10. Bills may be harder to pay — but there’s help

Say you’ve decided to dip into your social security, or you’ve already received your stimulus check. If you still find it difficult keeping up with your bills or other financial commitments, now is not the time to panic. Alternatively, if bills are giving you headaches and it seems like the only way you’ll be able to pay them is by claiming your benefits, you should hold off on that and try your other options first.

A lot of services understand that everyone’s been hit by hard times. They may offer you the option to hit pause on your payments for the time being. Before claiming benefits, reach out to your service providers and ask for help. You could do this with mortgage payments, car payments, and even utility bills.