Things To Do Now To Prepare For A Recession
Recession. A new buzzword everyone is talking about that becomes more and more of a reality by the day. The good news is that it is not too late and there are things you can do now to prepare for a recession.
How to prepare for a recession now
Every move you make right now is putting you either closer to surviving a recession or in a tighter spot. As the cost of gas goes up the cost of everything else is. Rising costs lower spending demands leaving businesses struggling to keep their doors open and jobs disappearing left and right. To help prepare for a major recession you need to make small moves and big as you are able to set yourself up for success.
Build a stockpile
One of the best things you can do to prepare for a recession is to build a stockpile of the things your family needs and uses often. The trick here is to watch for sales and build your stock over time using sales, coupons, and other deals th make it much more affordable. This stockpile will keep you from paying hyperinflation prices as inflation peaks and help you make do longer should the recession affect your income.
A stockpile is a great way to save money even in times of abundance. Meal plan using yoru stockpile to help lower your food costs. There are a few categories worth stockpiling.
Food is the maid stockpile category people should be working on. Food is the area where we all tend to cut costs when things get tight. Start by filling your freezers and pantry until you have no room. then start filling totes with pantry goods in other areas of the house to help ensure yoru family has enough food to last a couple of months if need be.
Personal care is very important for health, comfort, and morale. Building a stockpile of personal care items from soap and shampoo to raisers and moisturizers is a great way to make sure that your family is comfortable even when the world feels like it is falling apart.
Baby supplies are essential to ensure that you have what you need in an emergency or during a shortage. Stock extra formula, diapers, wipes, and other baby essentials to be sure that you never have to worry about running out and being unable to get what you need. Remember for things like diapers you will need more of a stock in larger sizes than younger ones can always use a slightly larger size if you run out of what you need but you can not use a smaller size for yoru baby. Cloth diapers are a great option.
Pet supplies should be a major part of your stockpile. When you have pets that you are responsible for you need to ensure that their needs are met even when the world is being turned upside down. To help make caring for yoru pets easier during times of struggle stock extra pet food, filters, flea treatments, litter, and other necessities you use often for your pets.
Cleaning supplies are essential to keeping your family healthy and your home in good condition. Stockpiling cleaning supplies on sale is a great way to be sure you always have what you need on hand and save money by avoiding paying full price as the price of everyday essentials rises. Try your hand at making your own cleaning supplies with basic staples.
Home and vehicle maintenance supplies like oil, light bulbs, and air filters are great to stock up on when you find a sale or clearance deal. This will help prevent you from having issues with needing to do basic maintenance without having to pay full price or worry about if you can find or afford the things you need to prevent costly repairs. Caring for your home and car to make them last longer is a smart option.
Find new ways to add to your income
As you increase your income now, you will be able to build more of a stockpile and help you save more money so that in the event of a recession, you will be able to take care of your family. If you have a few streams of income like a side business or a side gig, you have a lot of options to fall back on and make it through even the worst economic times and situations.
Take a look at what you like to do and whether it can be turned into a source of income. The possibilities are endless. You can start a small weekend landscaping business on the side or run a crafting business on the side. Only your imagination and willingness to try will limit you.
Having multiple streams of income when trouble strikes is a sure way of ensuring that you will be able to weather the storm. When things went bad a few years ago having multiple streams of income kept our family afloat as layoffs took effect.
Try your hand at selling extra produce to make money from your garden or write that book you have been dreaming of and publish with Kindle. Try one of these great ways for teens to make money or dive in and learn how to make money with your blog.
Add to your savings
We are about to sink deeper and deeper into a recession, and as we do we will start to see issues such as fewer hours at work, and even losing our jobs. In order to prepare your family for the possibility of such an event, you should take the time to put as much money aside as you can.
Some families will not be able to afford that much. For others, it is the recommended amount of 3 to 6 months of expenses. Regardless of where you fall on this scale, what you save, no matter how small is better than nothing.
Keeping more than one account for savings is a great way to make sure your funds will not be used for other things. Start with a simple $1000 emergency savings account for little things like a blown tire and a larger account for things like job loss. Adding to this savings is a smart money habit worth building now.
Pay down debt
It is a great idea to pay off any debt you have before things get as bad as they can. You will be able to reduce the amount of money you will need to pay during a recession, improve your credit for when you need it, and make it easier in the long term to handle a recession and bounce back after.
As a rule of thumb, pay down the highest interest payments first. It is a good idea to inform your lender that any additional payments you make will be applied to the principal of the loan, not your interest so that you can reduce the amount of interest you pay over time and make the most of your budget.
Check out these tips on how to be debt-free fast to get ready for anything that comes your way.
Create a credit buffer you don’t touch
The use of credit cards is not ideal and should not be a fallback method for you on a regular basis, but they can be a blessing when you face difficulties. If you want to boost your credit score before the recession hits, you want to make sure you have access to credit, but you do not want to use it more than you need to to put in a small payment every month to boost your credit score.
As a result, you should be able to make improvements to your credit score, and you will be able to secure a backup funding source in case you lose your job or face other challenges during a recession when banks are refusing to accept new accounts.
Check out these tips to improve your credit quickly to increase your chances of finding a good interest rate.
Work on learning new skills
I believe it is well worth the time taking now to learn how to do basic things like changing your oil on your own, so that in the event of a recession when you will be forced to save every cent you can on everything from vehicle repair to repairs around the house, you are prepared.
In today’s world where shortage issues are adding to the difficulties, you face with providing as much for your family as you can. Developing new skills such as gardening and food preservation are even more essential to bringing your family through a recession. As a result of growing your own food and preserving it for later, you can save a considerable amount of money on food, especially in the winter when food prices tend to skyrocket anew.
Try your hand at making your own jelly or baking your first loaf of homemade bread for easy ways to add to your skill set.
