9 things and services that have fallen in price due to the COVID-19 pandemic

The coronavirus pandemic continues: while some aspects of daily life have more or less returned to normal for many people, others remain unemployed or afraid to leave home as COVID-19 cases continue to rise in parts of the country. Money Talks News.

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This difficult period of life also has advantages: some things have become significantly cheaper, and are still cheap or even free more than four months after the official announcement of the pandemic.

1. Delivery

Some of the retailers that have offered free shipping with no minimum purchase amount as the pandemic spreads across the US are still offering it for a limited time. it Sephora, Staples, Walgreens and not only.

2. Credit reports

Until April 2021, consumers can receive free Equifax, Experian and TransUnion credit reports once a week.

Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, free access to credit reports was generally limited to one per year from each of these companies in accordance with federal law.

Checking your credit reports is important because they contain information used to determine your credit score.

3. Cash loans

It was expected that two rate cuts The Federal Reserve in March will have a domino effect on various types of interest rates for consumers, which will ultimately lead to cheaper monetary borrowing. In fact, by July 16, mortgage rates fell below 50% for the first time in 3 years, according to the largest mortgage agency Freddie Mac.

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4. Withdrawing funds from a savings account

Thanks to a recent Federal Reserve regulation, you can withdraw money from your savings account or money market escrow account without penalties.

In the past, bank customers paid a commission if they made withdrawals from these accounts more than six times a month.

The Federal Reserve is temporarily relaxing this rule, which means that each bank can decide whether it will allow it to withdraw more often without penalties. Check with your financial institution to find out more.

5. Audiobooks

Even if your public library is closed, you can listen to selected children's audiobooks for free through the program Audible stories.

6. Home workouts

Even if your local gym hasn't opened yet, you can work out at home. Some gym chains continue to offer online classes for free. For example, Blink fitness и Planet fitness provide free home workouts on Facebook Live, and Orangetheory Fitness publishes workouts on his YouTube channel.

7. Deferral of student loan payments

The Coronavirus Relief and Economic Safety Act (CARES) freezes payments and lowers interest to zero for federal-owned student loans until September 30.

The law does little for borrowers with private student loans, but several states have taken steps to help holders of such loans.

More than a dozen private lenders have reached agreements with the state governments of California, Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Vermont, Virginia and Washington. Separately Columbia region и New York State also provided borrowers with assistance with private student loans.

Under the multilateral agreement, participating lending services must offer minimum protections, such as zero payments for 90 days, to borrowers who request them. If you live in one of these states and your lender is participating in the program, contact your service agent for more information.

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8. Required Minimum Distributions

CARES abolished the required minimum allocations, or RMDs, in 2020. This means that people who usually had to do RMD this year are not required to withdraw money from their retirement accounts.

If you choose to skip your RMDs in 2020, your taxable income is likely to be lower. This means that when filing in 2021, you will most likely see some savings in taxes.

If you have withdrawn RMD this year and would like to return to your retirement account, you have until August 31st to “cancel” the withdrawal.

9. Sales tax

Not even a pandemic can hold back tax holidays. As many states will offer them this summer as last.

School supplies, office supplies, clothing, and computers are items that you will not pay sales tax on if purchased during each state vacation.

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