For a lot of retail workers, it’s scary to think about the unknown of this winter, especially when thinking about if stores, states, or the country will have to shut down again or not. As a current college student, working in retail is my only source of income right now, and even then it doesn’t quite cut it. Is there a way that retail workers and others can prepare for what might be coming this winter?
For myself, I recently made the decision to get a second job. However, this job also has the potential of shutting down this winter as well. It’s a little different though because this second job is a human service-related job where I would still be able to do zoom sessions and still get paid for telehealth.
The retail store where I work my first job has started preparing as well by bringing in and selling a lot of masks. This store has also set up display after display of hand sanitizer. They’ve done this so that the store would be considered essential in the case of another shutdown since they sell supplies that are considered essential. In my opinion, it still seems crazy that the store is bringing in products that they wouldn’t necessarily have or sell typically just to be able to stay open.
Another thing people, in general, can do to prepare for this winter and the possibility of a shutdown is to save as much as they can, while they can. One way to do this is to make sure that each week a part of your paycheck is going into your savings so you have emergency funds if you suddenly lose your source of income due to a shutdown. Additionally, I would suggest putting even more into your savings from your paycheck than you normally would. This way, your financial stress this winter won’t be as heightened as it was during the first pandemic shutdown.
Hopefully, we can all worry less about our finances this winter while keeping our health and safety our number one priority during the pandemic.