According to finance guru Suze Orman, there are some key practices to adhere to if one wants to stay financially sound as the coronavirus wreaks havoc on the world economy. According to her, one area to start pinching pennies are your credit card bills.
“The biggest piece of advice that I’ve been giving to people is do not pay off your credit cards in full. You get a stimulus check, you get your unemployment check..pay the minimum payment due on your credit cards,” Orman told Ladders, adding that for the first time in her life, she's asking people not to use cash.
"Keep your cash as if it’s gold right now and put all the expenses you can on your credit cards and pay the minimum payment due,” she said. “At the same time I would be calling the credit cards and asking them if they can give you a 0% interest rate or lower your interest rate. Just try it.”
Holding back also goes for your mortgage. "Orman always encourages listeners to make sure they own their home outright by the time they retire, which for many people means sending extra payments in every single month for that to happen," Ladders writes. "During this time, Orman now encourages home owners not to do that."
If you are unemployed, Orman suggests you contact your mortgage company, your credit card companies, your insurance companies, your utility companies, your student loan companies -- basically any entity you owe money to, and see if you can postpone payments for as long as possible.
Read more financial advice from Orman over at Yahoo Finance.
