You've Just Lost Your Job Now What?

Ok you just found out that you no longer have a job so what you do next is very important. If you are like most of us then you whole world depends on the money you made at the job you just lost. A sound pretty scary doesn't it? It doesn't have to be that way. There are a few simple things that you can do right away and some that may take a little time but will most definitely help you to get by until you land your next job.

After you have gone home and told your family the bad news STOP! Take a deep breath and get your thoughts organized. There are some things you need to do on the first day. First get straight down to your local state job service office and get yourself registered for both unemployment and the job bank. Remember there is usually a week s waiting time before you can collect your first unemployment check so the sooner you register the sooner you can get the ball rolling. Even though there are so many people losing their jobs today this is still a great resource for future employment.

Unless you have a large savings account to draw on you are probably going to need some form of assistance to make end meet and provided you qualify there are many state help programs out there. The best place to start is at your state family services offices. These offices can help you with food stamps, energy assistance programs, and reduced and or free school meals for your children as well as a host of other programs offered either by your state or by many of the local community outreach services.

Okay so now that the immediate things are handled what next? It's time to take a hard look at your current lifestyle to see what you can cut back on. Do you have the top of the line cable TV service, are you a member of any clubs that you can do without. How often do you go out to eat or do you eat too many expensive foods like fast easy fix stuff. Well since you are going to be spending a lot more time at home it's time to dust off those cooking skills or learn some new ones. Remember it might be easy to call up and have dinner delivered but that home cooked dinner gets the whole family around the table and talking.

You are going to have to drop down to the basic minimum services for all of your gadgets too; no more cable TV with all the channels and on demand services, basic cable works just fine. Those fun features on your cell phone turn them off for now you will save a bundle. We went one step further and got rid of the land line since we were locked into a two year contract on the cell phones.

So you've pared everything down, no eating out and no overloaded features on the cable and cell phones what next? Put the internet to use either at home or in the local library look for more ways to save money and live frugally one of my favorite sites is www.thriftyhearts.com . This site is dedicated to living on less as well as living in a more earth friendly way.

Next use the web to network with your friends and anyone who can help you find a new job. The state job services have their job banks on line; most of them have a place for you to post your resume so that potential employers can get it without having to ask you for it. There are plenty of job search sites as well such as www.monster.com , www.yahoo.com and even www.craiglist .com. Get out there and keep at it there is a job for you out there somewhere. But even after you get that new job think about all you have learned while you have been unemployed and put it use so that if it should happen again you are much better prepared. With all the cutbacks you have made you will be able to save money once you have it coming in again. Good luck.