This post will make more sense if you’ve seen the movie What About Bob?
In the movie, Bob has many fears and they severely constrict the way he lives his life. Until a helpful therapist suggests that Bob take baby steps to conquer his fears – tiny actions that Bob can accomplish, which will give him confidence and enable him to live a better life.
There is a lot of fear, during this time of COVID19. Health fears, money fears, safety fears, relationship fears…
I am proposing that baby stepping our way can help us to cope with our situations despite our fears.
Crew Dog, onesickvet.com
I want to talk about money, and money fears, during this global pandemic, but it is challenging for me. I spend most of my time online in two communities: Personal Finance/Financial Independence Retire Early (PF/FIRE) and Chronic Illness/Disability (CI/D). There are financially struggling individuals in each community, but the topic of money feels much more fraught in the CI/D community – many folks are struggling to have their basic needs covered, many are unable to work at all or unable to work full-time, many are dependent upon others for financial support, and disability “benefits” don’t pay enough to cover essential expenses.
How do I share my money story without sounding inconsiderate or oblivious to their struggles? My story is not the same as the stories of people who have been CI/D their entire lives, or whose disabilities are much greater than mine. My chronic illnesses/disability started after I had built a firm financial foundation. I am acutely aware of this privilege.
So who am I to talk about money fears in a time of global pandemic? In the interest of transparency, I feel compelled to acknowledge that I am currently financially secure. However, Spousal Unit and I both grew up working class and experienced the struggles of keeping a roof over our heads and food on our tables.
In fact, our parents’ financial struggles are what motivated us to become first generation college graduates, seek secure jobs, and save money.
We each transitioned from scarcity to sufficiency. In my case, I decided in the early days of my military career that I needed to learn about money and how to handle it wisely. So I went to the public library and checked out books on personal finance. Books on how to save money and books on how to invest money. Books on *why* to save money. Some of these books I liked so much I bought my own copies, which have survived numerous moves across continents and still reside on my bookshelves.
Now, of course, there are blogs and podcasts and vlogs and so many other methods of learning about money.
But if you have fears about losing your income or stretching your income to meet needs in a time of pandemic, I recommend you take a baby step or two. Start with Amy Dacyczyn’s books: The Tightwad Gazette (available in three separate volumes or as a compiled volume with some additional content).
Amy Dacyczyn’s books describe how she managed to achieve her dreams of having a large family and buying a “rural pre-1900 New England farmhouse (with attached barn)” as a SAHM with a military enlisted spouse. IOW, in the early 1990s, this family had an average income of less than $30,000/year. Nevertheless, they saved 43% of their gross income, had no debt, bought their dream farmhouse (with attached barn), and had six children. They were FIRE way before FIRE was a thing – Stone Age Frugal.
Yup. In order to accomplish these goals, Amy and her husband Jim were stone cold frugal. In fact, friends and family called Amy “The Frugal Zealot.” Because she had big dreams and small income, Amy pinched her pennies until they screamed.
In her books are practical, tangible methods for ways to save money. Some of these, like shopping at yard sales and thrift stores, you won’t be able to do during the current restrictions. But many of them you will. These books are packed with information ranging from how to give an inexpensive but fun birthday party to how to cook inexpensive meals from scratch. Amy does research and answers questions such as whether it is cheaper to hand wash dishes or use a dishwasher, and what you can do with dryer lint (assuming you don’t line-dry your clothes).
I promise you that I will make nothing if you buy these books. (I haven’t even figured out how to set-up an Amazon affiliate link.) In fact, I suggest you get them from your library if you can. I don’t know Amy, I’ve never met her, and we’ve never corresponded.
But when I was young, I learned how to be smartly, efficiently frugal from Amy Dacyczyn (The Frugal Zealot). And when I was newly married and neither of us knew how to cook, we learned how to make cheap, easy, tasty meals from these books. We learned which penny-pinching techniques were worth our while and which weren’t.
So I highly recommend The Tightwad Gazette in this time of economic upheaval. Baby step your way toward feeling more in control of your economic situation by reading and applying these books.
Readers: If you have other resources to recommend for money baby steps in these trying times, let us know in the comments. Thanks!