EPISODE 51: Government Shutdown: Financial Tips to Survive

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THE LOWDOWN

The United States of America is currently in its longest government shutdown in the history of the country. Currently there is no end in sight and millions of Americans are left feeling the pain and struggle of not receiving a paycheck or government benefits.

In this episode, we look at 3 steps to help make it through the hard times. As valid as it is to want to give up, it is as important as ever to find a way to keep pushing through.

I'm rooting for you and praying each day that this government figures out the mess and course corrects.

MENTIONED IN SHOW:

Website: www.lovealwaysjess.com/getstarted

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/love.always.jess

SHOW NOTES:

Episode begins at [00:00:57]

TRANSCRIPT:

[0:00:00]

[upbeat and joyful music fades in]

[0:00:06]

Introduction: Sex and Money with Jess is a podcast dedicated to helping you deepen your relationship with yourself and others when it comes to sex and money. I’m your host, Jess, and my mission is to give you the tools to step outside of your comfort zone and into your empowered self. Here, I encourage you to let go of shame and societal pressures and reimagine your future the way you want it. If you’re ready to gain more confidence, feel sexier, and become more secure in your finances, I invite you to put on your favorite outfit, pull out your bank statements, and let’s get started!

[music fades out]

[0:00:57]

Hello, I hope that you are doing well. I apologize in advance for any banging, clanking that you might hear. The unit above me is getting a remodel, I’m assuming, between tenants. I will try to edit it out in the editing process, but I cannot promise because I am new to the editing process on my side. As you may know, I no longer have a podcast producer and so I am learning everything from scratch and hoping that zoom is blocking out that noise in general because it’s got that white noise blocker, but if I am unable to catch it in the editing process and you hear it, I apologize in advance.

[0:01:46]

Today I want to talk about what is going on in the government and how it is impacting millions of people. Whether or not you are a federal worker, you are somebody who relies on federal benefits, or like me, are a little embarrassed by the way our government is handling things right now. I mean I’ve been quite embarrassed for a while, but right now, needless to say, feels rather dystopian maybe? It feels as if we’re constantly getting bombarded with new details, new information, new changes and policies that are affecting each and every single one of us every day. And right now, we have watched as the government has been shut down for seven weeks, I believe it is at this point. Let me do the math really quick. I believe it closed on October 1st, and today is November 7th, so we are at about thirty-eight days, which is roughly five weeks, so not quite seven weeks. With that being said, the government has been shut down. It is in its longest government shutdown at this point and a lot of people are being affected by this, and if you are one of those people who is affected by the government shutdown, first and foremost I want to say that I am sorry. It is not right and it is not okay for these things to be happening. You should not be going without a paycheck. You should not be going without benefits that are owed to you. It is unfortunate that the constituents, the citizens, the people of the United States are being taken advantage of, and being impacted and hurt by the people in charge.

[0:03:42]

Given that this podcast talks about sex and money, the main focus on this is going to be the financial impact that it has on people. I’m not going to dive into statistics. I’m not going to dive into specific policies or details regarding the shutdown because to be frank, I have not spent the time to really dive into specificities. I have other things in my life that I need to focus on with my job, but it doesn’t mean I’m not kept abreast of what’s going on. It also doesn’t mean that I think it’s right. I do not think that we should hold people hostage. I do not think that we should starve people. I do not think that we should withhold paychecks from people. I think that is extremely wrong, especially when the members of the senate and the house are getting paid during this shutdown. When political leaders are getting paid, but their constituents are not, I think that is wrong, I think that is backwards. I also think that the way the government was setup for this to happen is wrong. I believe the United States is the only country in the world that has the government shutdown when parties can’t come to agreement on things and that’s not okay, and I do believe that needs to change.

[0:05:09]

With that being said, we are currently heading into the holidays and we all know that the holidays are not the best time to be financially impacted. Yes, companies do layoffs. Yes, people lose their jobs, or something happens to them where their financial income impacts the holidays, and it is unfortunate and sad when that happens in general. But when we watch a government in power actively choose to withhold income and benefits from people because they want to play a ping pong game, because they want to refrain from actively doing what is right by the American people, it impacts a greater population at large. And that royally sucks and honestly is fucked up. And as I said earlier, for those of you who are impacted by this, I am truly, deeply sorry, and I feel for you. So what do we do in times like this? What do we do in moments where we are not sure when our next paycheck is going to come? We are not sure when the snap benefits, or any sort of subsidization, income that we might rely on. What happens when that is not coming, or unsure of when the next is going to come.

[0:06:37]

First and foremost our emotions are going to be heightened. We are going to be stressed. We might feel anger. We might be scared. We might feel desperate or anxious, and those are all valid feelings, but in order to decide what to do next, we have to regulate our nervous system. I’m sure that is easier said than done. I have been in many instances where I have needed to regulate my nervous system while frantic and it is not always the easiest thing to do. My heart was racing, I’m breathing fast, I’m not taking in as much oxygen, so it is important we clear our minds and allow for a calmness to enter our body. The best way to do that is to sit down in a quiet spot, take in a few deep breaths, maybe do a meditation, do a soundbath. Sometimes if you are not somebody who can shut the noise off through stillness and quiet it is important to give yourself a release of endorphins. Go for a run, go for a walk. Do some sort of cardio or weight bearing exercise in your house or at the gym. We often times need a place for our feelings to go. I’m sure you’ve heard the quote that “energy can neither be made nor destroyed, rather it moves,” and so we need to find something to do with that energy that is bottled up inside of us and has our emotions in haywire. Again, you can sit down and do meditation, breathe, allow that calmness and stillness to flow through your body, or you can go out and find a way actively to get that energy out. It’s important to clear our head space. It is important to move the energy out of our bodies before we try to figure out what our next step forward is. Because when we are stuck in the anxiety, when we’re stuck in the anger, or sadness, or scaredness, we can’t properly think. We can’t see everything with clear vision. We can’t make sound decisions from the information that we have. Instead, we are going to be reactive instead of proactive. So if you are in this situation and you’re thinking to yourself that you need to sit down and you need to come up with a game plan, ask yourself first if your body and your mind are in a clear headspace, and in a calm, centered, grounded state. And if you’re not, find a way to move that out of your body, whatever emotions you are feeling, so that you can get yourself there.

[music fades in]

[0:09:23]

Commercial: Hey! If you’re enjoying the show and are looking to go deeper in away that is more personalized to you, visit lovealwaysjess.com/getstarted to discover more ways to work with me. I understand that there is no ‘one size fits all’ approach to sex and money, so let’s get to discovering your own goals and building the path to lead you there. That’s lovealwaysjess.com/getstarted. Okay, back to the show.

[music fades out]

[0:10:03]

Once we’ve got our body and our mind in a good spot, the next step is to gather the facts. If you’ve listened to past episodes, you’ve heard me say multiple times organize your finances. Now I’m not asking you if you’ve never organized your finances to sit down and organize the past six to twelve months of things right now because that is not what’s going to help you. You are trying to figure out the future. You’re trying to figure out what’s coming up. So we’re going to sit down and we’re going to organize the past month. I highly, highly, highly recommend that once you find yourself in a good position, where you’ve figured out your next steps, or you have your income coming back, I highly recommend that you take the time to go back and at least organize the past year of finances. It’s a good foundation, it’s a good stepping block for your next move. It is also something that is important for when these types of situations come up. Because what I want you to focus on in these moments are what bills do you have due? What are the crucial bills that you have due? Something for like a roof over your head, umm utilities, things that are going to continue moving you and your family forward in an alive state. What is crucial? What is important? So we want to know that.

[0:11:33]

Second, we want to know secondary bills. Credit cards that are due, recurring, subscriptions, food, gas, or electricity for your car, things of those nature where you can cut back, you can cancel, or you can call up the credit card company and say, “hey I’ve been impacted by this government shutdown, what can you do for me? Here’s what’s important to remember, most companies are willing to work with you. Whether it’s student loans, mortgages sometimes depending upon the bank, car companies, any company that you owe something to, they are willing to work with people who put in the effort to have conversations with them and explain their situation, and meet them at the table with ‘hey, this is where I’m at, what can you do for me? Are you willing to put me on six months of zero percent interest? Are you willing to defer the car payment I owe for July until, like, tack it on at the end of my loan?’ Companies are willing to work with you as long as you ask them questions. Now it’s not always a guarantee. I can’t make promises, but the answer is always going to be no if you don’t ask. So, there is no harm in asking because the answer could be yes. The answer could be ‘I can’t do what you’re asking me to do, but here is what I can do for you, does that work?’

[0:13:05]

So when we are in situations like we are seeing in America right now, you have bills that are priority: keeping the lights on, keeping your family fed, keeping the roof over your head. Anything that isn’t priority, figure out what it is, figure out if you can cancel the bill, or the subscription, is it necessary right now? For instance, things I’m thinking of canceling, that you can cancel are spotify subscription, Netflix subscription, um any streaming services. Do you need to pay for the app on your phone? Do you need to pay for amazon delivery or can you cancel amazon at the moment and get a refund? Whatever. What is not important in this moment are those types of things because you can always get them back, and when you get them back, at that time you can enjoy the TV, or the music, and you can always get them for free, certain things, and just listen to the ads. It might be annoying and it might be uncomfortable to not have your favorite TV show playing all of the time, and it might be frustrating that you can’t have two day delivery with amazon, or whatever, but those small changes, those small cancellations will help you in the interim. So that is the second step I want you to take.

[0:14:32]

The third step is ask yourself is there any other way you could find income for the short term? Whether or not this is ubering, doing door dash, amazon delivery. Maybe you can pick up a babysitting gig, or go and work the seasonal jobs at McDonald’s or Walmart, or Target, or wherever. Because right now we’re in the holiday season and a lot of companies are hiring for short term positions. While it may stink that you have to literally take on another job in order to have an income, and it may hurt your ego, or it may make you angry, or for some people who might still have to work their federal job without a paycheck, it might make you tired, and frustrated, and very validating feelings that might come up. But when we need that income, there usually is another way that we can find it because the government isn’t helping. Now if you are somebody who may be disabled and not be able to go and work a job at Target or Walmart, or drive to do uber, amazon, or any of that type of stuff, see what types of things you can do online. There might be some transcribing you can do. There might be closed captioning for videos. I do know that those are such things where you can listen to videos and type them out. Um, perhaps you can find something where you can crochet and you can sell gifts to people for Christmas because people are always wanting something creative to give to their family members for Christmas or Hanakah, or any of the holidays. Which means that you could sell your services, you could sell your gifts that you are capable of making.

[0:16:27]

Again, I don’t think it’s right what is happening right now. I don’t think that it is fair and it breaks my heart that our government is allowing this. I want different. I want for people to not have to starve, or for people not have to worry about where their next paycheck is going to come from. I also, outside of the government shutdown, want better for America. I don’t like the disparity between the rich and the poor. I don’t like seeing people suffer and when we are currently sitting in that suffering it is really, really hard to look at our finances and to ask ourselves, ‘what can I do?’ And that is why it’s highly important to regulate our system. It is also highly important to try to push past those feelings that might come up in terms of looking at your money, and do what you can to sit down with your finances and see where changes can be made, whether it’s for the short term or the long term. If we get into the habit of looking at our money. If we get into the habit of knowing and understanding where our money is going, we will be able to build a brighter future for ourselves. Again, not blaming you, not saying this is the reason you are where you are, but we are less dependent on the government and that paycheck to paycheck. We are less afraid when moments like these happen because this isn’t the first time this has happened, and probably won’t be the last time this has happened, unless a policy is put in place that prevents the government from shutting down when they cannot get policies passed.

[0:18:11]

I pray for America. I pray that our government wakes up and recognizes that they are hurting people. I pray that the government shutdown comes to an end soon and all the back pay gets paid out quickly, and that SNAP benefits can get paid, and that people can get food on the table. I pray that the ICE raids end. I pray that the National Guard stops going into cities. There are so many things that are wrong with our government right now that I pray for, but the one thing I can give you hope in, and the one thing that I can give you clarity in is how you work with your finances. It’s not easy. I struggle and I love money, and I love finances, and I love looking at my numbers and I’m constantly working with them, but I get it. It isn’t easy. It is scary and especially right now in these times, it elevates that fear. It elevates that uncertainty.

[0:19:16]

So the three things, to recap, are regulate and ground your system; figure out what your primary and secondary bills are, organize your finances, make phone calls, cancel subscriptions, talk to debtors and ask them if they are willing to work with you; and then the third thing is see if there is another way, in the short term, to make income that is not reliant upon your current income that is affected by this shutdown. For each and every one of you who is affected by the shutdown, or what is going on in our country today, and has been for the past year, has been for the past, at this point almost decade, I am praying for you. I am praying for peace. I am praying for the government to find its heart again. I am praying for your safety. I am praying for this shutdown to end and in general I am praying for every single American right now because this is some scary ass shit, and I might not have the time to dive into the details and the statistics, but what I do have time to dive into is what is actually going on, and looking at that and seeing that breaks my heart. I wish different for all of us. I wish the divide wasn’t existent. I wish the Christian Nationalism was not existent. I wish the, as my mom would say ‘me-mes,’ meaning self-absorbed were non-existent, because we all deserve to have a chance at life. We all deserve to have a firm foundation in order to live and what is happening right now is not giving that to everyone. It’s not equitable, it’s not equality, it’s not prosperity. It’s harm, it’s fear, it’s a lot of bullshit, and something that we as human beings don’t deserve. And I know there’s a lot of other shit happening in the world, so this isn’t the only concern, but life right now is difficult, and I pray for ease. I pray that it comes. Life is not meant to be easy, we all know that, but it also isn’t meant to be this hard. So, if you’re going through a tough time. If you’re part of the federal government and you are missing a paycheck. If you are missing benefits right now. I send you my love. I send you my deepest condolences and just know that you can make it through this. I believe in you. I believe in your tenacity. I believe in your resilience. I believe in your strength. You might not feel it. You might feel weak. You might feel downtrodden. You might feel like you are being trampled on from all angles, but just know that you are capable and you are powerful, and you are mighty. And even in these weakest moments, and even in these hardest moments, not just weakest, but hardest moments, putting one foot in front of the other, even if it’s just one foot a day, is better than not doing anything. I send you all my love and let’s get this government reopened soon, hopefully, fingers crossed because FUCK this sucks. Anywho, I can go on. May this coming week bring you peace and clarity. And I hope that you find some grounding in the meantime. Bye.

[music fades in]

[0:22:33]

Outro: Thank you for listening. I hope this episode left you feeling more confident in the future you are creating. I would love to hear your thoughts on the podcast, so please leave a review and remember sharing is caring. If you know somebody who could benefit from this podcast on their own personal journey, please share it with them. What I know we need more of in this world are people who are thriving in their financial and sexual lives. And if you’re ready to dive in deeper, please go to lovealwaysjess.com/getstarted to find out more ways that you can work with me. May your day and week ahead be filled with love. See you next week!

[music fades out]

[0:23:30]