NPR

Short on Cash? Here's Some Advice For Families Stretching Their Budgets

Many people who have lost jobs during the pandemic are still awaiting unemployment checks and are figuring out which bills to prioritize. Experts share unusual advice for these unusual times.
Source: Adam Gault

Forget living paycheck to paycheck. Many families have lost work during the pandemic and are running out of cash as they wait for unemployment checks and government rescue money to arrive.

These are highly unusual times, and family budgeting recommendations are also unconventional.

Kathy Hauer, a financial planner based in Aiken, S.C., says she's telling people to do things she has never recommended before: "Defer as many payments as possible and and worry about it later."

But, she says, don't just ignore all the bills. Make sure to call all the companies

You’re reading a preview, subscribe to read more.

More from NPR

NPR3 min read
Renowned Painter And Pioneer Of Minimalism Frank Stella Dies At 87
Frank Stella was one of America's leading minimalist artists and a pioneer of the minimalist movement of the early 1960s. The movement challenged the idea that art was meant to be representative.
NPR7 min read
She Survived The 1970 Kent State Shooting. Here's Her Message To Student Activists
On May 4, 1970, the Ohio National Guard fired on Kent State students, killing four and wounding nine. A former student who now teaches there reflects on that day and offers lessons for protesters now.
NPR4 min readInternational Relations
Senior UN Official Says Northern Gaza Is Now In 'Full-blown Famine'
Cindy McCain, the American director of the U.N. World Food Program, became the most prominent official so far to declare that trapped civilians in northern Gaza had gone over the brink into famine.

Related Books & Audiobooks