Preparing for Unemployment

Planning For Unemployment:

By: Casey Eisenberg

 

            You have to be prepared for the absolute worst. You can’t think that for forever you will have a job and will always have an income, especially when you work in the industry that we are working in. I also found out that unfortunately I may not be going to be working with the company that we are with due to some personal and family reason.

            I know this isn’t something that you want to spend your night thinking about. (Trust me, this makes me stay up and toss and turn!) But it is something that I now believe everyone should be prepared for. I am horrible with money I am not going to sugar coat it. The money that I make here is so much compared to what I have made in the past! But, now that there is a reality of what could happen soon it has completely changed my outlook and what I need to do. I may only have 6-7 more months of work with the company before I don’t have a job. This means pinching every penny I can for as long as I am working with this company. It means I need to learn to budget so that I do not lose my car that I just got! But also so me and my hubby can go on living the life we do, I don’t want to lose our trips, date nights, etc. Which won’t be easy, but it is something that I am prepared to do and will make sure and do!

            What’s the biggest thing that you can do to prepare for the possible financial hardships that can come? You can save. Save every penny that you possibly can and I mean save it. Find out your bills that you must pay (rent, food, car, electric, groceries, etc.) and see if this is an amont you can save. I am very lucky, my hubby pays rent, and such. I am responsible for my car, insurance, groceries, laundry, etc. This means I can potentially save up enough to pay the bills that I have and need to pay for hopefully the next few years until my car is paid off at least. So, what is the total of my bills monthly? $1,000 is safe. More than safe, but what I feel comfortable saying. I make around $3,500 a month, meaning I can save $2,500 a month for the next 6 months. But that’s not enough to cover 3 years of bills! What does that mean? Hopefully by the 3 year mark I will have brought in enough income from misc. outside jobs that I can continue to afford the bills and not lose my car or be a free loader. (Though hubby is just fine with that.)

            It’s scary knowing you may lose your job, but you can still save and make sure you are as prepared as possible for what can go wrong! I hope hearing my plan will help you!