy products in bulk for minimum price.

→ Get a loan to avoid immediate cash crunch: If you are a business person then you may have a disrupted cash flow as well as income disruptions to pay your employees and regular bills. Therefore, you can “Apply For Loan“ either personal or business depending upon your repayment capability to overcome this immediate cash crunch. However, taking a loan can be easier option these days, but consider it as a last resort. If you find that you will be unable to repay it easily then do not take on debt to worsen your current situation.

→ Opt for second income: Try to come up with some innovative ideas to earn extra income. You can take up freelancing projects, online part-time jobs or make your past time activity to earn for you like handcrafts, baking, chocolate making, culinary skills etc. The earnings from these projects can be small but this small proportion can add up to something very significant in future.

→ Do not sell your stocks: As the trending stock market crashes, it will tempting you to sell your stocks but history imparts that stock markets have always recovered over time, so do not react to it without having a word with any financial expert. Now, if you decided to sell your stocks, you will automatically lose the opportunity to participate in the market recovery. A panic stricken decision of selling your stocks may lead to significant money loss and you may fail to achieve your financial goals.

Nowadays, finance is one of the most significant aspects of every individual’s life that includes managing the finances, achieving financial goals, fulfilling financial requirements, family security, investments for retirement and last but not the least is saving. All these aspects depend upon one’s income, expenses, lifestyle and financial priorities but to achieve all this, you need one common thing i.e. financial planning. If you are already working on it and still can’t see any noticeable change then it’s high time to rectify your mistakes and layout the financial planning once again in 2021 to see your money growing.

Here are some of the corrections that you should make in your finances:

♦ Don’t let your money lie in savings: It is very common among people that they let their money lie in their savings account and proud of that which makes no sense at all. The fact is that money can’t grow sitting idle in savings account as it loses its value as inflation rates are higher than the interest it makes. If you invest your savings in other portfolios it can give you higher returns than interest rates give you annually. Keep in mind to choose your investment plan properly, as wrong decision can end up in loss.

♦ Plan a budget for investment: Till the time, you might have heard about laying out a monthly budget but to reach financial success, it is very important to plan an investment budget and it starts with evaluating your monthly expenses and savings. Always create an investment budget in such a way that the maximum saved funds are used to create more wealth. Ensure yourself not to invest all your savings as you may need some of them in emergency situations.

♦ Never get tempted by stock market: However the stock market yields biggest returns but it is advisable not to invest all your funds there because it can be quite risky sometimes which can cause you a huge loss. Therefore, to be on safer side, you should invest a minimum amount even after doing proper research. You should never get tempted to see others profit as most of the losses go unnoticed.

♦ Do a proper research and understand: Anyone who is a beginner, they shall take a time to learn about investment and its profits and losses. One should search for better investment options as per their requirement and investing capabilities. Many people are willing to invest but are unaware of using the funds in right way. Thus, before investing in any plan, it is crucial to know the performance of that portfolio in past years, offered interest, risk tolerance and investment amount allowed under that plan. It is always good to keep in mind the future scenarios and present requirements before starting the investment.

Hence, it is important to analyze your finances before planning your investment. Making an investment budget is one of the starting steps which every individual should include in their financial planning to reap maximum benefits. Never invest your money in one place and try to diversify your investment for better results.