Federal workers must prepare for the worst

Iplay tug of war with my 11-pound terrier mix, and it’s a battle in which the chew toy always loses.

I pull. Simba tugs. And the squeaky stuffed animal gets torn apart.

This, I’m afraid, has become the life of federal employees and contractors during budget negotiations.

President Donald Trump unveiled his 2020 budget proposal this week, and it’s chock-full of clash-worthy requests. He wants slashes to Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security.

But the biggest skirmish probably will be over the border wall — again. Trump has asked for $8.6 billion to build a barrier along the U.S. border with Mexico. Funding for a wall caused the longest federal shutdown in history — 35 days.

There surely will be more shutdown showdowns. Are you prepared for another budget tug of war? If not, here’s some advice to help you make it through.

• Stash some cash. After things get better, it’s easy to forget how bad things were, but emergency funds are important.

Experts recommend saving three to six months of living expenses. For example, let’s say you spend $3,000 a month to run your household — mortgage/rent, utilities, food, insurance, cable, etc. Multiply that amount by three to get a three-month goal of $9,000.

But if you live paycheckto-paycheck, that’s likely a daunting amount. So reach for something more reasonable. Try to accumulate at least one month of expenses. You have from now until Sept. 30, when the federal budget expires.

• Find a friendly financial institution. Many banks offered assistance to federal employees and contractors affected by the shutdown. Some institutions waived overdraft fees and monthly account fees. Others allowed customers to skip a mortgage payment.

If you asked your financial institution for leniency and didn’t get any, find another banking relationship. If you don’t belong to a credit union, consider joining one.

• You can’t count on crowdsourcing. During the shutdown, many federal workers accepted free meals or discounts. Some set up Gofundme campaigns.

But the regulations governing gifts for federal employees are complicated, and the ethics even more so. To cover all their bases, federal employees would need to vet every donor to ensure there’s no conflict of interest with their job, a near impossibility for crowdsourcing sites that are often anonymous.

Maybe the Trump administration and Congress will reach agreements to avoid a government shutdown. But it’s better to be prepared for the worst, while you’re hoping for the best.