This unfortunate woman went from making six figures to no income (except government benefits). Oh, and she has $110,000 of debt. Will she succeed in cutting down expenses? Sort of.
Why market timing is a fool's game:
Not only did I lose all my income but I also lost over half the money I received in my divorce settlement, which was a 401(k) worth about $26,000. The Monday after I closed my business, I liquidated that portfolio because I didn’t feel comfortable leaving my money in the market. That was the same day that the Dow dropped 3,000 points — so what started out as $26,000 wound up being only about $10,000 in the end.
During normal times, my personal expenses would be about $5,000 a month, minimum, including rent and transportation...But now I’ve cut down my total expenses to about $2,200 or $2,300 a month.
If you're thinking, well, NYC is HCOL, this is AFTER her landlord cut her rent by 50% and allowed her to use her security deposit to pay it.
I love clothes, and it wouldn’t be abnormal for me to spend $1,000 or more a month on shopping...Since the shutdown began, it’s been hard not to shop, but I’ve only bought one pair of stretchy pants and something from ThredUp — $280. I also used to spend at least $500 a month on takeout, and now I’m spending $250 or $300 a month on grocery boxes.
When this all started, I signed up for the app BetterHelp. It was $350 or $400 per month, but then I submitted a form saying that I had no income, and they reduced my fee to about $125.
I think a lot of people out there are overspending on therapy. We think of it as "medical," as a necessity, and it may be for some, but...for the average anxious person? I guess I would ask this woman if she's really sure the therapy is helping, and if she's already tried all the cheaper/free interventions, like exercise, good sleep hygiene, meditation, or even talking to friends—proven to work about as well as therapy for many conditions.
https://www.thecut.com/2020/05/ive-lost-all-my-income.html