Burnout has been a problem since before the pandemic — remember “work hard, play hard”? — but the work-from-home orders made it worse.
People were working harder, but with zero work/life balance or space separation and fewer ways to relax and release stress. Burnout was almost inevitable for some.
And if you were to quit your job as you bottomed-out mentally, your cash flow would come to a screeching halt — likely adding more stress to your already frazzled self.
So while we hope to never experience burnout, the possibility is very real — and making sure your finances will be able to handle the lack of income is super important. Here are the best ways to give your money a buffer while you give your mind and body a chance to heal.
1. Figure Out Your Bare-Bones Budget and Start Saving
If you’re burned out and quit your job (or take an unpaid leave), how long will it take you to recover? The answer is: You just don’t know. But a good rule of thumb is to have enough money stashed away for six months.
But don’t panic — it’s not six months of your usual expenses. It’s six months of covering your basic needs and giving you the freedom to chill out. Think of it as your mental health emergency fund.
So how much is that? It includes your essentials — groceries, rent, medical expenses, utilities and minimum debt payments — and ditches the things you can live without. You won’t need all of your subscriptions or a line item for clothing. Your mortgage company may have forbearance options, so that’s something you can take into consideration, too.
Once you’ve created this essentials-only monthly budget, multiply it by six. That’s what your savings goal should be. Hopefully it will give you enough time to relax, recharge and refocus your career if you ever need it.
2. Start Your Burnout Emergency Savings Account in a High Yield Interest Account and Earn 16x the Average Interest
If you don’t have an account for your emergency burnout fund, get one. Keeping cash under your mattress or in your sock drawer isn’t very safe at all, plus it’ll get you nothing in interest — which honestly isn’t much less than an average savings account.
But an account with Aspiration lets you earn up to 16 times the national average interest on the money in your account. And it will earn you up to 5% back every time you use the debit card.
Not too shabby!
Enter your email address here to get a free Aspiration Spend and Save account. After you confirm your email, securely link your bank account so they can start helping you get extra cash. Your money is FDIC insured and they use a military-grade encryption which is nerd talk for “this is totally safe.”
3. Ask This Website to Help Pay Your Credit Card Bill This Month
No, like… the whole bill. All of it.
While you’re stressing out over your debt, your credit card company is getting rich off those insane interest rates. But a website called Fiona could help you pay off that bill as soon as tomorrow.
Here’s how it works: Fiona can match you with a low-interest loan you can use to pay off every credit card balance you have. The benefit? You’re left with just one bill to pay every month, and because the interest rate is so much lower, you can get out of debt so much faster. Plus, no credit card payment this month.
If your credit score is at least 620, Fiona can help you borrow up to $250,000 (no collateral needed) with fixed rates starting at 2.49% and terms from 6 to 144 months.
Fiona won’t make you stand in line or call a bank. And if you’re worried you won’t qualify, it’s free to check online. It takes just two minutes, and it could save you thousands of dollars. Totally worth it.
All that credit card debt — and the anxiety that comes with it — could be gone by tomorrow.
4. Copy This Strategy To Get a $526 Refund
Chances are you do some of your shopping online. Whether it’s pet food from Walmart, toilet paper on Target or even a flight home for Thanksgiving, you’re probably leaving money on the table.
A free website called Rakuten has the hookup with just about every online store you shop, which means it can give you a kickback every time you buy.
In fact, since Denver resident Colleen Rice started using Rakuten, it’s sent her checks in the mail totaling $526.44. For doing nothing. Seriously. Rice says she uses Rakuten for things she already has to buy, like rental cars and flights.
It takes less than 60 seconds to create a Rakuten account and start shopping. All you need is an email address, then you can immediately start shopping your go-to stores through the site.
Plus, if you use Rakuten to earn money back within the first 90 days of signing up, it’ll give you an extra $10 on the first check it sends you. Talk about money for nothing.
5. Earn Up to $225 For Your Burnout Preparedness Fund Just For Going Down a Rabbit Hole on Your Phone
We’ve all been there. You sit down at the end of the day to unwind on your phone, and suddenly it’s two hours later, and you’re in the weird part of YouTube again. How did I even get here?
But you don’t need to feel guilty about it anymore. Research companies will actually pay you to go down these video rabbit holes.
You could add up to $225 a month to your pocket by signing up for a free account with InboxDollars. They’ll present you with short video clips to choose from every day, then ask you a few questions about them.
You just have to answer honestly, and InboxDollars will continue to pay you every month. This might sound too good to be true, but it’s already paid its users more than $60 million.
It takes about one minute to sign up and start getting paid for your nightly zone-out.
6. Cut Your Bills Now to Help Save For Later
There are some bills you can cut down now, without having to sacrifice anything.
By slimming down these monthly payments, you can save more money immediately and have less to worry about if you ever need to take a break from the daily grind. A win-win.
Start with your car insurance. When’s the last time you even checked car insurance prices?
You should shop your options every six months or so — it could save you some serious money. But don’t waste your time hopping around to different insurance companies looking for a better deal.
Use a website called EverQuote to see all your options at once.
EverQuote is the largest online marketplace for insurance in the US, so you’ll get the top options from more than 175 different carriers handed right to you.
Take a couple of minutes to answer some questions about yourself and your driving record. With this information, EverQuote will be able to give you the top recommendations for car insurance. In just a few minutes, you could save up to $610 a year.
7. Find Out if You’re Overpaying
Think of all the times you’ve overpaid… and how much money you could have saved in your emergency fund, if someone had just told you before you swiped.
That’s exactly what this free service does.
Just add it to your browser for free, and before you check out, it’ll check other websites, including Walmart, eBay and others to see if your item is available for cheaper. Plus, you can get coupon codes, set up price-drop alerts and even see the item’s price history.
Let’s say you’re shopping for a new TV, and you assume you’ve found the best price. Here’s when you’ll get a pop up letting you know if that exact TV is available elsewhere for cheaper. If there are any available coupon codes, they’ll also automatically be applied to your order.
In the last year, this has saved people $160 million.
You can get started in just a few clicks to see if you’re overpaying online.
Capital One Shopping compensates us when you get the extension using the links provided.
This was originally published on The Penny Hoarder, which helps millions of readers worldwide earn and save money by sharing unique job opportunities, personal stories, freebies and more. The Inc. 5000 ranked The Penny Hoarder as the fastest-growing private media company in the U.S. in 2017.
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