For expenses you can change, look at your bank and credit card statements for unnecessary monthly subscriptions, like gym memberships, that come out automatically. “Call or go online immediately to suspend those,” suggests Kristi Sullivan, certified financial planner with Sullivan Financial Planning in Denver. She also suggests temporarily stopping any automatic payments for college savings or retirement accounts. “Focus on what you can control in the short term, and let the long term take a backseat for now,” she says. “Your layoff or furlough is not personal or a reflection of your work competence. We are in a tough time worldwide now.”
