Hi, this is Dale in Knoxville, Tennessee, where I normally run an event venue, but have not been running an event venue since the beginning of the COVID crisis.

From death, sex, and money, this is financial therapy. I'm Amanda Clayman, and my job is to help people work through their feelings about money.

I think if I have a goal in life, it's to facilitate everyday joy and fun.

Dale is 35.

She wrote in from Tennessee, where she lives with her husband.

No kids.

In normal times, probably 70% of my job is managing an event space that my husband and I own.

And then I also have a small food business where I make hand pies out of that same building.

But of course, times are not normal right now.

We still don't know when it will be safe for us to gather.

You know, even as some businesses are opening up here in Tennessee,

it's still pretty unclear when it will be safe for large groups to gather.

And so, yeah, that's hard to deal with just having really no clear answer

about when we can operate again. Both Dale and her husband are taking home about a third

less than they normally would, and their savings can last between six months and a year,

depending on how tightly they squeeze their budget.

And so right now, while Dale can sit home and know that she's safe, her mind is already

casting forward to what's next and wrestling with the idea of how they're going to open safely

and what she wants her business and her life to look like after this initial crisis is passed.

And so, yeah, that's the looking forward anxiety, but honestly, I think a lot of it is almost like the looking back at what it feels like we've lost already.

Coming up in just a minute, my session with Dale.

This is financial therapy from death, sex, and money.

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