Adjusting Business and Expenses During the Pandemic

Talking about money makes me uncomfortable— it always has. But at the request of readers, I’m writing this post to share some of the ways in which our small business and family have been financially impacted by the ripple effects of the pandemic, and how we’re adjusting to stay afloat.

Our larger monthly expenses are the typical ones: our home, healthcare, education, food, and various business fees (which are hefty here in California). We don’t spend much on things like clothing (we buy very few garments since we share one closet and are trying to reduce our fashion footprint), accessories (we don’t dress ourselves up, as we work from the house), home goods (I try to decorate with what we already own and use daily), gas (we share one car and rarely drive), or books (we borrow most from our libraries).

Like countless others, we’ve lost a significant amount of revenue during the shutdown. I’ve tried really hard to separate my business as much as possible from the selling and promotion of tangible goods, and focus instead on services. Obviously my contracts for in-person events and speaking engagements were canceled. And campaigns that I’d already conceptualized, shot and edited were also pulled due to COVID, as they were mainly rendered for service-based companies. And while it’s normal for me to get numerous requests daily for various forms of unpaid labor, those requests have skyrocketed, as nearly everyone has felt a squeeze. 

As a single-income family running our own small business, it’s all scary, of course. For a while now, money has been steadily going out without steadily coming in. But when I think about the fact that we are able to shelter together here at home and that we have food in our kitchen, I cannot complain.

Here’s what we’ve cut back on:

Education
One of our 2020 goals was to actively work towards learning more. Adam and I signed up for courses from Kiss The Ground and SkillShare, and were looking into continuing our educations via classes at local colleges, either in person or online. We had also enrolled West in classes for 3 days per week to diversify his experiences while simultaneously helping Adam and I get through our workload, volunteer commitments, and learning endeavors. We’re now no longer engaging in new spending with respect to the above. 

Dining
One of the reasons we love living in Venice is that it has some of the most incredible, healthy food. Going out here— even for just a juice or coffee— is pricey. It’s one of the reasons we live tiny, so we can balance out spending. Now, as much as we yearn to support local small restaurants and their staff, we just can’t afford the expense of takeout. We get a fresh market box from a regional farm once per week, and one batch of groceries delivered per week. We’ve prepared every morsel of food here at home for the past month. Again, this is a privilege, and we know it. While we’re not in a position to donate funds right now, we are still looking into ways to get food routed to local nonprofits who are working to feed at-risk groups. (I’ve committed to donating a part of every sponsored campaign to select organizations, but I have to book and be paid for the campaigns before I can pass a portion of those dollars onward.)

Production
We’d been working on the 2nd season of our educational video series from the Cottage, as well as other shoots regarding sustainable small space living. We’ve canceled those plans, and are in the process of navigating the production of other content at no cost.

Contractors
We’ve had to cut back on the work we do with independent contractors. This upsets me on a personal level, as I care about these individuals and the work they do with us. But I’ll only hire someone if I can afford to pay them on the same day they invoice me— I never want to make anyone wait for payment for services already rendered.

Savings
Since we run our own business, we have to save for our own healthcare expenses, retirement and insurances— and we try to save for West’s education. All of that is on hold, as we shift our focus instead towards not going into real debt.

Subscriptions
We canceled most of our subscriptions, with the exceptions of the ones we use daily, or the ones we rely upon for news and information we trust.

Entrance Fees and Transportation Costs
Since museums and community events are shuttered, our family and business is no longer allotting the money required for those, including the associated transportation costs. West and Adam used to visit at least 1 or 2 museums/attractions per week while I worked. 

Above: Handmade masks by our friends and neighbors at Late Sunday Afternoon.

New Purchases
We’ve committed to using up everything we have at home before buying anything new. Every single bar soap/shampoo. Every toothpaste tablet. Every drop of oil. Every candle. Etc. Same goes for toys. West has plenty already, and if we put them on rotation, he doesn’t get bored. (I must say, I really, really miss our library though. “New” books would be great…) We did, however, invest in some masks for the family from our friends at Late Sunday Afternoon and Hedley & Bennett, and I also got a mini projector since we don’t have a TV.

Holistic Medicine and Practices 
I’ve been trying to get pregnant for over a year. I’d recently been visiting my doula, trying dietary supplements and probiotics, and doing acupuncture. (The acupuncture was also for the back injury I’ve had since September that has yet to heal.) All of those are luxuries I could afford because we live tiny, but I’ve stopped them all, with the exception of my Ritual Prenatal vitamins, which I find to be both affordable and easily digestible. 

One more thing of note:
I know that reusable goods aren’t possible for all. Not everyone has easy access to a washing machine, for example, and not everyone can afford the up-front costs of reusable goods. But I will say that our reusable bath and kitchen goods, as well as our Lettuce Grow Farmstand, are really coming in handy right now.  For example: we haven’t bought toilet paper for months, thanks to our bidet. We never have to go to the store for paper towels and wipes, as we have our washable cloths. I didn’t need to buy tampons or pads when the time came and I discovered that, for yet another month, I wasn’t pregnant. And we no longer have to go out to buy heads of lettuce or bundles of spinach, as they’re growing outside our door on our tiny porch. I want to be delicate about this, but I also want to provide this information in case it’s helpful to others. 

Above: Our Lettuce Grow Farmstand outside of the living room window.

Stay safe, folks, and know that we appreciate you being here with us. Any time you visit this blog, you support us. For anyone reading this who works in essential services: my family thanks you from the bottom of our hearts.