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Coronavirus Cash Crisis: Which Bills Should I Pay First?

The coronavirus pandemic prompted an unprecedented shutdown of the U.S. economy. We asked experts for advice on surviving sudden income loss.
Posted at 3:01 PM, Apr 21, 2020
and last updated 2020-04-21 15:01:08-04

Coronavirus Cash Crisis: If I lost my job, what bills should I pay first?

"You can't live without light. You can't live without water. So ensure that you are paying for your utilities," said Arindam Nag, chief executive of Centsai

"What is the most important for you to protect? Now, that's probably going to be things like housing. It's going to be things like transportation, if you need your car to get to and from a job or to be able to go out and look for a job," said Erin Lowry, author of Broke Millennial.  

"The only way you can find out what solution makes the most sense for you and what order you should pay and prioritize your bills in is by making a list of each of your essential expenses, who you owe them to, and getting on the phone with each and every service provider," said Stefanie O'Connell Rodriguez, a personal finance author.

"And then you can also think about what can't be taken away from you. So a good example would be paying on a student loan. Just because you go into default on a student loan payment doesn't mean they're going to take away your college degree," said Lowry.