How are you? 

I know that you are in a financial struggle. Yes, I am too experiencing that right now. My clients paused services because they cannot pay us yet due to ECQ and my other businesses are closed due to the same situation. 

So I am too in the same situation as you are. It's terrible, right? 

You and/or husband must have lost job for the moment and the 13-month pay and other salaries were already consumed, imagine, this EHQ is so long and without rendering income, it's true that it's difficult to survive. 

I feel you. 

This situation made me realize how I value money and you too should do the same. Why? Because if we know the value of the money, we will treasure it and this will make use of it wisely. I created this blog post in hopes to influence you how to handle your finances wisely not just for this situation but hopefully, you can carry it for your families to thrive.

1. Budgeting is the Key to Success

We mommies have this amazing skill. We know how to stretch out our budget to its maximum potential. Now, this skill is more important than ever. If we don't know how to budget the money, it's either we tend to overspend or understand and we don't know how to allocate the funds and focus on what's important and what is not. 

So what are the things that you need to take in consideration at the moment, think of the important needs:

• Food, Water and Medicine budget 
• Give you and your family a month-long budget for this because we never know if the government will prolong the EHQ so think for the long-term 
• Bills
• We are fortunate that the service provider companies extended the payments of the bills because of this situation but we are still not sure what will happen after April 13. Better to be prepared
• Health-Related Finance
• Now's the time to focus on our health, we are uncertain as to what will happen next which is why it's better to think in advance and make yourself and your family ready for the worse.

2. Control the NEEDS and WANTS

As much as we want to provide everything for our families, give ourselves the satisfaction of our cravings with Samgyup or our kid's sugar rush with Chocolate and sweet treats- this doesn't work in this situation now! We need to control ourselves and focus on the NEEDS rather than giving what we want. However, it's still OK to give our family's wants but it's a case to case basis. We don't want to spoil them and we need to teach our family most especially our kids how to control themselves most especially in tough times. 

I also believe that it is vital to have open communication to the members of the family regardless of their age, As a single mom, I am very firm when it comes to communicating with my 3-year-old and even though some people might think that kids may not understand it well, I am positive that kids can comprehend what we, adults are trying to say in the best way that they can. 

3. Health vs. Wealth

We, Filipinos are all about survival and if you are in a middle or low-class family, having health insurance is not on the top of our list. I too must admit that I neglected this opportunity because I am thinking that this will add to my budget. 

As COVID-19 struck the Philippines and I have seen our countrymen struggle for their lives. I have also seen how the government's health care is not as strong and prepared for situations like this- leaving our fellow Filipinos in great debt due to hospital expenses. 

Once this pandemic virus is already eliminated, I will definitely get a health card for my son, it's very ideal to prepare for our health and small simple symptoms like cough or flu can be something even worse, so before the health worsen, have yourself checked and having health card can be ideal to this unprepared situation. 

Aside from having a health card, it's also ideal to set up your Emergency Fund, this plays a vital role in unexpected situations like COVID-19. However, I do understand that setting up this fund may not be applicable for everyone so it's something to look forward to once the situation gets better. 

4. Invest in Learning

As of writing, we are still under the Enhanced Community Quarantine and instead of being bored to death, why don't we enjoy the luxury of time and learn various things. Those who are working from home may not be able to do the live seminars but there's always a replay or you can play the video back while working- that's what I normally do. 

Many companies, CEOs are offering FREE Webinars which is very ideal as most seminars cost thousands of pesos so having basic knowledge to various things such as financial management, crisis management, entrepreneurship, mental health, and others can be an ideal way to equip ourselves and later on use it to our lives, our businesses to let our company and families thrive. 

In my next upcoming blogs, I will tackle more about COVID-19 learnings that can help your family survive and tune up your gears and be prepared for the better. 

Good luck, be safe and be healthy!