COVID-19 with the Happy Hour Ladies

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COVID-19 with the Happy Hour Ladies

Today is the last Friday of the month and my regular listeners know that on the last Friday of the month, I host happy hour on the podcast where I gather great friends with me to drink cheap drinks and talk about money topics.

Last week, I shared my thoughts on the COVID-19 situation that the world is currently going through. Today, the Happy Hour ladies join me to share their thoughts, how they are mentally handling it, how they are quarantining, what they are drinking, and then they answer your questions that you posted in the Facebook group. In crazy times like these, I am so thankful for these ladies and appreciate their opinions on all of this.

What are we drinking?

Melanie from Dear Debt, Lola Retreat, and MentalHealthandWealth.com — Pinot Noir

Tonya from Tonya-Stumphauzer.com — Peanut Butter Whiskey

Liz, Mrs. Frugalwoods, from Frugalwoods.com — Black Current Cordial Cocktail

Shannon — Bota Box Nighthawk Blend

Podcast Notes

  • About three weeks ago, right before Tonya left for Kauai, she first heard about the Coronavirus. Last week, when travel to Europe was banned, she perked up a little more. It was only when she went to the grocery store for her normal grocery shopping that she realized it was real, because the store was packed.

  • When the volleyball program she is working with shut down and the markets were tumbling she realized it was going to be bad for the economy.

  • Melanie was traveling a lot during the first quarter of 2020. She spent January in Mexico City, and then she spent two weeks in Europe with her mom. She first heard about the virus in January, but it seemed contained.

  • When Melanie was in Europe, it changed completely between the first day and the last day. Masks went from a few people to a lot of people.

  • Five days after she came back, everything changed. She wasn’t that worried about it last week, because it seemed contained. When the NBA cancelled and Tom Hanks was diagnosed, everything changed in an hour.

  • Last Thursday, Melanie stayed in bed the entire day trying to process the new reality. She feels like it is a paradigm shift and doesn’t feel like it is going to go back to “normal”. Everyone’s reality has changed.

  • Liz started hearing about the virus in January. It made her nervous, because the transmission rate is so much higher than the flu. She started to buy children’s medicines and her prescriptions to make sure they had everything they needed.

  • In the last month, she started getting nervous for her parents, in-laws, and elderly neighbors and she encouraged them to avoid going out and she stopped having her neighbor watch her kids.

  • Recently, the governor of Vermont closed schools until April 6, and Liz and Nate made the decision to self isolate. They can do this, because they work from home and they have enough food and supplies. They don’t want to get sick or get someone else sick.

  • For Shannon, she started hearing about the virus in January, but it wasn’t until about two weeks ago that it was on her radar as a business owner.

  • She talked to her dad, who is a pediatric surgeon, and he said from a medical standpoint it isn’t that scary, because it breaks down when you wash your hands. He was more concerned about SARS.

  • Last Thursday morning, Shannon got on a plane to Chicago, and when she landed, she had about 80 new emails. In only a few hours, the world changed, everybody was losing their minds, and grocery stores were out of food.

  • On Thursday afternoon, she made the decision to close The Gym for at least two weeks and have everyone work virtually.

  • Something happened Friday night, where Shannon felt sure she is meant to be here, leading a company of about 70 people. This is her third recession. She worked in financial services during 9/11 and she was more scared back then. This enemy can be killed with soap and water and isolation.

  • Shannon sent an email to her team on Friday night, because she is concerned about her team’s mental health. They are on the front lines and they are quarantined, and she has a very social team.

  • It is somebody’s life purpose to find the cure for this virus. You can’t have this much chaos, destruction, and disruption and not have something good come from it.

  • Tonya went for a run on Sunday, and she got a little clarity. She was thinking about all the silver linings that could come from this.

  • This is a shift and how do we shift from it? There are so many people who are stepping into greatness, because of this. In Canada, a group called the Care Mongers, help out their local community.

  • Brandi, from the Martinis and your Money Facebook group asked what we can do to help those who will need help in the days to come.

  • Liz and her neighbors started a phone tree. Her job is to answer the phone and write down what the caller needs and then she routes it back to her neighbor who will match them up someone who can help.

  • There are a lot of people who eat both breakfast and lunch at school. Liz’s school district set up a system where breakfasts and lunches will be set outside the school, or someone can deliver it.

  • There are a lot of elderly people that live in Liz’s community and she is doing her part to keep them safe.

  • It is hard for people to ask for help, but if there is something someone needs, we need to support them.

  • Think about what it is that you need and ask. Do a reflection on this and let people know. Find out how you can help others, even if it is just a phone call.

  • Tonya is hosting a St. Patrick’s Day social distancing party on Zoom. Shannon has a woman who is hosting virtual daily meditations for The Gym team.

  • Keep supporting small businesses in your community and share their stuff on social media. It doesn’t take anything for you to do that, and people who have the means can support them.

  • Many bars and restaurants have been shut down and Liz was trying to support them last week before they closed.

  • Shannon is concerned about the food and beverage industry and their employees. We are heading into a recession and we haven’t had one in over 10 years. People have gotten too comfortable about making money decisions.

  • Hopefully, there will be more financial preparedness after this. About 47 percent of Americans cannot handle a $400 emergency. You need to go into hunker-down mode. Every expense needs to be evaluated, if you haven’t built up an emergency fund.

  • Melanie and Tonya just cut Netflix, in order to stash more cash. They are both on bare-bones budget mode.

  • Look for the government solutions and look at different interest rates for your debt. Whatever happens, it will be retroactive to March 13. Take advantage of programs available.

  • If you are thinking about investing, it is a great time, but not unless your emergency fund is fully funded (12 months), your debts are under control, and you feel like you have a really stable job. The problem with recessions is people lose jobs.

  • Businesses will impact other businesses and it will trickle down. Unless you feel hyper secure in your job, don’t invest.

  • Click here to read Melanie’s article about realized and unrealized losses that was posted by Vice last week.

  • Don’t sell your investments unless you absolutely need to. Right now, bond portfolios are up. You can transfer your holdings from a robo advisor, it is called an ACATS, to another investment and then you can choose how to liquidate, if you need to liquidate.

  • Don’t sell your investments if you don’t need to. Halt your spending and sell whatever you can. If you cannot afford your mortgage, talk to your lender.

  • Fluffy Flowers asked what the self-employed ladies are planning to do to keep their businesses going.

  • Tonya has been putting her heart and soul into the volleyball company she has been working with. She recently posted on Facebook that she is available for hire and she has been reaching out to others.

  • Tonya is focusing on what she can control, which is her spending, and she is going to up her game to get more work. If the volleyball company doesn’t continue, she will need to pivot.

  • Melanie is focusing on her expenses right now and is cutting as much as possible to get on a bare-bones budget. She has an emergency fund and cash savings, but she is nervous about the future. She was already concerned about AB5 Bill in California, and now everyone is halting work because of the recession. Writing work isn’t coming in right now.

  • There is potential about additional work, because the market is so volatile. On the other hand, writing about everyone losing their job and the market tanking is not good for her mental health, because it is depressing.

  • Right now, Melanie is dealing with navigating how she can make a living writing in the personal finance space, but also writing about things that aren’t COVID-19 related.

  • With Lola Retreat being a live event business, she is trying to move it to a digital workshop, because no one is doing live events right now. The silver lining is the mental health piece of her business. It is a balance of what can bring her money now to pay her bills and what is going to be her long-term vision.

  • As a freelancer, you need to be open to pivoting.

  • In 2009, we were at a market low at 683, and it recently closed at 2400. Within four years, it returned to the 1200s. It is going to take a while to correct and come back, but markets have memory and they remember how to get back there.

  • If you retire at 65, you are not going to use your entire nest egg during year one. It will need to last you at least 20 years. As you get closer to retirement, it should be less stocks and more bonds (around 60/40). If you need to, sell from your bond portfolio, because it is high.

  • If you leave a job or are fired, Shannon doesn’t recommend doing a rollover right now because you will realize the losses.

  • Our physical, mental, and financial health need to be focused on at this point. Try to find the joy, beauty, and pleasure in everyday life. Find joy and happiness where you can, because life is still going on.


TAKEAWAY: My biggest takeaway is that this is a situation that is new, but we will likely be feeling its effects for a while. Please take this time to focus on your physical, mental, and your financial health, because these are what will help you weather any storm, no matter how long it goes on.

Now, more than ever, it is so important to have a B.F.F, Best Financial Friend, in your life. While you may want to cut back on your monthly expenses, working with my team at The Financial Gym may be exactly what you need now and we need you as well. We have special discounts happening, so head over to, or send friends to, financialgym.com.

If you have any topics you would like for us to talk about during happy hour, please feel free to email me at shannon@fingyms.com or tweet to me at blonde_finance or join the private martinis and your money Facebook group and let us know. Until next time, take care!!

Shannon McLay3 Comments