Career & Money

How we can help ourselves and others This is not the world’s first pandemic nor the first time we’ve collectively dealt with a crisis. But as we’ve observed, regardless of where you come from or the color of your skin, there’s no one-size-fits-all solution to the situation we’re in. We’ve seen the mistakes others have made and learned from them; hopefully, we've learned from ours, too. And as we grasp at straws to take back control and feel a semblance of normalcy, coronavirus, as well as the prolonged ECQ, continue to pose a threat upon humanity. This time, on our livelihood.  People are taking pay cuts or being laid off, the rest are starving. Businesses have shuttered, some permanently. And while we encourage helping out however we can, we need to be reminded to look out for ourselves, too. You can’t really lend a hand when it means cutting yours off . Below, career and money lessons we learned during COVID-19: The importance of an emergency fund We all set aside money for necessities, little nice-to-haves and savings. But there’s one more item we often forget about: emergency funds. Having one allows you to take care of your basic needs in cases of emergency, like job losses or pay cuts. A rule of thumb to follow, save three to six months of your monthly income and use only in case of emergencies. If you don’t have one, there’s no better time to start than now or while you still can. Cut down your expenses Review what you’ve spent in the past three months to see where you can cut down and how much more you can save. Be thorough and check everything, from your daily spend to monthly bills. Yes, especially those subscriptions. How many streaming services do you really need and do you use them all at the same time? It might not look like a lot, but small things eventually make up a bigger number when looked at monthly and yearly.