When you lose your job here is how to triage the situation and get by. Things are just things and do not define who you are as a person. Keep your keepsakes but remember that everything else is transitory and what really matters is taking joy in the little pleasures, friends and family.
Apply for benefits now. Not tomorrow or later this week but now. Unemployment in many states can be applied for online and you can get info on applying for food stamps or WIC online as well. Now is not the time to be too proud to accept a helping hand. You’ve paid into unemployment as insurance so now is the time to tap it. Find out if there is a food bank near you and go there. If you feel guilty at all about it donate back to charity when you are on your feet again.
Find out when your health care coverage ends and get as much work done as you can before it ends. Explain to staff that your benefits are ending really soon and beg for standby appointment slots. Mine actually ended at the end of the calendar month not the day I was fired so I was able to get a bit of dentistry done and visit a few doctors. Look for free clinics at teaching hospitals and check with the salvation army or homeless advocates to find free/cheap health-care. Get your prescriptions filled for $4 each at Wal-Mart since they have many generics.
Cancel or cutback vacations and if you already have tickets see if you can get refunds. Go on camping trips instead or better yet day picnic trips to parks.
Mortgages and car payments are stones around your neck when you are trying to swim for your life. If you are underwater on your home walk away from the mortgage unless you can get roommates to cover your note. Even if I wanted to keep my house I couldn’t afford the note on unemployment. Evaluate your car payment harshly. Can you afford your car payment with food and housing costs? Face the fact that you are going to have to move out of your house soon and come up with a plan. You might get lucky and get a well paying job in the next few months but chances are you are not. If you are current on your mortgage you safely have anywhere from 2 to 5 months before you have to move. If you can’t afford your car payment look into getting an okay used car, bicycle or use public transportation.
If you rent and pay for a premium apartment or place look at downsizing immediately into the cheapest place you can fit core items into such as a place to sleep, your clothes and some hobby to pass the time. Breaking a lease will hit your credit but you have to think in terms of immediate survival cash flows. It’s better to downsize to a small efficiency or rent a room with roommates right now than it is to stick around and have some one bedroom and most two or more bedroom apartments when you factor in utilities.
Think in terms of immediate survival cash flows now. You need food, shelter, communication and transportation and everything else is optional. Unless your card balance is fairly small don’t worry about paying credit cards down or even paying them right now. If you pay for cable and internet cut the cable and go for just the internet. You can watch all kinds of shows online and you need internet to search for a job.
Start downsizing your life now. Cancel memberships and minimize ongoing payments to anything other than food, shelter and transportation. Sell your stuff for cash on Craigslist, at a yard sale or on Ebay. You will need a hobby to do while looking for work so don’t get rid of those things and most importantly don’t get rid of the tools of your trade. If you have a lot of dvds consider backing them up to your hard drive and selling them. You might get $2 or $3 each at a yard sale, Craigslist or pawnshop and if you have a hundred or more dvds its worth it.
Do not get a storage unit unless you plan to live in one or be a professional couch surfer. Chances are that nothing you own is worth years of storage fees to hold on to. Unless it is business related or family heirlooms that won’t fit in your now downsized apartment/living space that no one else can store for you, don’t get a storage unit. If you have a storage unit now is a great time to sell the contents.
Cook at home and stop eating out except for deals such as a cheap all you can eat place or as a small reward. Learn how to make bread and how to stretch your food money. In a pinch peas and rice or beans and rice is a complete protein and will give you sustenance. You have time to coupon clip now so do so. Learn which dollar menu items at fast food joints are healthier and eat them.
Establish a new routine to give your day some sort of structure involving job search, hygene, hobby and community. Try to incorporate exercise into your daily life. Walking in a nature park or on a trail is free but a gym membership isn’t.
Now is a great time to quit or cut back on smoking because you will need that money for food soon.
Stop drinking sodas and switch to tea/coffee/off-brand Kool-Aid. A touch of lemon juice in refrigerated water makes for a refreshing drink.
Put out the word to your family that you may need a place to stay soon. Now is a good time to mend relationships and to be civil with family you may not get along with.
Consider moving to a metro area that has jobs open in your field. Once you get there take anything that gives you 40 hours to start with. Apply at security companies, temp agencies and at grocery stores for overnight stocking staff. Try if at all possible to get a swing or graveyard shift job since you will get a slight pay bump, more guaranteed hours and so you can interview during the day. If you keep getting turned down from jobs that are way beneath your experience/education omit the fancy stuff from your application and say you were temping then.
If you have a paid for car worth more than $4000 or a gas hog you don’t need, sell it and get a cheap fuel efficient car.
Keep your car legal and change it’s oil regularly since you don’t want it to leave you stranded or to get you a ticket.
Above all remember that you are not defined by what you own, your job or your car but rather by your interests, hobbies and relationships with friends and family. Hundreds of thousands of people are dealing with what you are going through right now and you are not alone.