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  • we're back now with what you need to know to help survive all of this financially.

  • With so many businesses closing and unemployment ranks growing, what do your best money moves in such uncertain times, especially for those of us who have just lost work?

  • Personal financial expert for news to Robby joins us now, she says.

  • Although it's hard to do, this is not the time to panic.

  • And she has some things you could do right now, starting today to help keep those finances afloat.

  • So far, news.

  • Thank you so much for joining us.

  • Thank you for having me.

  • You say the first thing you need to do is evaluate your expenses.

  • Yes.

  • And the good news here, Amy, is that a lot of our expenses, the basic expenses, whether that's your rent, your utilities, your credit card payments.

  • You know, people, banks, they're looking at ways to defer this four customers, and this isn't gonna happen automatically for you.

  • So I would go through all of your expenses, just the necessities and call every single bill or call your landlord.

  • Call your credit card company, call your utilities company and explain how you've been impacted by this virus.

  • Whether you've been furloughed, you cut your hours cutback or you've lost your job entirely or you're worried about losing your job and what sort of relieved programs that they haven't place.

  • And you might be able Thio be able to defer payment for the current month for the next month, or bring down costs substantially so that you can keep head above water.

  • What is the likelihood right now that you'll have those creditors, your landlord, be willing to do that because they have their bills to pay as well, right?

  • So I'm just reading in USA Today that a number of credit card companies and banks putting out statements and saying, Hey, call us.

  • We have relief programs four times like these during times of disaster and economic downturn.

  • Back into the 2009 reception, we saw a lot of this happened as well, where you might be able to get some sort of deferment on your monthly payment, or at least a reduction in interest rates of removal of fees.

  • And again, this isn't going to be an automatic assumption.

  • You have to call and the lines are busy, so just anticipate that.

  • But it's well worth the exercise landlords.

  • I mean, this is still very early stages, but anecdotally, we are hearing about landlords not evicting their their tenants simply because they can't make this month or next month rent on.

  • So that's gonna be a negotiation that you'll have to do with your land board.

  • But I would also check your lease and read the fine print regarding eviction because in our country, fortunately, now tenants have a higher hand on DSO.

  • It's going to be a process if and when you do get evicted, so you don't have to worry necessarily about making this month's payment this mall, right?

  • Yeah.

  • The bottom line is, you have to be proactive now.

  • We learned unemployment websites crashed this week in both New York and New Jersey.

  • Not surprising because of the overwhelming number of people now filing for unemployment.

  • Is there a best time to file?

  • The best time to file is as soon as possible, and I know it's been quite the line getting him through over phone.

  • The websites are not fully functioning at times.

  • Maybe if you're a night owl and you've been up because you've been anxious overnight, maybe could be a better time with People are sleeping.

  • But here's the thing.

  • A lot of states, including New York here where I live there were proving that window during which time you have to apply for unemployment.

  • From the moment you lose your job, there's usually a seven day window.

  • They're removing that, obviously, because of the backup.

  • So that's the good news.

  • But to answer your question, the best time to apply is five minutes ago, ASAP as soon as possible.

  • For news to Robbie, Thank you so much important advice there for so many people watching.

  • We appreciate it.

  • Hi, everyone.

  • George Stephanopoulos here.

  • Thanks for checking on ABC News YouTube channel.

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we're back now with what you need to know to help survive all of this financially.

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