In this video, finance coach Dominique Broadway addresses federal employees affected by a government shutdown, explaining that while retroactive pay is possible, it is not guaranteed. She offers a series of practical steps to manage finances during the furlough: (1) conduct a thorough review of personal expenses and trim non‑essential costs such as premium cable or discretionary dining; (2) proactively contact creditors, lenders, and mortgage or car‑note providers to request payment postponement or hardship options, noting that many institutions have furlough‑specific programs and mentioning the short‑term bill‑pay service billfloat.com as an alternative; (3) consider developing additional income streams by pursuing entrepreneurial interests, leveraging local D.C. meet‑ups and organizations that support startups; and (4) use the downtime to relax with family and friends, taking advantage of local happy‑hour discounts. Throughout, she emphasizes the importance of cash‑flow monitoring, diversification of income, and staying prepared for future shutdowns. Contact information (Twitter @MsFinanceCoach, website DominiqueBroadway.com) is provided for further questions.
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Good morning everyone. So as you know, last night the government shut down. I know we're all pretty shocked by it. I know I was. So what I wanted to do as your finance coach is just give you a few tips that you can implement and some things to do to make sure you make the most of the time off that you have. Hopefully it won't be long, and also just to prepare you so that if this ever happens again, again, you are protected and you feel much more confident. So this isn't the first government shutdown we had. In the last Clinton administration, the government shut down twice, once for 5 days and another time for 3 weeks. So this has happened before. And at least 800,000 civilian workers will be affected. Up to over a million people could possibly be affected. So it's not just you if you feel like you're the only one. One of the big questions that people have, like, am I still going to get paid? So essentially you can get paid, but there's a chance that, well, technically you won't be getting paid while you're furloughed. But previously they have allowed retroactive pay to be in effect once the furlough is over. So there is a chance that you won't get any payment or any paychecks while this is happening, but they may allow any pay that was missed to be, to be covered once it's over, but it's not guaranteed. So let's just kind of get into a few tips of things that you can do now to make the most of your time off. So the first one is to really take some time and look at your current expenses. This is a great time to review your budget, make sure you're not overextending yourself, and to start identifying ways that you can cut back in certain budget, in certain areas. So maybe this is the time where maybe you cut back on that super big cable package you have, or cut back back on your going out budget and things of that nature. Because if this extends for longer than a few days or even a few weeks, this could really impact your finances, your cash reserves, and your monthly cash flow. Another thing that's really important that you can do if this does continue for a week or longer, contact your creditors, contact your lenders, and let them know that you are currently affected, being affected by the government shutdown, and if there are any unemployment or furlough benefits that your credit cards or mortgage or car note has that can postpone your payments while this is going on. A lot of people don't know that you can do that, but it is something that you could do. So, you know, as I always say, if you don't ask, how will you ever know? Another big thing that you can do is to start thinking about some of your passions and entrepreneurial goals. You know, a lot of people think that the government is— having a government job is steady and secure. And as you can see, and we're seeing year after year, that it's is not. So I think this is a great time for you to make sure that you have more than one stream of income and all your eggs aren't in one basket with your government job. So, you know, look for local organizations in D.C. We have like Day of Fosterly and great meetup groups that help entrepreneurs get off the ground and get their entrepreneurial endeavors going and start bringing in that extra cash flow so that you're not depending just on your government paycheck or this one paycheck in the event that the government decides to shut down again. And last but not least, enjoy the time off that you have. If you've prepared and your finances are fine, take this time, spend it with your family, spend it with your friends. There's gonna be some pretty good happy hours and discounts going on, especially in the DC area, not just for furlough people but for people in general who are off. So just to kind of recap everything: 1, look at all your expenses, see where your money's going, see if there's any Areas you can cut back on. Oh, and if— oh, another thing I want to say. If for some reason you are short for certain bills because your paycheck does not arrive, there's a pretty cool service called billfloat.com that will help you pay your bills, and they charge a pretty low interest rate, about 5 or 6%, that you could pay— 5 or 6% interest rate for helping you pay certain bills, be it your Verizon, GEICO, or other various bills. So another option is Also, making sure that you contact your lenders. Let them know that you are currently being affected by the government shutdown. If there's any way that any of your payments could get postponed while this is going on, even if it's a month or two, or even if you just need a couple extra weeks to pay your bills, give them a call. Let them know. That's all they want you to do is call them. And the last two things is, you know, think about some of your passions. See if you can turn them into cash. And enjoy the time off with your family and friends. Take advantage of some of the cool discounts that's going on. So hopefully Hopefully some of these tips have helped to make the government shutdown a little bit more productive for you, um, and that you're able to take this time to prepare to make sure that all your eggs are not in one basket in case one source of income stops. So once again, I'm Dominique Broadway, on Twitter @MsFinanceCoach. My website is DominiqueBroadway.com. If you have any questions, please contact me on my website, DominiqueBroadway.com. Or you can tweet me @MsFinanceCoach. Hope everyone is doing well, and please stay strong as this government shutdown occurs. And I'm sure that it will be over soon, but please make sure that you're staying on top of your cash flow and money to make sure that you are not affected the next time this happens. Have a good one.
