
I wasn’t going to write about COVID-19.
It’s hard to believe how much has changed in a short period of time. Things feel heavy and uncertain right now and if I am honest, I wasn’t sure if I had anything to contribute.
I’m still not sure if I do. But the only thing that felt stranger than writing about it was not writing about it and pretending things are still business as usual.
That’s just not the case.
How we’re doing
Jeff and I are both working from home.
I’m working out of the spare room, Jeff is set up in the living room, and both the cats are baffled as to why we are suddenly home all the time. As per the directive of our local government, we are practicing social distancing and staying home as much as possible.
We are absolutely privileged to be able to do this. I know there are a lot of people who are struggling right now. This situation…well, it sucks. There’s no other way to put it. If that’s you, I’m so sorry. I know words don’t mean a lot at this time, but it’s all I’ve got.
Changes we’re making while navigating the COVID-19 pandemic
There are five things that come to mind when I think of changes we’re making while navigating the COVID-19 pandemic.
We’re stopping our student loan payments
Earlier in the week, the federal government announced it would be freezing interest and payments on Canada Student Loans for six months as part of the COVID-19 pandemic aid package.
In any other situation, this would be a great opportunity to make a lot of progress toward paying it off.
But this is a unique situation.
So what’s the plan?
So long as the provincial government follows the lead of the federal government, we’re not planning to put a single cent on the student loan during that time. Instead, my plan is to stash away all the money that we would normally put toward the student loan with the idea that, once things start getting back to normal, we’ll use it to make a lump sum payment.
Why not just make the payments now? Because of how uncertain things are right now. Paying back debt is a priority for us, but where the loan will become interest-free…I don’t know. It makes more sense to me to have that cash available in the event of an emergency right now.
Which leads me to the next point.
We’re focusing on our emergency fund
Rebuilding our emergency fund to $5K was one of the projects I identified as part of our 2020 financial goals. Over the first two and a half months of the year, we put the majority of our “snowball” cash toward this goal, with the rest representing extra student loan payments.
Now, we’re going to focus solely on the emergency fund until it gets to $5K (and if I’m being honest, I’ll likely try to add a little more).
We’re looking for ways to help
I’m not going to get too far into this, primarily because I don’t want to come off like I’m virtue signalling. But I have started thinking about how we will be directing our giving in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Liz at Chief Mom Officer included a section outlining things you can do to help in this post. Considering the financial position we are in right now, we feel strongly the need to help where we can. #kindnessfightscovid
I’m relaxing my shopping ban (kind of)
This is not to say I’m planning to go on a digital shopping spree — that’s not the case. But as you’ll see when I share our March spending update…we did end up spending some money on things that might fall outside the scope of the ban.
Of course, the goal of the ban has never been perfection, although I have worked very hard to minimize my spending. I’m going to keep working on that, but I’m also not going to stress too much about the times when I fall short.
I’m forcing myself to disconnect
Not a personal finance item, but I think it’s important to note here.
I try not to talk about my job in this space (for a lot of reasons), so I’ll just say this: I work in an area that has been very involved in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. For the last several weeks, COVID-19 has been the main focus — and lately, the only focus. As a result, I have been spending a lot of time absorbed in the details.
And while I think it’s important to be informed, it’s also…well, it’s a lot. That is why this week I have been making it a priority to find ways to disconnect.
For me, that has looked like taking a bit of time to read, exercise (I have been doing Leslie Sansone Walk at Home videos on YouTube. This one is a favourite!), write/journal and, lately, play Harvest Moon.
It’s one of those easier-said-than-done things, especially when it seems like COVID-19 is all anyone is talking about, but taking time to disconnect is so, so important for protecting your mental health.
Final Thoughts
Honestly, I’m not sure how to close this post. The entire situation feels so surreal and this is only the beginning.
All that being said, I am so grateful to those on the frontlines who continue to show up every day to provide essential services during this time. Doctors and nurses come to mind immediately, but I’m also talking about postal workers, delivery drivers, grocery store cashiers. You’re all heroes. Thank you for everything you’re doing.
Stay safe, friends. We will get through this together.
Take care of yourself Tara. This is an unprecedented time. Whatever it is that you do that’s in response to COVID, thank you. It also permeates much of my work, although not all of it, yet.
It is so hard to believe how much things have changed in a week. Unprecedented, indeed. We will get through it, though. I feel confident about that. Take care, Liz.
I completely understand your need to disconnect. Spending all day in a hospital that’s been turned upside down by this epidemic where the whole conversation revolves around everything-COVID, I’m sick of it and need to hear about something else or focus on something else too. It sounds like you’re in a similar situation.
I think your idea of building your EF with your deferred student loan payments is wise. If you can get away with no payments right now and can save that money for an emergency, that’s not a bad idea.
Good luck to you! I’ll be curious to see how you proceed with this unpredictable situation.
I was thinking about you — I have a few friends who work in health care and if I think my work is busy with this, I can’t imagine what it would be like working in a hospital setting right now. You folks are freaking heroes. Thanks for all you’re doing, friend.
Regarding our EF — it just felt like the right thing to do right now. Ideally, we’ll just be able to send all that money to the loan when things get a little more back to normal. But given the circumstances, it just felt smart to hang onto it, especially where it’s interest free and no payments are expected (our province followed suit the other day, so now we don’t need to pay for at all until at least September).
Good luck to you, too, my friend. I hope you find ways to disconnect <3
Man, I remember doing Leslie Sansone videos when I was in college so that link really takes me back, haha.
This pandemic has been so surreal and terrifying. It’s hard not to get lost in the news and social media noise. I gave myself a 30-minute limit on Instagram before things got crazy and now I’m really glad I have that set up because I know when the alert pings me, I need to set down my phone and do something else. It’s hard to get away from it all and I think that’s what makes this whole thing so crazy: We’re all living through it together. It’s comforting, but can also get overwhelming.
Hang in there, friend. <3
I love her so much haha. I remember when I found her workouts. At first, I was like OK, this will be easy peasy, it’s just walking…and then I did it and was like well holy crap lol. They can be super challenging! I love it, though. It’s been nice to take a quick break even when I can’t go too far from my laptop these days.
I find social media has been such a double-edged sword during this whole thing. Like you said, it can be comforting, but also…it’s just been a lot. I think the main reason it gets to me is because it has also absolutely taken over my day job and social media used to provide a bit of an escape from the day job. At any rate, I know I will settle into a rhythm as we keep working through this. Time limits are a great idea.
You hang in there, too <3 Been seeing the news about beaches down there -- hopefully they make a move to shut them all down soon (a sentence I never thought I would type but these are unprecedented times!)
Take care Tara! I live in Québec City and things are getting serious. Love your blog!
It is so hard to believe how fast things escalated — I hope you’re staying safe! Thanks for stopping by and for the kind words — I really do appreciate it 🙂