Broke: 60% can afford up to three months on savings; four-in-10 would sell their blood
The financial crisis ravaging the nation as the coronavirus spreads is growing dire as people are tapping out their limited savings while waiting for stimulus checks from the IRS.
A new survey of 1,000 people found that most have enough savings to last just three months. And of that 60%, 12% said that they could last “less than a week.”
As a result, said the survey provided to Secrets by career advice site Zety.com, many idled by the crisis or worried they will be are already looking to expenses to cut and things to sell.
Among the top expenses that would be cut are streaming services and gym memberships.
Among the top items people would sell are jewelry and electronics, and some 36% would sell their blood. Some 7% would sell personal nude photos. About two-thirds would turn to a “side hustle” job.
“With so many people living above their means, a financial emergency could put them in a crisis. Selling off personal items might not be most people’s first choice for getting through an unexpected break in income, but it could be a temporary solution when short on cash,” said the survey analysis.
The survey is a grim portrait of a country struggling to overcome the virus while the economy is dead in the water. It is also a reminder that many do not make enough to cover monthly expenses and sock away enough to cover three to six months of expenses without a paycheck.
Congress and the White House OK’d a package recently to send most adults a $1,200 check, but it’s taking a while to get out and comes as millions file for unemployment.
Farmers Dump Milk, Break Eggs as Coronavirus Restaurant Closings Destroy Demand
It was still dark outside at four o’clock on a recent morning when a tanker truck poured 6,000 gallons of milk into a manure pit on Nancy Mueller’s Wisconsin dairy farm.
The milk, collected from Mueller Dairy Farm’s 1,000 cows, should have been hauled to dairy processors across the state for bottling or to be turned into cheese. But the coronavirus pandemic is disrupting all that, closing restaurants and schools that buy the nation’s dairy products—and forcing hard choices for farmers like Mrs. Mueller.
“It was heart-wrenching,” she said.
Farmers and food companies across the country are throttling back production as the virus creates chaos in the agricultural supply chain, erasing sales to restaurants, hotels and cafeterias despite grocery stores rushing to restock shelves. American producers stuck with vast quantities of food they cannot sell are dumping milk, throwing out chicken-hatching eggs and rendering pork bellies into lard instead of bacon.