Best Practices for Your Stimulus Check

Best practices for how to use your stimulus money

(click link above to see clip)

I had the pleasure of a doing a quick spot on NBC 4 with Danielle Grossman here in Columbus today. The topic was what you can do with your stimulus check. Here’s a quick list of things to consider:

1. Take an inventory of what bills are overdue, due in the next month, and are there any major bills coming in the next few months, such as a quarterly or semi-annual bill? (things like life insurance, auto or homeowners, property tax, etc.)
2. Once you have outlined your bills, reach out to (potentially) each of them as many landlords, utility companies, insurance companies, and others are doing everything they can to work with those under financial duress and offer some form of relief, even if it is delaying the due date of the payment.
3. Address the greatest needs first. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs comes to mind. Physiological needs such as food and shelter need to be addressed. If you need groceries to feed your family, that needs to be addressed.
4. If you are fortunate enough to still be working, I would encourage you to try to save some of this and bolster your cash reserves. We don’t know how long this pandemic will continue to affect our economy and so what might not be affecting you today, could very well affect you down the road.

When everything feels uncertain, cash is always king. Spend wisely.

Jamie