How do you guys save money for economic breakdown due to coronoa virus?

Just to make you all realise : saving money makes the economy going down even faster.
But there is no right answer as long we all stick to the ultra-capitalistic world we live in now, that finally shows how thin the whole foundation is. One virus and it's all going to hell.

Yeah, you want that other Covid-19 thread.

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Crumpets. Right now, crumpets are my indulgence food. There may come a time when I can no longer get crumpets, but by God, as long as that time isn't now, I'm going to have a crumpet now and then.

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leto2626 wrote:

Just to make you all realise : saving money makes the economy going down even faster.
But there is no right answer as long we all stick to the ultra-capitalistic world we live in now, that finally shows how thin the whole foundation is. One virus and it's all going to hell.

I think that, in general, the thread here is more about "getting what you still need to get during difficult economic times."

I agree that a mass "Collect Savings" effort can be deleterious to a nations economy in some respects. Squirreling away a lot of cash during tough economic times can reduce the very thing we need to heal that problem.

But, one can't exactly tell someone not to if they really need to. Lots of people need to have some savings before they start spending. It's just a smart personal practice. :)

PS: Individuals and certain industries are very much under threat right now. But, the foundations that they rely on in order to be a viable business are still fundamentally there. Restaurants may well go out of business or have to declare bankruptcy. BUT, even if they aren't there when everyone climbs out of their holes, there will be a very real need for them.

My concern would be for the effect of interest rates on busisness owners looking for loans necessary to occupy those empty spaces and open a new business there. That could be a downside to "Reconstruction Efforts."

For the thread-goers - A FREE GAME!

KeeperRL's Developer, Michael Brzozowski, is giving away the full Alpha 29 release of KeeperRL to anyone who wants a copy during these very trying times.

It's the full game, Alpha 29 version, which is currently on Steam. It's fully playable, with hours of content, and crap-tons of replayability. No sunset period. No tricks. Just the full game of KeeperRL that current players and owners of the game are playing. For FREE:

Announcement:

https://steamcommunity.com/app/329970/eventcomments/3974929700276679392

Full permission already granted and I asked him, first:

Download Link: http://keeperrl.com/keeperRL_alpha29_1.zip

That's it. Install and play the game that others who previously paid for it are already playing.

(It's a fun game. It's a Rogue-Like "Dungeon Keeper" with several gameplay options and different types of "Keeper" to choose to play. It has "z-levels" too! Build your dungeon, dig deeper, uncover danger, attack factions on the overland campaign map, get phat lewtz, research new techs, do magic stuffs, craft equipment for your monsters to use to hack apart pesky dwarves, elves, humans... dragons - It's got lots of fun stuff in it.

The developer will also give a free licensed copy to anyone that emails them proof of donating to any non-profit wildlife organization. That's always been the case. All in all, I'd say the developer seems like a pretty nice guy and am not surprised to see this from him.

Honestly, saving money is not a bad thing in an emergency. And not having cash flow and spending in the economy doesn't help either. We're in a unique situation where industries/restaurants/malls/entertainment were shuttered temporarily. Everyone is hurting and not alot of people have a rainy day fun, let alone paying their next rent or even securing a fresh hot meal. I don't think this problem will resolve any day soon, until the pandemic starts to slow down.

Hopefully this will be an endemic issue and the world continues as usual.

I'm eating at home obviously which saves tons of money. My wife and I used to go to a restaurant every night to take a load off and talk and credit card was about $2000-3000 a month just on food.

Breaking this down to the original intent - saving money regardless of the situation should always start the same way: write a budget.

Either build a simple one in excel, download a free version (here the Aussie Govt has one available for download) or just go old school and do it on a piece of paper.

Once you've written out all your income and all your expense you can start to make deliberate decisions about what to do with your money. Most people who don't have a budget are amazed at just how much is spent on non-essential rubbish. You do of course have to balance between a rigid budget and having some flexibility for enjoyment, but setting that level is now withing your control.

There are of course problems with this plan. Firstly, so many people throughout the world have incredibly poor paying jobs and cannot generate savings. Secondly, and as already mentioned, waiting till the crisis and then doing your budget is less effective, but can still be helpful.

Lastly, get creative. Think about ways to generate surplus income. Can you shift your business to online in some capacity? Can you build something that people need (such as a 3d printed iPhone stand for all the Zoom meetings people are having).

Lastly, stay connected and force yourself to ask friends and family for help if you need it. We may be isolated but nobody is alone through all this.

I work online, I play online, I was made for this.

I feel sorry for my son though, he's not old enough to understand why he can't go out and play in the street with the neighbors like he usually does, he just keeps pointing outside and saying "woowaa?" with a hopeful look on his squishy little face :(

Overall we're saving money simply by virtue of not being able to go out and do stuff.

I really feel for the kids. They're not able to grasp what's going on, and their worlds have been entirely destabilised. Poor little buggers.

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A local butcher does same-day deliveries of bulk meat packs. We scored a $100 pack (their smallest) and froze most of it. Much more reliable than supermarket deliveries but not as customisable. We normally wouldn't eat chuck steak or honey soy wings but hey, quarantiners can't be choosers or something. That meat will last a fortnight, easy.

I am starkly aware of how fortunate we are that a local butcher will do that.

I decided to take a peek at my partners messages, I was curious... Totally sucks to see messages people asking for hours. Not talking about one or two employees, a huge mega chat of employees...

(Frugality should be taught in school, the value of money...) There are those that live pay check to pay check, whatever the circumstances. But you know we are all human...

I really hope people wake up, make changes that will solidify their financial future. I learned very early in life to be frugal, that math is the most important language and most importantly procrastination is a death sentence.

Last week I wanted to volunteer at a food bank but they wouldn’t let me because I haven’t been tested. The catch is if you don’t meet the criteria for testing you won’t get tested. I digress...

I was walking in target, kid just let out a huge sneeze. Didn’t even cover her nose... THIS IS THE PROBLEM. Not even reprimanded. So lesson well learned, don’t trust others to follow the rules. Sadly sometimes draconian rules need to be in place, because some people just don’t care.

We have a two person per elevator rule, I was nice to her, "sorry notice says 2 per elevator." She gave me the look of death like I said something wrong. With the stress that I have I’m pretty positive I would have thrown my toilet paper at her if she would have said something.

Anyways.. save save save. I warned everyone on the other thread Feb 29th thst we would have a huge disruption in life, everyone called me paranoid. So now that I have your attention please please please prepare for October... Save.