I’m sitting here in WA happily tapping away on my keyboard feeling lucky that the state we call home is free of locally transmitted COVID-19 cases. I say this with sadness and anger knowing how bad things are in the eastern states of Australia.
I pity the residents of NSW having to endure 10+ weeks of lockdowns; and especially the overworked health care workers facing vastly increased patient loads. I’m angry at the state government for failing to put the necessary measures in place to suppress the virus and bolster the health care system.
While some are against lockdowns, because they hurt the economy; cause job losses; increase mental health issues and encroach on peoples’ right to freedom; there is no denying that a hard and fast lock down is highly effective at stopping the spread. I feel lucky to live in a state where our government does this without hesitation and the general population is mostly compliant with the measures. While it does cause inconveniences (like making sure we have enough toilet paper hahaha), these harsh measures have resulted in us spending a lot less time in lockdown when compared with other states. Not to mention the fact that our health care system has been protected from being overwhelmed by COVID-19 patients. On a side note, the problem with SARS-COV-2 is that it spreads really fast; and the disease does just enough harm to put large enough numbers of people in hospital which overwhelms the system. As a result, people die from all sorts of things resulting from lack of available health care.
Anyways, how does this relate to personal finance? It’s all about savings and opportunity. Whilst the virus is a health care issue; financial trouble is one of the reasons why people oppose lockdowns. When businesses are forced to close due to lockdowns; people lose their income and are unable to put food on the table and pay the bills. Now this personal financial risk is eliminated by having 6 months’ worth of expenses in an emergency fund. Hence the reason for an emergency fund, it’s for emergencies!
I think there is something to be said about looking at lockdowns as opportunities rather than an attack on freedom. At the FFE house, 2020 was our lowest year of general household expenses, due to the months of lockdowns and inability to travel; it became a fantastic opportunity to invest the excess cashflow. It was also a great opportunity to revisit some old computer games; read; and exercise instead of commuting.
Overall, I just wanted to say I feel lucky that COVID-19 is under control in WA; and one of the most important personal finance lessons that this pandemic has re-iterated to me is the importance of having an emergency fund.
So the key takeaway here is you don’t need to worry about stocking up on toilet paper, just ensure that you have enough cash saved up for whatever unforeseen calamities that life will throw at you!
Engineer your freedom