Tag Archives: contingency plan

Life Happens. Roll With It.

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I feel like I’ve been playing life by ear a lot lately.  Sometimes things just don’t go according to plan and you just have to roll with it and do the best you can.  I’ve been away from the office quite a lot lately helping my elderly parents manage a medical situation.  Because of that I’ve found myself working from my parents’ living room at weird hours and using all the technologies that I learned during the peak of the pandemic.  I’m just rolling with it and making life happen.  I did a Zoom presentation for prospective students last week and experienced some technical difficulty that stopped me from being able to share my PowerPoint slides.  And I just went with it to make it a less visual and more verbal presentation.  I credit my experience in community theater with making me able to think on my feet and continue on as if everything is normal.  It’s a good skill for everyone to have.

But there is one area of life where I never want to play it by ear.  That’s with managing my money.  It’s always best to have a plan when it comes to money.  Know how much is coming in.  Know how much is going out.  Know what you are spending it on.  Build a spending plan.  Build a savings plan.  Build an emergency fund.  Save toward specific goals.  Have a plan for paying down debt.  Know what dates your bills are due so they can always be paid on time.  Know what credit card to use at what store to earn the best rewards.  It feels like I have a million plans that are all tied to my money!

Does all of this planning mean I’m never caught off-guard?  Nope.  Everybody experiences money surprises.  The unexpected car repair.  The computer replacement that comes ahead of schedule.  The January heating bill.  Even the skyrocketing prices of gasoline and groceries.  Life is full of money surprises.  The key to being able to handle them is to have a contingency plan for money surprises.  For some that means an emergency fund.  For others that means leaning on a credit card.  For some it means calling the Bank of Mom and Dad.  Some may need to increase a student loan.  Some folks may need to sell some belongings to raise funds.  It may be some combination of these and other things.  The important thing is to know what your contingency plan is….before you need it.

Life happens.  Sometimes you have to roll with it.  Do you know what your money contingency plan is?  If not, it’s time to think about it.

What If: A Month Without Pay

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The government has reopened!  But my heart goes out to the many people who went more than a month without pay.  Yes…they are going to be paid now, even if they were furloughed during the partial shutdown.  But that doesn’t take the sting out of not having the money when expected.

I, like so many, live paycheck to paycheck.  I have a tiny bit of savings, a really tiny stock portfolio, and a retirement fund.  I do not have the recommended three-to-six months of expenses tucked away in an emergency fund.  If I were to have to go without pay for a month I would be up the proverbial creek without the requisite paddle.  I suppose it could be worse.  My parents would probably be able to float me a loan.  Or I could borrow against my retirement savings.  I have credit cards I could use.  But none of these ideas appeals to me.  I’m 51 years old.  I’m supposed to have a strong understanding of money.  Yet here I am without emergency savings.  I’m flying without a safety net, mostly because I never thought about the fact that I might someday fall.

The government shutdown has really brought the importance of a contingency plan to the forefront.  What would you do if you found yourself without anticipated income for a month.  Would you be able to keep yourself afloat?  Do you have somewhere to turn for short-term help?  It’s always good to have a backup plan in place.  We never want to think about the worst case scenario.  But it could happen.  And you should prepare for it just in case.

Bumps in the Road

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In January I started the Couch to 5K program, hoping that I could be ready for the Race Judicata to be my very first 5K run.  C25K is a nine week program.  And this week I am doing week 6.  For the fourth time.  I just can’t seem to be able to complete it.  I’ve talked to some runner friends and they tell me that I’ve hit a bump.  I just need to keep working on it and I’ll eventually get past it.

Life is full of bumps.  The week during your diet that you gain weight.  The class that you expected to ace that you end up with a much lower grade than anticipated.  The day your fun plans are de-railed by a snow storm.  Bumps happen.

Bumps happen a lot in the financial world.  The unexpected car accident.  The surprise medical bill.  The compromised credit card.  The bill that got lost and went unpaid until after the due date.  There are so many things that can play havoc with your financial life.  This is why it’s important to have some kind of contingency plan.  An emergency fund in a savings account.  A line of credit that you can tap into.  A relative who can float you some cash.  Having a contingency plan definitely makes it much easier to get past the bumps.

Life is full of twists and turns and bumps in the road.  And getting past those bumps will require some effort on your part.  You may need to work hard, back up, and try again to get over the bump.  You may need to make new plans to work your way around the bump.  But the important thing is to keep moving forward.  Bumps will happen.  But they don’t need to stop you.