By Sylvia Juuko

Treating the current lockdown as a temporary setback to your personal finances can be one way to cope with the prevailing uncertain environment. While navigating financial setbacks has never been child’s play, the fact that you are here to witness this period is a testimony of your resilience.

Depending on our level of preparedness, each of us will be impacted differently under the current lockdown. On one hand, there are those that are lucky to only suffer the inconvenience of not moving around freely, but their income source will face minimal disruption. On the other hand, there are the daily income earners who are immediately impacted by any form of restriction in movement.

Luckily, there is already a sense of ubuntu that has seen several people support those who are in need. Therefore, any of us who is able, can provide food and other items for the members of your community who urgently require a helping hand.

Surviving the second lockdown will take some ingenuity and staying true to the fact that you need to change your lifestyle to suit the times. Ideally, planning for an emergency should be a way of life.

Adopting this style of prudent money management is how you were able to navigate the first lockdown. With the benefit of hindsight, you should be well armed to efficiently handle whatever financial challenges presented by the current situation. For starters, this lockdown part 2 did not catch you unawares, all the signs were there. With the rapid rise in COVID-19 cases, drastic action had to be implemented by the authorities. As such, the crunch time will be presented by implementing the measures you put in place to navigate the disruption in income flow, which was inevitable.

As a start, this is not the time to live in denial and try to maintain your old lifestyle. Given the fact that some of you are spending more time at home, you could be tempted to spend more money on home deliveries of ready cooked meals and other items. This can push your food bill to the roof. Instead, focus on having meal plans and effect this by practising some culinary skills at home. This will ensure that the food bill is kept in check.

Relatedly, you need to urgently prioritise and focus on those necessities that have to be catered for. Remember that if you don’t do this and run short of money, you will have trouble paying bills. Right now, the most urgent bills include paying rent, medical, groceries, power, water and transport, where applicable. This means that you have to adjust your lifestyle and accommodate the new situation. If there is room to negotiate with your landlord, take that route to find out how much more time you can buy. This also applies to the people you owe money. If they are flexible, you can inform them upfront about your money challenges and agree on a new payment schedule. However, this grace period should not be used as an excuse to renege on your obligations. You still have to pay their money back.

That said, the current situation is proving to be different from the previous restriction because of the health-related, emotional and attendant costs that have hit every household. The first lockdown was about not being used to being at home full-time. Today, we are dealing with a lethal, but unseen enemy that has left death, ill health and high medical bills in its wake. These high costs have rapidly wiped out all the cash reserves that many were banking on to navigate this lockdown. To make matters worse, the end of this wave remains unknown, which means we have no idea what the cost will be, once the dust settles.

Unfortunately, when we are faced with uncertainty, it is easy to get into panic mode amid the unclear circumstances. To cope with this, it’s advisable to seek help from trusted people if you feel overwhelmed.

The writer works with Bank of Uganda