These are strange days we are living in. COVID-19 has made face-to-face meetings much more difficult and had caused my regular income streams like workshops, presentations, interviews, and conference hosting to dry up. Thankfully, people still need editing done or the situation would be much more dire. Even though the money coming in has dropped dramatically, there are still bills to pay and I have been dipping into my savings to make ends meet. Times like this make me very thankful that I was able to put away some cash when things were going well.
This situation reminds me of a story my father told me during his first year as the superintendent of a small school system in Kentucky. Following a rain storm, the roof of one of the larger schools started to leak in several places and parts of the school were flooded. My father asked one of the people in his office if there was some sort of emergency fund to help pay for a new roof and clean up the damaged areas. The man he asked had lived in that county all his life and had worked for the school system for decades. "Yes, John," he sighed, "but we've been saving that money for a rainy day." "Jimmy," my father exclaimed, "it's raining inside one of our schools!" Needless to say, he got the money.
It's important to have some cash stashed away for a rainy day , especially if you are a freelancer with an unstable income; but it's equally important to know when it's time to dip into your rainy day fund. You don't want to have to borrow money at a high interest rate or eat instant noodles for a week because you are afraid to touch your savings. Doing this will make recovering even more difficult once regular business resumes. Sure, try to cut corners where you can but don't deprive yourself of basic needs during such a trying and stressful time. Things are going to be especially tough for small businesses and people living paycheck to paycheck. I shared an article on Facebook about this and understand that things could be a lot worse. I'm doing fine, all things considered, but I'd still like more work. So, until things return to normal, stay healthy, wash your hands, and try to hire a freelancer. It's raining hard out there.
This situation reminds me of a story my father told me during his first year as the superintendent of a small school system in Kentucky. Following a rain storm, the roof of one of the larger schools started to leak in several places and parts of the school were flooded. My father asked one of the people in his office if there was some sort of emergency fund to help pay for a new roof and clean up the damaged areas. The man he asked had lived in that county all his life and had worked for the school system for decades. "Yes, John," he sighed, "but we've been saving that money for a rainy day." "Jimmy," my father exclaimed, "it's raining inside one of our schools!" Needless to say, he got the money.
It's important to have some cash stashed away for a rainy day , especially if you are a freelancer with an unstable income; but it's equally important to know when it's time to dip into your rainy day fund. You don't want to have to borrow money at a high interest rate or eat instant noodles for a week because you are afraid to touch your savings. Doing this will make recovering even more difficult once regular business resumes. Sure, try to cut corners where you can but don't deprive yourself of basic needs during such a trying and stressful time. Things are going to be especially tough for small businesses and people living paycheck to paycheck. I shared an article on Facebook about this and understand that things could be a lot worse. I'm doing fine, all things considered, but I'd still like more work. So, until things return to normal, stay healthy, wash your hands, and try to hire a freelancer. It's raining hard out there.
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