Losing Your Job Needn't Mean Losing Financial Stability With These Top Tips

 

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Losing a job for any reason can be devastating. Not only does it cost your career potential, but it also leaves you without an income despite ongoing financial commitments like mortgage payments and general lifestyle costs. It’s enough to send you into spasms of panic, and you might start imagining bankruptcy from the moment you leave that fateful meeting.

Luckily, job loss needn’t necessarily mean financial loss if you’re careful. In an ideal world, of course, you’ll have savings in the bank to see you through. But financial survival is possible even if your emergency fund is smaller than you would like. Keep on reading to find out how.

# 1 - Create a Survival Budget

It goes without saying that you need to tighten the purse strings to weather this financial storm, and this requires more effort than simply cancelling your Netflix subscription. In actual fact, you need to implement ‘a survival budget’.

As the name suggests, these measures basically mean spending solely what you need to survive. So, in essence, you want to strip back every financial commitment that isn’t related to your food, bills, or mortgage. Even in that instance, reducing your food bill and taking steps to lessen utility bills is essential.

All of this is true even if you have some form of emergency fund in the bank or if you received a redundancy package from your previous employer. After all, you’ll need to survive this way for an unknown amount of time.

# 2 - Sell Lucrative Assets

When your physical fortune dwindles, you may need to look at the wealth hiding in your assets. From your home to anything expensive like a car, these things all effectively reflect tied-up money. And, if you’re in financial dire straits right now, then buying ongoing security means untying those funds.

Obviously, you don’t want to jump right in getting rid of every asset you own, but even simply selling your car can give you that much-needed emergency budget, and also reduce your outgoings. If your situation continues to the point where real financial trouble looks likely, you might even want to start researching ‘how to sell my house fast’. This could buy you vital time if unemployment looks to stretch beyond a year or more.

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# 3 - Find Out if You Can File for Unemployment

If you’ve lost your job through no fault of your own, then it may also be worth finding out whether you can file for unemployment benefits. This isn’t a long-term solution, and it probably won’t come close to putting your income back to where it was, but it can be an essential way to stay financially afloat while you seek more work.

Simply research the rules in your state, and work out what it would take to stay comfortable with the income you would receive.

Job loss is always a blow to your life and happiness. With these tips, you can ensure that it doesn’t knock your finances down as well.