CHULA VISTA, Calif. (KGTV) - The coronavirus pandemic has forced San Diego families to readjust their financial goals.
As 10News follows the financial journeys of several local families to see how they Make it in San Diego, we're looking into what they're doing to stay on track or to adjust because of the pandemic.
For Tancy Campbell and her family, these unprecedented times have motivated them to double down on their plan to save.
"In mid-March, when this happened, we didn't have a full month of expenses in our savings," says Campbell.
Experts say you should have 3-6 months of cash savings set aside as an emergency fund. Campbell says the realization they fell behind forced them to dig further into their budget.
"It made us want to really get down to the nitty-gritty and save every penny," she says. "Because of that, we've even saved a little extra in our emergency savings."
At the start of 2020, Campbell told 10News her family's goal was to save $30,000 by the end of the year. So far, they've put away $14,235.
Campbell says her family has been fortunate that her husband is an essential military worker, so they haven't lost their income during the Pandemic. Campbell also runs an Instagram page about savings, started an Etsy line to make some extra money, and plans to launch a website in June.
Campbell says budgeting, grocery lists, and finding what you can live without is the key to saving. The pandemic has helped her family with the last part.
"Right now, we know what's important," she says.
She hopes other people take the lessons they've learned about living on a smaller budget in the pandemic to heart, so they can keep saving when things go back to normal.
