Tips on coming out of lockdown more financially stable (for 2020 & beyond)

Tips on coming out of lockdown more financially stable (for 2020 & beyond)

Got some extra time on your hands while self-isolating, and want to work on building up your finances for the future? There is plenty that you can be doing in order to educate yourself, earn some extra cash on the side (or money to support yourself depending on your work situation), and reinvest some of that money in order to build up your financial profile even further, coming out of the other end of lockdown with a better understanding and control over your finances than ever before.

Feeling inspired? We’ve compiled a short list with some tips that might give you some ideas on how to become more financially stable. Who knows, when you come out of lockdown, you could be in a more positive financial position than you were beforehand.

Get to know your finances

We all have charges that come out of our accounts each month that we have no recollection of, and many people have regular subscriptions and outgoings for things that they no longer use, or have forgotten about entirely. If this sounds familiar, and you find yourself with a little bit more time on your hands during lockdown, then now might be a great time to get to grips with your money, and get on top of the things that you’re paying for.

Sit down, calculate your outgoings properly, and see if you can’t trim the fat here and there with things that you no longer need. You’ll soon feel better about your financial situation when you can account for and explain everything that comes up on your monthly bank statement, and by the time lockdown restrictions are lifted you’ll be better equipped to manage your income, and make sure it’s going in the right places. Many people put off tackling their finances, but it can be a real help, and if you’ve got some extra time on your hands then you’ve got no excuse.

Save and invest your money

One thing that people are starting to notice being stuck indoors is the amount of money that they spend passively and without noticing. This can be on anything: from travel expenses to and from work for buses, trains and taxis, to drinks out with friends, or restaurant outings. If you find yourself with a little bit more money left over at the end of each month for the lack of being able to spend it, why not put it into a secure savings pot, and save it towards something greater?

Another productive thing that you could look into doing is investing some of your money, and building up your finances for the future. If you aren’t already, of course. Depending on the amount of capital that you have available, there are plenty of different investment options that you can get cracking on from the comfort of your own home, from small stock and shares options to even something grander, such as property investment. Companies such as RWinvest are leveraging technology in order to get past some of the restrictions imposed by lockdown, giving those that want to invest the option to do so.

Tip – There are also a ton of different investment materials that you can find online if you want to educate yourself during quarantine, such as podcasts, pdfs, videos and guides, all for free. If you’re unfamiliar with investment and want to get to grips with it, now is a good time to start.

Building up a secondary income stream

Of course, investment is a viable secondary income stream – particularly if you have the right amount of money to put into a buy to let property that provides regular rental returns – but if you don’t want to get involved with investment, there are a ton of different side hustles that you could look into from the comfort of your own home. Examples include anything from doing freelance work through sites like UpWork and Fiverr, to even setting up your own online store and offering services, or even offering tutoring to students that are currently unable to study as normal. Think about what your skills are, what you like doing, and how you can monetise those passions, turning them into an additional stream of cash in the process.