During the period of quarantine or so-called self-isolation, we are forced to stay at home. There is no work, nothing is clear about the salary, and it is not known when it will all end. What to do with personal money?
Stay at home
Given the difficult epidemiological situation, the best thing to do for yourself and for your health is to minimize the risk of getting sick yourself. Getting sick from an everyday point of view is unpleasant, but from a financial point of view it is a terrible minus. Health is an asset that each of us possesses to one degree or another; you need to dispose of the asset rationally, and now the most reasonable thing is not to leave the house unless absolutely necessary. When leaving, do not forget about the mask, gloves and thorough hand washing immediately after the street. This will not bring money, but it will help you not to spend it on treatment.
Do not buy "in stock"
Do not get fooled by panic, photos and videos on social networks. Allegedly empty shelves are often a dirty trick of shameless store owners. March proved that hypermarket warehouses have everything you might need. So far, there is no reason to shut down food logistics - everything remains as it was before the pandemic. Rare trips to the store are to some extent even useful, some kind of walk. And, on the other hand, nobody canceled the law of supply and demand: if people buy up about the same things in large quantities (cereals, canned food), this will increase in price. Who is screwing prices up - the government is nowhere worthwhile? US agents? Or are we ourselves?
Loan, mortgage
Getting a credit card or mortgage, taking out a consumer loan are all very bad ideas. We're not just quarantined. We are in the midst of the financial crisis in Russia and the global financial crisis. And plus a pandemic. In such a structure, when you can lose income and health, when you do not know what will happen next, the most unreasonable thing to do is to take and spend credit funds.
The only exception is if you continue and will definitely continue to work (or you have always worked remotely, or you are an IT specialist, or someone else who does not belong to an "endangered" species). In this case, a mortgage can be considered, especially if you were going to apply for it anyway. The mortgage agreement implies life insurance, as well as insurance against loss of working capacity upon dismissal, and now this is a good help. For everyone else: if you have savings, you don't need to invest them in real estate now. And if you have savings and at the same time, for some reason, a loan - get rid of the latter.
Save and manage your personal budget
How to save is understandable to anyone without articles: do not buy spontaneously, buy the minimum necessary, take an inventory of the kitchen and make a list of the necessary. And how to keep a personal budget - a detailed analysis in a separate article.
Buy currency if you have anything
This is advice for all times, not only for crisis ones. The dollar and the euro have much less risk of default and denomination than the domestic currency.
Investment and airbag
If you did everything right before the start of the quarantine, then you have the money to make it through several months without a job. As a rule, a "safety cushion" is understood as the amount that will last for about three months of your usual life. If you don’t have such a pillow now, it’s bad, start putting off the “pillow” as soon as the normal course of things is restored. Having accumulated the required amount, there is no need to stop. Keep saving while accumulating capital. But now, during quarantine, there is no need to rush to invest, especially if you have not done this before, if you do not know anything about it. Take advantage of the advice about currency, and as for investments - now is the best time to prepare theoretically: read forums, download free books, watch free videos on this topic, you know. Today the markets are highly turbulent, the peak of the crisis has not been passed. Now is not the time to start investing.
Tax deductions
If you've never used them, google it and get paid. You can get a deduction for paid tuition, for paid treatment, for the purchase of medicines, property deduction, deduction for financing a pension, deduction for IIA … This is not all there is, and all this is real money that you can get now. Online in your personal account on the tax website.
