Money Management in the Midst of a Global Pandemic

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In the midst of a global pandemic, money has become a huge issue for many people, especially those who have found themselves out of work as a result of the Coronavirus. Luckily for some, the government provided help with stimulus checks and unemployment insurance.

In Thasunda Duckett’s Ted Talk “6 ways to improve your relationship with money,” she points out that 46 percent of all Americans would struggle coming up with 400 dollars in the event of an emergency. This is an incredible stat and we have definitely been able to see this become true over the past few months due to the Coronavirus pandemic. My friends and I were some of the people who struggled at the beginning of the pandemic and I believe that if I had some of the information that Thasunda talks about before the pandemic hit, I would be in a much better position than I am now.

The first way that Thasunda Duckett says we can improve our relationship with money is to start by talking about it and being open with the people around you. After a couple of months of financial struggle, I decided I was done with it and I went to my friends and we talked about what we could do since we all were in the same situation because of the virus. First of all, we each applied for our unemployment benefits since it was nearly impossible to find a job duringCOVID-19’s peak. This helped us to get back up on our feet so that we could get through each week.

The second way we can better our relationship outlined by Thasunda is that we need to understand what money is. Thasunda reminds us that money is a “mechanism to accomplish goals.” I always thought my goal was to get money, but money is just the way that I will accomplish my goals. Once I understood this it was much easier for me to better allocate funds and what I was spending money on. This leads to Thasunda’s 3rd point; find what matters most to you. For me, at the time when I was evaluating my financial stance, I decided that I did not want to spend money on frivolous things. For example, I was spending a lot of money on eating out at restaurants. Unfortunately, eating out will not help me accomplish goals. My body can get the same fix of food without having to pay restaurant prices. Thus helping me to save money that I can allocate to accomplish my goals.

Thasunda Duckett’s last three ways to better our relationship with money is to visualize what you want to accomplish, recognize that the money you keep matters more than the money you make, and lastly to not be too hard on yourself. Most of the stress from money comes from us being too hard on ourselves and wanting to be the best that we can be. Sometimes society puts so much pressure on us to be rich and have nice things but money takes patience and that is something we all could use a little bit of especially when it comes to money.

I believe that if you follow any of the 6 ways to improve your relationship with money then you will be on a way better track to managing your money and your goals will become easier and easier to accomplish as you continue to manage your money well.