Here are some Budgeting Tips
If you found yourself out of a job or face a steep wage cut, you must not despair. You must take control of your Finances even more now and follow a rigorous budget
Here are some budgeting tips for people who feel cash-strapped during this crisis.
Prepare a budget immediately
Understanding the current financial situation of his family, the first thing to do is list all the expenses of the previous three months, including grocery costs, utility bills, insurance premiums, dining and entertainment expenditure, education loan EMIs. Cut down on unnecessary expenses, including on non-essential shopping, watching movies at the theatre, and dining in restaurants. Some of these expenses would anyway not figure during the lockdown.
Get rid of dud investments
Review your portfolio carefully. Too many traditional insurance policies that you don’t need, consistently underperforming mutual funds, or a portfolio with too many liquid fund investments with negligible balances in each, but when combined make a tidy portion can be a contingency corpus in this situation.
Service your education loan
Ankit has an education loan to repay. In the month of May, after losing his job, he opted for a loan moratorium. In case he doesn’t get another job even after the moratorium period ends on August 31, 2020, the EMI will be an added burden on his savings. So, he plans to discuss with the bank regarding his financial situation. Prashant Bhonsle, Head Student Loan, and CMO, Incred says, “If the bank finds your application legitimate and claim to be genuine, it may extend your loan tenor. This will reduce the EMI burden immediately.”
Analyze your monthly and annual memberships
Cancel any membership and claim for a refund for any club memberships you may have. Given that sporting and group social activity would anyway be disallowed in these pandemic times, it makes sense to give up such memberships. The refund may be given after deducting charges. But it would still help your cashflows.
You might have paid software installed on your mobile phone or laptop. You would be charged on your credit card every month. If you haven’t used that paid software in the last three months, then consider opting for a free version. This will also save on recurring expenses.
Also, restrict yourself to one video streaming app. You could also check for a bundled plan with your mobile network service provider. For instance, Vodafone red post-paid customers can avail free subscription to Netflix for one year.
Use a cash-back scheme wisely
While shopping for monthly groceries and essentials, use the debit/credit cards, mobile wallets, or net banking services wisely. These days, there are multiple instant cashback schemes available on e-commerce websites while making payments digitally. Use these payment options as a priority instead of cash. You also get cash-back for paying utility bills (telephone, mobile, electricity, piped gas, etc.) on Paytm, Amazon pay, FreeCharge, etc.