Squeeze those pennies like a zoo gift shop.

To say that quite a few people have had their income streams disrupted by the pandemic would be a gross understatement. Some folks have had their hours reduced, with a pay cut to reflect it, while many more have lost their jobs entirely, either temporarily or permanently. It’s frustrating when your income is wrecked by factors completely outside of your control, but at that point, the only thing you can do is try to put your savings to work.

No matter how much money you may have in your coffers, nobody likes having to dip into savings. It feels good to save money, and having to use it is antithetical to that goodness. It’s for this reason that most folk don’t have a plan in place for efficiently utilizing savings. Unless you have a truly massive stash of cash or notably low expenses, you probably won’t be able to replace your regular income with your savings entirely. Draw out a budget for the foreseeable future; go over your bills and determine which recurring expenses you absolutely need to keep, and what you can go without for a little while. Keep things like health insurance, while cutting down on stuff like takeout meals.

Depending on your skill set and qualifications, you may be able to drum up a little extra cash while you’re in lockdown. It’s no secret the regular job market isn’t exactly stellar right now, but there are still opportunities for freelancers and remote workers. If you have writing skills or some kind of specialized knowledge, you might be able to do some freelance writing for a blog or news site, just as an example. It’ll be difficult to replace your usual income entirely with that kind of work, but every dollar you can get is one less you have to pull from your savings.