Do you have a disaster plan? Don’t worry, most do not have any idea what they would do if they suddenly lost their job, but you can plan to minimize the effects of losing your income. The economy is in a rough spell right now so having your ducks in a row and planning for the worst case scenario is something you need to make a priority right now.
Have an emergency fund. Start saving today and make it automatic, like you would a monthly bill. Save until it hurts, make sure your obligations are met but make sure you make your family a prioprity by saving as much as you can every month. This is the easiest way to insulate your loved ones from being down-sized.
Don’t panic, it isn’t as bad as it seems. When you first realize that your families income is going away it is natural to panic and worry that you will lose everything. You won’t! There are plenty of ways to make money, granted you make have to make a career change and your income may shrink temporarily but there are things you can do to keep the lights on while you transition. You can almost always get a job at a “big box” retailer while you get your career back in order. The service industry is always hiring; don’t let your pride get in the way of what is best for your family.
Tighten your family budget while you get employment. Look at your family budget and immediately cut out anything that isn’t necessary. Can you stop day care while you are home, or maybe cut it back to 2 days a week to allow you time to look for a job. No eating out, no new clothes, no home improvements. This is just temporary and you can add things back to the budget as you re-establish your career.
Take a long look at your profession and decide if it is right for you. It is not uncommon to change careers at any point in your life. We don’t stay at jobs for life anymore life our parents did, so take some time to re-evaluate your careers and decide if a change is needed. If it is, get the necessary training and go for it.
Take some time to work on you and your family. Spend some time with your kids. It is free and is the best therapy when you are hurting. They still love you and don’t care if you have a job. They automatically take the positive side and are thrilled that mommy or daddy is home. Enjoy it while you can, you will be back to work soon enough. Help out around the house, your spouse will appreciate the extra effort and it will help you pass the downtime. Work out if you can, it doesn’t cost anything to take a walk or to go for a job. If you are going to be unemployed, why now get some advantage out of the extra time you have at home.
Make a list of everything you can do for entertainment that is FREE. Trent at The Simple Dollar wrote a nice blurb about this, he suggests that you make a list of everything you can do for nearly nothing. You will be surprised to see all the great things available to you for the low, low cost of NOTHING.
Polish your skills. Always try to improve your skills. You can do this on you own by reading about subjects that are important to your occupation or you can go to the local community college and take a course. Don’t fear returning to school, there are as many non-traditional students as there are kids fresh out of high school, don’t be intimidated.
Network. Call everybody you know and let them know you are available and looking for work. This is by far the best way to find jobs that may not even be available. Most jobs aren’t posted in the classifieds, you need to dig them up.
A job loss can be traumatic, but it doesn’t have to be the end of the work, make the best of it and before you know it you will be back in the game and likely happier and more productive.