- Sep. 26
- Richard Parker
Dealing Effectively with a Financial Emergency
There are times when everyone has to deal with a financial emergency, and if it hasn’t happened to you, you are one of the lucky few. It happens to most people at some point in their lives, and things that are beyond our control can cause the situation. Car crashes, sudden illness, and violent storms can all result in a financial emergency.
When these things occur it is easy to not use your common sense and to make poor decisions. Those choices can affect your life for a long time, but if you are prepared you can get through the financial crisis as quickly and painlessly as possible.
Be Insured
There are not many things you cannot get insurance cover for, and if you want peace of mind in case a disaster happens, insurance will give you that. Just make sure that the policy actually covers what you want it to in order to ensure your finances are protected. For instance, most homeowner policies do not cover floods or other natural disasters and you need a separate policy for those events.
Keep Calm
This can be easier said than done, but panic will not help your situation and will only make you feel worse. It is very easy to let your emotions take control of your brain, and then decisions can be made that can have a detrimental effect on your finances.
Keep calm and try to be rational about your situations before you make any decisions at all. If you are not sure what to do, seek professional help as what they will cost you they can more than save.
Prepare a Budget
Prepare a list of the really important things you have to pay and what other money you need to spend. Food and accommodation costs should be at the top, and then any debts that are secured. Lastly, there are the unsecured debts, such as credit cards. Some companies will reduce or defer payments for a while until you have sorted matters, or you could look at Snappy Pay Day Loans for a quick cash injection to see you through. Find out the options with regards to all of your debts by speaking to the providers. Some of them might be insured for a couple of months and that would help to give you a bot of breathing space.
Cut spending wherever you can, and with this part of your budget, you should be ruthless for a while at least. Just spend on essentials until the worst f over and you have had time to adjust.
Find an Extra Income
Of course, your personal lifestyle might mean this choice is not an option, but if you have a few spare hours every week see if you can earn some extra cash. There are ways of doing this online, and lots of resources that will help you get started. You will not make a fortune but in a financial emergency, every little helps.
Financial emergencies would not occur so often if people saved an emergency fund. But this is not always possible as budgets can be so tight there is nothing spare to save.