The spread of the coronavirus and the lockdown measures that have followed have put many of us in a difficult situation – whether that be lost jobs or changing schedules, times have been difficult. They did provide a unique opportunity however, as being stuck at home has been able to provide an opportunity for many of us to reduce our spending and fall well within a budget – but also not without issue, with many locations reopening it may be tempting to splash out a little and fall back into old habits – but there’s plenty you can do to ensure your spending stays low whilst getting back to your day to day.

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(Image from Forbes)

Don’t be afraid to spend a little – Although you’re sticking to a budget, maybe you’ve built up a little safety net during the downtime, understand it’s ok to splash out just a little – this is increasingly important as many of our sporting events are beginning to get back underway. Football in Europe has been the first major sporting events to take place again, but UK racing is also set to get underway again shortly too as the Royal Ascot is just around the corner – this also means that a fan favourite activity of betting is also returning after a few months of extremely reduced capacity, and as fan favourite services with football and horse racing not on gamstop here, the temptation will certainly be there – just be sure to take a measured approach to it.

Stick to your schedule where possible – One of the biggest changes that we might see is the mainstay of remote working, and working from this. If it is at all possible to you, it may be beneficial to stick to this schedule as much as possible – if you’re given the option to continue to work from home, it may be easier to help stick to your budget if  you’re able to do so. If this isn’t a possibility, then sticking to usual methods such as a homemade lunch for example may be more important than usual as it may be a little more tempting to slip to a lunch from your favourite takeout place after two months of home cooked meals.

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There are also other important things to consider that may impact your budget going forward – one big example can be found in flights and holidays if you had planned to have a summer holiday this year or going forward – historically flights after a global change experience a drop of up to 25% which may last for a year or two before a sharp increase, another example can be found in deals that may follow immediately when a business reopens to encourage people to use the service. You may choose to capitalize on some of these deals early, but make sure to factor that into your budget going forward as these prices will likely change quite quickly and you may not get that same deal in a few months from now.