Losing a Job

There are three main concerns when you've unexpectedly lost your job:

1. Loss of income
2. Stress
3. Job Hunting

Losing a job can be a nightmarish experience if you haven't put aside an emergency fund. We can't reiterate enough how important it is to consistently put aside savings for emergencies. It can be hard to find the discipline to spend less in the short term to be prepared for hypothetical events in the future, but what a tremendous amount of stress losing a job or other emergencies can cause without a cushion to fall on.

Job Loss Budgeting & Planning

Whether you have savings to fall back on or not, the basic budget planning advice when you're in between jobs is essentially the same. If you have a plan, fantastic, if you don't, you should make one immediately. A typical plan could look like this:

• Know Your Rights - The first thing is to make sure that you get all of the compensation you're are entitled to. Depending on your location and the rules under which you worked you may be entitled to more than a last paycheck. There could be severance pay, holiday pay and a pension or retirement payout.
• Prioritize Your Expenses - a job loss will mean tougher financial decisions until a dependable source of new income is found. That means creating and following a tighter budget. Being disciplined about following a budget will help keep finances under control which will prevent additional stress - the last thing you need between jobs is more stress. Trimming your expenditures down to just the essentials is likely a good start in a difficult time when spending is at great risk of making your life even harder. Start by figuring out your total funds and assets.  Unless you have immediate and promising job prospects lined up you should start tightening the budget right away. 
• Create a budget - or update yours. Look at what costs are fixed costs, those that must be paid no matter what. All other costs must be categorized by their necessity. Are they variable (quite important like food - it is not a fixed cost but it is needed) or are they discretionary (not important and not really needed i.e. electronics that should wait until you're steadily employed again)? If you will struggle with budgeting on a lower income, we recommend learning about the Frugal Living lifestyle. 
• Insurance & Government Assistance - Find out if you qualify for unemployment insurance or other government assistance to tide you over temporarily. Sometimes there are programs offered by assistance providers for skills courses that can lead to new job opportunities. If you're in an industry prone to layoffs, an assistance program that offers new skills training could lead you to more stable employment opportunities in your near future. Sometimes those programs can lead to better-paying work than the job you recently lost. Look into any available financial aid and training programs if they are available in your region. 
• Talk To Your Bank - A potentially helpful resource in the aftermath of a job loss would be your bank, talk to them about your budget. Any assistance could be helpful, for instance, there are often clauses in mortgages that allow for a skipped month that could be helpful during a difficult transition and there are sometimes ways to get a reprieve from a loan. If money is owed on credit cards it is also wise to let the company know about your predicament. If you have a good relationship with the cardholder, they may be able to work with you, if not, you may want to talk to your bank about ways to manage your debt as well.
• Manage the Stress - An important issue to take care of in your job loss planning is stress management. Finding ways to manage stress and to remain calm will help you make better decisions moving forward, it may likely also help you when you need to be at your best in job interviews. Many people do not take good care of their health or their finances when they're extremely stressed. Unfortunately, poor health and messed up finances also cause stress, you must avoid this vicious circle. Inexpensive ways to reduce stress are listed further down this page.
• Job Hunting - Looking for a new job is traumatic and difficult. It’s challenging or easy, depending on each person. Some people don't deal with change as well, others breeze through it, seeming to always land quickly back up on their feet. If change and job hunting are difficult phases for you to go through, seek help where you can find it. There are often public community resources, or online message support forums, or friends you can talk to who's been there. If you're not familiar with the new trends in online recruiting, get someone to help you learn about and access them. Try not to isolate yourself if this is difficult for you. Ask a friend to help you put together a job interview plan and be open to some job-hunting fashion advice, if you're not feeling great about yourself, you can at least start by looking great! 

Low-Budget Stress Management

Among the times in life, you may need to find low-budget ways of dealing with stress, an unexpected job loss would be a big one. For many people, stress is an emotion that can compel them to indulge in overspending and retail therapy, spare yourself that stress and find other ways to cheer yourself up that won't make things worse. Adding additional stress to your life right now is not going to help anything, you need to minimize existing stress without creating additional stress through over-spending. You need to keep yourself together so that you display confidence and well-being at job interviews. How can you keep yourself positive and relatively stress-free without spending extra money? Here are a few ideas:

• Avoid excessive drinking or unhealthy eating - which are common crutches during stressful times, but neither will help you feel better about yourself and both of them can be expensive, particularly if you're dining out. If you search online for 'healthy eating on a budget' many great links come up. Reduce your stress by taking care of yourself, starting with eating healthy foods and avoiding the temptation to numb your stress with excessive alcohol which will in the bigger picture, only make things worse.
• Keep Your Routine - Get enough sleep but keep to a regular 'employed' schedule. Few things are easier on the budget than sleeping! Getting adequate sleep is an important part of keeping stress in check but sleeping excessively can be poor for your morale and could become more of a depressive habit than a healthy one. Stick to a sleep schedule that resembles what it would be if you were working. The same goes for meals. 
• Stay Productive - Find productive things to do with your new free time. Exercise, you have time to do so for now. Read a novel you've meant to get to that's been collecting dust on a shelf. Pull out that musical instrument you haven't touched in years. Talk to friends and relatives you've been meaning to get back to. Do some volunteer work or get involved in a community organization, believe it or not, those could both be networking opportunities that lead you to a new job. Do not just waste your days sitting at home watching TV or fiddling about on social media, make the time productive in order to manage your stress and to keep your life moving forward.

Preparing For The Job Hunt

• Reflect Your Actions - Spend some time reflecting on why you lost your job, with a sense of detached pragmatism. The intention isn't to get stressed or depressed about it but rather to look at the cause(s) of the job loss rationally so you can strive to find a job that is less likely to result in a similar job loss all too soon. For instance, if your industry is prone to layoffs, consider ways to use your skills in other lines of work. If you have problems with being late, maybe you need a night job instead. Consider realistically what you could have done differently and if that would've changed the outcome. Realistically consider your tendencies and whether some of them would be less problematic or more beneficial in a different work environment.
• Update Your Resume - and practice thinking about what to say during an interview. Research common interview questions and practice answering them. See if you can find a friend who will give you some feedback on how you're carrying yourself such as posture, eye contact, and voice control. 
• Start looking for jobs - This can be a little tricky in some sectors because there are scammers that prey on people who are desperately needing a job. Be wary of odd opportunities such as 'work from home - make thousands per week'. or 'start selling real estate and learn to buy and sell stocks like the pros.' These terribly predatory companies advertise prolifically in many classified sections and job listings websites, understand that you are unlikely to make any money working for them. Some communities and government centers offer job hunting support, use them if you can't find a job easily or lack confidence. 

Once You Have A New Job

What a relief it is to find a new job when you need one! Ideally, it's better than what you had in one way or another, especially where its suitability is concerned so that you may actually enjoy working at it. Once you have a new job and receive your first paycheck you may be compelled to celebrate by spending, but we'd advocate a different plan. Before you spend a dime before you even plan on what you would like to buy, use this perfect opportunity to begin SAVING FIRST. Saving first means putting aside some money into savings for the future before you spend your income on anything else. By saving first and doing so consistently over time, you'll acquire enough of a cushion that a job loss won't be so hard should it come again. Read more about Saving First