How to Survive Unemployment

The question every newly laid off worker asks is how am I going to be able to survive with out a paycheck. How can my family survive my unemployment? If you are newly laid off or are concerned about getting laid off, the "how to survive unemployment" question will probably provoke a near panic response. Trust me, you will not be able to deal with the issues effectively while in panic mode so, first, take a deep breath and calm down.

There are some concrete and logical steps to take immediately when you are laid off. If you and your family are to survive a period of unemployment with any financial stability at all you must get these things done immediately.

First, apply for unemployment. Do not assume you will get a job before the unemployment check has a chance to be cut...things do not happen that way. The way to survive unemployment is to take advantage of every helping program that you can. The unemployment checks will not be as large as your paycheck but they will help you meet the critical survival needs.

Second, set your priorities. I know when you think about how to survive unemployment you think about every bill you have; the credit cards, the student loans, the car loan, the Netflix bill, the magazine subscriptions and on and on. But survival means cut things to the bare bones. Cancel every thing that is not life sustaining and focus on these priorities.

Pay your mortgage or rent first.

Pay for electricity, gas, and other utilities next.

A practical third step is to budget for groceries because you have to eat.

Fourth if you have to have transportation, pay your car payments.

Fifth contact every creditor you could not pay and tell them what your situation is and tell them you intend to pay them as soon as you can.

You may have noticed the groceries were third on the list. I know that food is a requirement for survival but your local food bank or food stamps will decrease the amount of actual cash you have to spend for groceries.

When the experts give advice on how to survive unemployment they often focus on food first, but I feel that having a shelter is of paramount importance. If your mortgage or rent is too high to handle and there is not enough money left for utilities and food then you must swallow your pride and get to a less expensive place to live. Some people move in with parents, siblings, friends, or just to cheaper apartments. Some people live in their vehicles.

Your plan will depend on how many people are dependant on you. If living in your vehicle looks like a likely scenario you will want to take your climate into account. Do not try to live in a vehicle in below freezing temperatures, it is too risky, remember you want to survive unemployment not become a frozen statistic.

Sixth, do not be proud. Paper your town with applications for employment. Tell everyone you meet you are looking for work and take odd jobs, half time jobs, low paying jobs, what ever it takes.

Paul Mills, accountant and owner of Mount Stuart Business Services in Yakima, Washington, told me; "Surviving unemployment is a matter of selling your available time and typically a person sells 40 hours a week of labor. If you find a job for 10 hours a week you have sold one fourth of the available service time that you have. It may seem harsh but actually it is part of a good survival strategy. "

Your seventh step is to take jobs that are always begging for employees, merchandizing, home care assistance, nursing home aide, janitorial or housekeeping in hospitals, nursing homes and hotels and motels. To survive unemployment with flying colors you will want to generate as many streams of income as you can. If a merchandizing job keeps you busy for ten hours a week and a janitorial gig gives you five hours a week, you have only twenty five hours a week left to sell. Get on out there and offer to be a handyman or handy maid. Put notices on the local bulletin board and tell everyone at church that you will do the dirty work for 9 dollars an hour. Once you have your forty hours sold, just keep on selling hours until you run out of energy and time and you will be one of the survivors.