How UAE residents are managing their finances during the pandemic – The National

How UAE residents are managing their finances during the pandemic – The National

One of the first steps someone whose income is affected by the outbreak should take is to contact their bank to ask for a payment holiday on any debt obligations, says Ambareen Musa, founder and chief executive of money comparison site Souqalmal.com.. Louis Lebbos, founding partner of Dubai co-working space AstroLabs, says SMEs should "try to be creative" during these times.. Adam Zargar, director of Dubai-based UAE Coaching, a life coaching company, says with every crisis comes an opportunity. ". Ask for help: we're all in this together.. Tuan Phan, of non-profit community SimplyFi.org, says he has been saving a little extra every month since January when the outbreak started "just in case", and has added an extra Dh2,000 to his Dh5,000 UAE cash reserve.. "You don't want to make it through this pandemic with a big financial hole that takes years to recover from," he warns.. Mr Essam, an Egyptian who lives in Jumeirah Beach Residence with his wife, invested in the company three years ago when it was a small shop about to go bankrupt.. "The plan was that, in three years, this alone could be my retirement plan, or the business that I can fully depend on