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For the majority of the population this period feels like a steep mountain to climb. Here are a few tips to help you with your financial decision making. Making informed and solid financial decisions will certainly contribute towards conquering this economic downturn.<\/span><\/p>\n Don\u2019t give in to panic or fear<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n These are very real emotions and while you should face them, don\u2019t give in to fear or panic. Everyone is being impacted to some degree. Stay positive because there is always light at the end of the tunnel. You may not have made the best financial decisions in the past, but you can start right now. Make a decision then action it. Sometimes it requires a pandemic for people to take action. Learn from it. Improve your financial knowledge during the current situation to benefit in the future.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Discipline. Discipline. Discipline<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n Scrutinise your expenses for potential savings and if you ever needed motivation to be disciplined with spending, this lockdown is it. Opportunities to spend your money have reduced drastically, so you may as well get into the habit of saving. Identify the \u2018cannot-live-without\u2019 expenses and the \u2018nice-to-have\u2019 expenses. Look for opportunities to reduce the \u2018cannot-live-without\u2019 expenses and cut the \u2018nice-to-have\u2019 expenses completely or reduce these, as far as possible. You only want to pay the bare minimum now. If an expense can be deferred to a later stage when you have recovered, go for that option.\u00a0 \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Get clued up about financial relief during and after the lockdown<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n If there is no other alternative and your bank or financial service provider permits it, you can look at opting for the payment holiday. Bear in mind that with a payment holiday you don\u2019t have to pay instalments for a period of one to three or four months, but, the interest and fees are still charged during this period. This will result in having a larger outstanding balance at the end of the holiday period and therefore your instalments and interest portion thereof will also increase after the payment holiday. Do the calculations to understand the full impact and then make an informed decision.<\/span><\/p>\n Related article:<\/span> Payment holiday – what you should know<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n Apply the golden rule<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n The golden rule when it comes to repaying debt quicker is to pay more than the minimum instalment required. Any money that you pay in addition to the minimum instalment will reduce your outstanding capital amount. That is exactly what you want to achieve \u2013 reducing the outstanding capital balance. By reducing the outstanding capital balance you will also reduce the interest you will be paying.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n If your budget allows continue paying the higher instalment now that the interest rate cut has been announced as more money will be allocated to reduce your capital balance. Allocate any additional cash to repay debt. Use any excess money at the end of the month to repay debt.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Financially Future Fit<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n The people and businesses who were probably less stressed during this time were the ones who had an emergency fund in place. An emergency fund would be the best solution to give you peace of mind during such unforeseen circumstances. You have control over your emergency fund and you can make the decision whether to use it or not. Unlike with all the relief and other assistance options available, you don\u2019t need to prove a loss of income, have to submit documentation and apply for the funds where somebody else has the discretion to determine whether you are a viable candidate for funding or not.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n