How to Live Well on Less in Pandemic

Pandemic has certainly put restrictions on our life style. Things we took for granted previously like meeting friends, going places or simply out and about…all of them have come to a screeching halt. Experts of  health, finance and politics are issuing warnings left, right and center. Forecasts predicts downward gloom and  recession of the worst kind in coming years. Everyone is scrambling these days- to keep their poise, maintain their finances and plainly put, not to lose their shit in these troubling phase of COVID 19.

RELATED: How to Save Money on your Home Office

Times are tough. What can we do to salvage ourselves? Well,  a broad question demanding a deep insightful answer. A measly blog post might not cover it at all. Instead I want to focus on Money. Yes, something we really need to get by in life. It is easy to give you facts based financial strategies that can work if you put in the work. It is also nice to have some control over that aspect when everything else is slipping by with no rhyme or reason, right?

That being said, no one said it is easy to follow through these tips. But information is power and you need all of it to keep your head above the water. For now. So let’s dig into ways on how we can cut some tiny corners and save a few dollars here and there.

How to Live Well on Less in Pandemic

While learning how to live on less income, you might come across some difficult times. However, the benefits, in the long run, are well worth the time you put in when it comes to saving more money. With the recession incoming, many people find that their hours have been cut or they have been laid off and need to find some ways to cut expenses. Here are some ways you can live well on less income.

RELATED: How to Save Money on Grocery Shopping

Needs Come First

If you want to live well on less income, you will have to stick to meeting your needs before you decide to deal with wants. You need to have a roof of some kind over your head at all times and have food on your table to prevent mal-nutrition from happening. You also need clothes, and I don’t mean the expensive designer jeans. After all you want to live well on less income. If you need some clothes, you can always find designer jeans at goodwill or another thrift store if you look hard enough. Being thrifty is cool! 

Stick To The Budget

I can’t stress this enough.

Often people have a hard time sticking to the budget they have set to make sure all the monthly bills are paid. If you find that you are spending more than you make, you need to cut some monthly expenses you don’t really need. If you have a cell phone, you really don’t need it. After all, the average cell phone bill is $90 a month, and you can get a home phone for $25 each month. You also wouldn’t need three hundred channels if you only watch like ten channels when you get home at night, so why not save some money and cut the cable bill. If you visit your local community college, you will find that they offer classes on how to budget your money, after all, it will be worth it in the end.

RELATED: 4 Tips for Effective Financial Self care

Grow Your Own Food

When you start a garden, you need to decide on what you want to grow and if you want to plant some fruit trees. If you find that you want to live well on less income, this is one of the best ways to do so, and it saves you a lot of money. With the cost of fruits and vegetable sky-high in some areas, wouldn’t you be better off knowing where your food is coming from and keeping the green in your pocket?

I realize this one is a little tricky to implement in winter. Consider plants that can be grown indoors, that way you will have home grown fruits and veggies all year long! Get your inner gardener to unleash her green thumb.

RELATED: 12 Secrets to Growing Amazing Tomato Plants

Idea is to find new ways to save money to ensure you have something saved up for a rainy day. Go creative in coming up with  activities/decisions that will put a few bucks back in your wallet. Exploring is half the fun. And actioning it is the other half. Not to mention the sense of accomplishment you feel after all said and done is incomparable.

I admit these strategies of living well on less might not make you rich. But it will help you weather the storm of Pandemic recession that is upon us. And it will also help you pick up some good habits along the way. And who knows, it might even become part of your life style post COVID 19.

Good luck and take care everyone.