“There are also smaller steps you can take to ease your monthly budget burden. … Refinancing a car loan may also free up money. Ashley Gragtmans, a financial planner with Parsec Financial in Asheville, N.C., recently switched her and her husband’s car loan to a credit union and got a lower interest rate as well as 90 days of no payments and no interest.
You can also try negotiating with cable companies, internet providers, utilities, and, if you rent, your landlord. Gragtmans has friends who asked their credit card company for a temporary waiver on interest payments and got it. Being stuck at home has helped some people with another helpful financial practice. ‘As bad as this is, it’s an opportunity to reevaluate lifestyle spending and tighten up,’ says Gragtmans. ‘The whole point of having an emergency fund is that you never know—the certainty of uncertainty is so real.’”
