I like to believe that every human being on earth is engulfed by the fear of the future. We work hard everyday, all day, trying to secure a safe future for our families. However, sometimes the nightmare of losing a job, getting demoted, or having to close a business becomes a reality. In such a situation, one is left without a choice but to depend on the little they had saved to take care of family upkeep, school fees, insurance, rent and a host of other bills. Before one can secure another job, how does he/she ensure that he/she can survive efficient with the cash at hand?
I will go into hibernation. I mean, I will spend less and spending less is always a saving. I will cut expenses. For instance, I will buy foods that are cheap, I will stop eating in resturantand start to cook my own food. I will not ride on car and spend money on fuel. In will make a list of my expenses at the end of the day and next day I will cut unnecessary expenses,
I love the idea of cooking your own food and not riding in a car to save fuel. But when you speak of spending less, assuming that you have a family, are you going to deny them essential needs?
I totally agree with @luri , we used to have a small coffee shop and we had to close it down and get some jobs. We only had a small amount of cash so me and my sister must have a job before our cash burns out. So we did exactly this. Cutting the expenses helps, we even do it until now that both of us have jobs. We do not eat out a lot, I think we only do that once a month since we can save a lot if we cook our food at home. Since certain vegetables are quite cheap, we stick to eating veggies instead of eating meat, so aside from saving more money it also makes us healthy.
This will be a tough experience trying to decide how to carry on after suffering a job loss. In such a case were one loses job all of a sudden I think one way to manage the savings made during the period of employment should be to invest part of it. Look for trusted scheme that have lasted for years with positive reviews from others who are having their investments there and join. Let trusted and experienced institutions help invest your money.
Spending less is one sure way of saving especially when one's source of income has been terminated in a way> Like when my uncle lost his job, he had to let his family members know that the pattern of spending has changed, no more asking for money to go on impulse purchases and things that are just wants and not really needed at that particular moment. When I finished high school, and my source of getting income which was part time working as a restaurant attendant was cut short, I had to change the way I spend, cut down going out on weekends to drink with friends and similar situations where I may spend above what I really need. So to cut down expenses is a sure way to survive when things go wrong.
Losing your job is a very difficult thing to happen to anyone, but as anyone else if you have any savings you should use them.
Thank God I've never been unemployed for a long time, but I don't take a lot of risk in the financial field and I only make basic moves like checking accounts or savings. It's enough for me.
It is definitely hard and quite a shock to the finances when you lose your job. It happened to me almost two years ago. Many things changed for me and my family. I lost insurance as well as my full time income. I learned to budget for groceries and to spend practically nothing on everything else. I don't let my kids suffer though and we have the necessities. Luckily, my house is paid off, my car is paid off, and I have no other debt besides a student loan. It has been a learning experience to say the least.
In my dear country Nigeria, if you work and keep just one job, consider yourself a dead entity. First I try all I can not to lose my job for anything but if the unexpected happens, I will be forced to fall back on my other source of income. What I mean by not working one job is this, most of us in Nigeria are business inclined. You work but always set up a a little sole proprietor business to get by. So should anything happen to your employment job, you definitely won't go home and seat down spending your savings till you get another job. No, you take up your personal business and invest your time in it and make it worth a while until a better job comes up.
@morgoodie It must have been a tough time but the good news is, what doesn't kill us, makes us stronger. At least I am glad to know that your house has been paid off, because paying rent, is what injures most people into financial comma. @Heatman That is a very good idea. At least it ensures that you don't fall onto your knees. However, not very many people who are employed have side jobs. Some because of fear and others because they don't have the opportunity. They therefore have to cope with difficult times, when they lose a job.
I decided to become a stay at home mom a few years ago, and that actually affected a lot in our budget since we are a single income family now. We just try to spend only when necessary. I always ask "Do I really need this?" before I buy something. We usually cook at home and do not travel much, these really help to save much on food and fuel expenses. Since we are always staying at home, we don't buy much clothes and I get hand-me-downs from friends too. Though we are living in frugal, I learned how to live a simple life and I am grateful for this.
It happened to me once and I was lucky to have people around me who are sympathetic to my plight. The first change is the lifestyle particularly with the food. I had learned to eat cheap foods when I usually indulged in steak and other luxurious dishes. Having no money for the rent, I moved back to my parent’s house although I tried to contribute in the expenses like electricity and utilities. Also, I did house chores particularly in cleaning the house. I survived that episode and I pray that it will not happen to me again.
I agree, the kind of present job market keeps you on your toes all the time but there is still a chance that you lose your job suddenly. I have a habit of saving at least 30% of all my earning and keep them in FD for rainy days. I am lucky that I haven't faced such a situation so far but you never know so keep saving and be prepared for such a situation.
Losing a job that you devoted almost all your time to secure is really a disaster, and coping up with the financial burden that you must face along the way is very stressful. It' hard when you are the bread winner and all in the house hold are relying only on you. Since it would be difficult really just to live on your savings, sacrifices must be done. At this point the children are the most affected and quitting school would be the harshest sacrifice to bear, I suggest not to. If schooling is still manageable, the children should continue doing so. If you must sell certain properties, then it's good to cope up with certain finances. I think you can also seek some help from your relatives and good neighbors to ease the burden a little.
I have survived such an experience thanks to my habits of saving. When I was jobless, I tried to cut back on certain spending. Cooking my own meals does help besides spending only on necessary things. I made it a point to search for some short term jobs while looking for a new one as well.
Loosing a job is never easy to go through. I have some helpful information for financial help. In America, there is a site called benefits.gov, where you can find out per State what you qualify for...even if it's for a little while it will tide you over till you get another job...everyone must have a home to live in and food to eat, clean clothes and a bathroom. There's rent help, food help and even money, if you qualify. There may be other help such as Medicaid for you and your children. Good luck and hope you find a job quickly!
I have been in this situation through no fault of my own but luckily my mum was alive at the time and helped me out. It was a horrible worrying situation because I had a mortgage to pay. I had to give up my job to look after my granddaughter and had no income for a time. If the worst had come to the worst I would have had to claim benefits but I do save for a rainy day so I would be ok for a time. The trouble is, savings don't last long when you have to live off them.
Been in this situation twice and it was indeed a stressful moment for me. Good thing is that I was still young back then and I still have my parents to back me up and provide me all my needs so I really didn't have to worry. But it caused me so much stress as I would like to help my parents in terms of finances so I opt to have a job. I have a few savings though and used them in applying to several jobs. I also stopped buying things that I don't really need until I have a new work.
Been there once and it was difficult because I was a single parent. It was great that I had my emergency fund but I knew that it can only last for a little more than six months and I didn't want to spend all of it so I needed to use my credit card for some of the household expenses. I've always been frugal so unemployment did not really hurt us much financially. Thankfully, I found a job after a year and I've since opened up multiple source of revenue for myself.
