With stay-at-home orders and normal business flipping on its head during the COVID-19 pandemic, many people have lost jobs, gone on furlough, or have seen cuts to their normal paychecks.
When Arron Ramsey’s hours as a programmer were abruptly cut from full-time to working just eight hours a week, it took him by surprise. He’d viewed his job as pretty solid—he’d worked the last 29 years for a large, established hospital. But when they cut down on elective procedures, they started furloughing staff.
“It was this sense of impending doom,” Arron said. “Some departments were going on furlough, working four days a week instead of five. When we got the news that we’d be going down to one day of work a week, it was just really quiet.”
This meant a 75% decrease to his normal paycheck, and he was just two weeks away from closing on a new house.
“It was a long drive home. You just start wondering, am I gonna be able to pay the bills? Can I close on this house?”
When he got home, he sat in front of the computer and started running some numbers. He’d been using the budgeting tool You Need a Budget (YNAB) for the last few years and pulled it up on the screen to make his plan.
Am I gonna be able to pay the bills?
He set up his budget to see how far his money would last paying for the essentials. He ran some scenarios of how much his new inflow would be, how much vacation time he could cash out, and how far his emergency fund would take him.
“I was thankful to have all that in YNAB right there in front of me. Before this, it would’ve been just a big blob of money.”
Wondering how to create a budget for uncertain times? See how here.
He split out his categories and put the most important at the top. Others, he completely defunded:
Arron’s Essential Categories:
- Housing
- Electrical
- Water
- Sewer
- Food
- Car payment for son
- YNAB (of course)
- DMV (will have to tag my truck)
- Dropbox account
- Property taxes
- Netflix
- Amazon Prime
Categories Defunded:
- Vacation
- Funding Christmas
- Clothing
- Eating Out
- Gifts
- Fitness
- Stopped funding Automotive maintenance (but kept the current balance intact)
“I’m Going to be OK”
By the end, he had a solution that would last him through December—nine months from now.
“It was a stressful afternoon but by 9:30pm, my blood pressure finally went down.” Arron said. “I’m going to be OK.”
Along with his solution, he walked away with some important truths (this list was originally posted to the Facebook Fans group where we found Arron’s story):
- I’m still employed.
- I still have benefits.
- This is only temporary.
- Deep Eddy grapefruit vodka is awesome.
- YNAB says I’ll still make closing.
- YNAB says my kids won’t starve.
- YNAB says I can make my house payment.
- YNAB says the lights will stay on.
- YNAB says I can do this.
At the time of this writing, it’s been just over a week since the news of his furlough hit. He’s still closing on his house, though his lender needed additional assurance for the loan with his income suddenly dropping.
“It’s weird being 46 and calling mom and dad to ask for help, but they were all over it.” His parents ended up cosigning on the house.
“There’s no playbook here. We’re all kind of going at it one day at a time,” Arron said.
He’s looking forward to using the extra time for packing and a non-stressful move where he can take his time.
There’s no playbook here. We’re all kind of going at it one day at a time.
“I’ve accepted this could be a long-term thing for a little bit. But I’m not stressed about it. I’m back to looking on the positive side of things.”
He sings praises of the Facebook Fans community—where there are lots of people talking about the new financial challenges together, sprinkled with some ironclad positivity.
“Everybody is going through this. There’s no use stewing over it, you have to go on with life. Get plugged into a community. Reach out to family or friends, and stay strong.”
If you’re looking for some solidarity in your own income or job loss, we’re putting together a community for people to talk safely about the financial challenges that come with income loss. This group will be starting Mid-May and you can subscribe our weekly newsletter to be notified when signups open.
While some people have lost partial income, we realize others have lost their jobs completely. If you have a story of hope to share, we want to hear from you. Reach out to blog@ynab.com for a chance to be featured on our blog.
The post My Pay Was Reduced by 75% but I’m Gonna Be OK appeared first on You Need A Budget.
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