Holy cow, Coronavirus sucks!

You’ve probably already heard how important it is to stay inside and to practice social distancing. Hopefully I don’t need to remind you how to do that.

Here’s how I’m coping with my newfound case of cabin fever.

On Money

The first thing I’m doing is cutting out any subscriptions that I don’t need.

I’m a hoarder by nature and I have a hard time getting rid of stuff because I always worry that “I might need it someday”.

I’ve learned that this is not the time to hoard subscriptions.

I have a marriage counseling app on my iPhone called ‘Lasting’ that involves a monthly subscription. It’s an amazing app – and I highly recommend it if you’re in any kind of romantic relationship – but I haven’t logged into it in the past several weeks. I’ve always kept it on my phone just in case I need it someday…but today, I’m pulling the plug and canceling it altogether.

Today is NOT the time to be stingy with your subscriptions. Netflix gets to stay since I use that every day. Lasting gets the boot since I haven’t used that in over a month. Any subscriptions that you haven’t used in a while…just get rid of them.

I also want to highlight that there’s no shame in asking for help. I’m a recent college grad who’s married, but right now I find myself relying on my parents for financial help. And that sucks!

Now is not the time to be prideful. Make sure you ask for help from friends/family when you need it. Same goes for any bills you owe. If you having trouble paying off things such as credit cards, utility bills, etc., then call up those companies and let them know that times are tough and you’re having trouble paying things off. Ask them what they can do for you.

Finally, this is a bit technical but I do want to remind you that any principal you’ve contributed to a Roth IRA can always be withdrawn without any tax penalty. Don’t be afraid to withdraw it if you really need to. That’s what’s it for!

On Relationships

How do you maintain your social relationships during social distancing? Turns out, this comes fairly naturally for introverts.

Personally, I have a couple friends that I love to meet with over Zoom. We hop on a call at least once a week to catch up on each other’s lives. For fun, we like to play multiplayer games over Steam or watch movies together by having Netflix open in one window and Zoom open in another window. With Netflix Party, this is now easier than ever!

Finally, make sure to ping any of your friends that you haven’t seen in a while. Send them a quick message or, better yet, give them a quick call! Chances are they’ll be glad to hear from you. (If they aren’t…you tried. Give it an honest shot and then you can write them out of your life guilt-free.)

On sanity

I’ve realized that I’ve always used the phrase “I’m too busy” to put off the things that I want to do.

• Hang out with friends? I’m too busy
• Reading books? I’m too busy
• Working out? I’m too busy

After constantly telling myself that I was “too busy”, I eventually started believing it.

Was I truly too busy? Well, it’s true that I’ve been busy these days. We all are. Even if you’re busy, there’s still many ways to fit your hobbies into an already packed schedule.

I’m finally getting back to rediscovering those things that I’ve always told myself I was too busy to do. Reading, working out, and even writing this newsletter.

We’re all in this together

COVID-19 affects all of us. It sucks that Coronavirus threatens our lives, but it also gives me a sense of macabre optimism when I see all the countries of the world coming together to take on this global crisis.

I haven’t wished upon a star since I was a little kid watching Disney movies. But today, I dare to do so.

I wish that we all come out of this with a sense of global unity. That all the nations of the world defeat COVID-19 by learning to work together, and that all the inhabitants of the world experience that same love toward their fellow man no matter who they are or where they’re from.

We’ll get through this together. In the meantime, stay safe.