A personal injury left you unable to work for the foreseeable future. While you have a legal case on your hands and an at-fault party, you still need to pay your bills while you heal. Do you know what to do to ease your anxiety and satisfy bill collectors while dodging late fees?
See what steps to take to protect your financial health while tending to your physical health.
Strip your budget
Sit down and look over your current budget, looking for expenses that you can go without. Necessities such as groceries, car payments and house payments must remain, but you can likely go without streaming, subscription and delivery services. Your local library makes for a great source of free entertainment, and you could learn about other free, local services that you never knew about.
Shop wisely
Some grocery stores have free loyalty cards or programs to save shoppers money, and most have weekly circulars detailing what items are on sale. Create a menu ahead of time and make a list, then resist impulse buys and stick to the list while at the store. Meat markets, produce markets and other specialty stores may have better prices than supermarkets.
Look into government programs
The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program are two government programs designed to assist those who need financial help with buying groceries and paying their heating and cooling bills. Do some research to see if you qualify for local government resources and programs.
Prioritize credit card payments
Even when you are in good health, late fees and interest payments eat into your income. While recovering, take care of credit card payments first, especially because doing so helps protect your credit score.
By keeping up with bills, you have one less thing to worry about while tending to your injury. Even after you feel 100%, keep the above financial tips in mind.
