Op-Ed: If The Crash Comes, Is Your Family Ready?

by Antonymous

From a financial perspective, the last few years have been good ones for our community, Boruch Hashem. Thanks to a variety of factors, from the pandemic-driven boom in E-Commerce and healthcare services, to the wide availability of cheap credit, and even to the biggest government stimulus policies in American history, things have been good.

As a community, we have a lot to be grateful for. A lot of wealth has been created, and our Mosdos have benefited greatly across our community and across the world. Schools have built buildings and added services, organizations helping the poor have grown their budgets, and hundreds of Shluchim have been able to raise enough funds to get started on their life’s mission and move out on Shlichus.

Just like most of the country, the massive stimulus from the Federal government had our savings accounts and “disposable” income looking bigger than ever. This created a sort of “sugar rush” in the wider economy and in our community. Many of us went out and made impulse purchases that very likely were not necessary, and many developed bad spending habits because the money was available to us.

Unfortunately, there’s a very strong possibility that the good times may be at an end, at least for a while. Experts will argue about what caused the record inflation we’re now seeing and the mass layoffs that are starting to hit some of the most formerly profitable parts of the American economy, but most expect it to continue and most expect the Federal Reserve to continue taking action to combat inflation, actions that have a good chance of tipping us into a recession.

In an environment like this it’s important to remember two things.

1) Hashem runs the world. He decides how successful we will be financially, and all we can do is do our Hishtadlus and have faith that we will have enough to support our families.
2) We have the ability to create a budget and make wiser spending choices. Choices that will, with Hashem’s help, get us through difficult periods without serious damage to our long-term financial situation.

To that end, I have laid out a very basic family budgeting spreadsheet and attached it to the end of this article (there are also many good family budgeting apps and programs that can do this with more detail and depth). I strongly suggest that the heads of every household take some time in the next few weeks to sit down and review their family’s previous spending history.

With that done, using a very conservative estimate of what you expect to earn over the next two year period and using this spreadsheet (or the app/program of your choice), it’s time to figure out where you can and should cut down on spending and increase your savings. And then it’s time to implement those changes. Some of them will be painful, but a lot of them will just require a little adjusting or going without minor luxuries.

It’s also a very good idea to involve your children in these conversations, and help get them on the road to healthier spending habits early in life.

With Hashem’s help, this storm will pass soon and with minimal damage. But it’s always better to plan ahead, and I wish you all mazal and bracha as you make efforts to secure a sustainable financial future for yourself and your family.

To Download The Budget File In Excel Form: Click Here