The COVID-19 pandemic changed the world and when I say the world, every country was impacted. Millions of people lost jobs, thousands lost their lives, and the economy took a dive, are some of the impacts this virus has had on us. If you are one of the fortunate ones who still have a job, are receiving a paycheck and benefits, and allowed to work remotely, this is the time to save. I am fortunate to be one of those as well as my wife. Like many, we’ve been able to make the most of the situation staying home and social distancing ourselves. This actually has allowed us to save money and I’m going to highlight how.

1. Not Going To The Office
   Not only am I getting back 3 hours from my commute time, I’m also not incurring the cost of gas, parking fees, and wear and tear on the car. I don’t have weekly dry cleaning costs and I don’t have before/after school care.
   
2. Cancelled Activities
   Although I enjoy watching my kids play sports, this season was a bust. All sports activities this season were cancelled. We did get a refund for my son’s lacrosse but my daughter is in a travel club lacrosse team so that was not refunded. I am saving money from gas, not having to do fast food take-out as much, and not having to travel to all the tournaments.
    
3. Refinancing my mortgage
   During this economic downturn, I refinanced my mortgage at a super low rate. Was it worth the fees and cost of refinancing? That’s something you have to ask yourself but for me, it was. I would recoup the cost in about a year and I’m saving over $500 per month from a lower percentage rate.
   
4. Trying out new cooking recipes
   I’ve been cooking a lot and that was expected. I am spending more on groceries, however it is more financially beneficial to eat in instead of eating out especially with 4 mouths to feed. Also, it’s healthier. Check out one of my other articles about eating out.
    

So you’re saving money here and there. What are you doing with that extra money? Well, a few things you can do are

1. Pay off debt
   If you have credit card balances, student loans, or any other debt, I recommend paying those off. Having debt and paying high interest rates such as with credit card balances just doesn’t help you.
    
2. Start on a project you’ve been putting off
   I started blogging. Maybe you have a home project like painting the house, putting up a back splash, or other house improvement.
    
3. Pick up a hobby
   I started biking now that my kids are old enough to bike a long distance. It really is fun and enjoyable time to spend with the family. 4 miles round trip from the post office and back…sending a package and getting my workout at the same time. I’m also learning the blogging world. Possibly this could be something that can generate income, who knows.
    
4. Catching up on self improvement
   Gaining the knowledge from reading books or articles to improve yourself is great. Gaining knowledge from experience is even better. The difference is that through experience, you actually did something about it, not just read about it. Execution is key. Read this execution article of mine.
   
5. Invest
   Maybe you like to invest your money into an individual stock, mutual fund, 529, or a high yield savings account. Check out a recent post I wrote about investing during COVID-19.

Hopefully, you are experiencing what I am experiencing as far as being able to save a little through this pandemic. Now, let your savings work for you. What I mean by that is use your savings wisely. If you do a house improvement project, hopefully this will help your value go up. If you are investing it in a stock, pick one that you believe will give you a positive return. If you want to buy a bike to exercise as a hobby, you are investing in yourself health wise. If you don’t keep your health, there’s not going to be much enjoyment in retirement. Make your savings work for you. If you are interested in following my journey, email subscribe to get alerts of latest posts.