How I Am Barely Surviving Financially in this Corona Virus Pandemic Season.

Who else gets frustrated over insufficient funds notice in your bank accounts? Who else gets overdraft strikes again and again? In this trying times, I am still in the waiting game phase for my unemployment claim while my house rent, my health insurance, my auto loan, and my other debts can’t wait! The pandemic season feels like forever! In New York City,  where I currently live, the pause has been extended to May 28, and this means an extended stay at home orders for many people who unfortunately could not stay jobless much longer.

Layoffs, furloughs, dismissals, there are plenty of reasons why many are ruined financially making it hard to get by day by day in this unprecedented times. My case is quite unique. Two months ago, before Miss Corona came to plague the world, I drove seven days from the West Coast to the East Coast. I have decided with a heavy heart to leave my Oregonian life, and pursue my dreams in New York City. Moving from coast to coast is expensive, periodt! It has drained my entire savings from my previous job as a home health physical therapist. I am basically back to zero and the truth is, I did not know how to pay the bills! 

My auto loan amounts to five hundred and thirty dollars per month. Lucky enough, my gracious bank, the Northwest Community, has approved a payment extension for three months. I have learned that many banks offer skip-a-pay, and calling them to see if you are eligible is definitely worth it!  I am satisfied with Goldman and Sachs, for holding my Apple Card’s April payment, interest-free. Wells Fargo has been kind enough to offer financial assistance, asking you to Get-Help-Now if you need relief assistance due to COVID-19. I was granted payment suspension for a month. The same goes to my Best Buy Credit Card and Gap Credit Card. Credit card payment extensions will not not have a direct effect on credit scores, as per Experian.com, and everyone should contact their card issuer directly for possible deferment of payments!

Easing restrictions has allowed some essential jobs to re-open , but not my outpatient physical therapy job.  I ventured into the unknown world of part-time jobs, day-jobs, side-hustles and found success on Instacart. I happily shopped and delivered for people, a job that pays me about a hundred dollars per day. How it works? As a shopper, you begin accepting batches using your Instacart shopper app, then head to the grocery store, shop, deliver and get paid based on the value of batches you completed. In my case four or five batches worth thirty-plus dollars each per day are manageable enough. This is a decent part time job that can help pay the bill! Similar job includes Amazon Shopper and Shipt. 

It sure is a tough time for everyone! I am hoping everyone gets food in their tables. I hope everyone stays healthy and social distance the right way. I hope we will all get through this pretty soon and be back to doing our normal day jobs. So far, the pandemic has taught us that washing hands actually works, that the government’s corona virus response is tragic, that we are social creatures to the highest level, and that saving money is important-er!