CUT YOUR BUDGET WHILE SURVIVING JOB LOSS

Wednesday, February 4th, 2009 John

You have a family to feed and sadly, you have just been laid off from your job. You know that you may find a job later, but what are you supposed to do now? You have some savings put aside but you do not want to use it all up. Here are some tips to help cut your cost by several hundred dollars a month. This will certainly help you in surviving a job loss.

If you have kids, it can be challenging to stick to your budget. You have to make them understand that temporarily, you don’t have the budget for extra expenses. You need to think of ideas to have cheaper ways of having fun. Borrow movies from friends instead of renting them. Look for upcoming activities for kids in your community. They are usually free. Invite a friend’s child over to play instead of meeting at McDonalds or Burger King.

The next place where you can optimize your budget is in your grocery expenses. By being prudent enough, you can cut your grocery bill in half from say $500 per month to about $250 per month. Shop at the grocery store with the lowest prices and plan your weekly meals. Cook and do not rely on convenience foods. Try getting cheaper cuts of meat. Survey the entire meat section of the grocery before buying any meat. Some grocery stores may offer discounts on meat that needs to be sold soonest by up to half the original price or more. If you buy more, you don’t have to cook all the meat that day. Use your freezer. Try not to shop more than once a week. Frequent trips to the store lead to more expenses. Further, you will always pick up a few items that are not very important. Try the no frills, warehouse type grocery store. Prices there are at least 15% cheaper than the other local stores.

Cut down on your shopping expenses. You may argue that everyone has to purchase certain household items anyway. So how do you manage this? There are some smart ways: first, shop at your discount store no more than once a month. Plan and make a list of all household items that you will need to get by for a month. No extra stuff. Buy the cheaper brands. Try your local discount store. It carries most necessities without the extras or temptations of larger shopping stores.

There are items that you really should not get while surviving a job loss. New clothing, for example, can be purchased after getting another job. The kids do not need new toys. You can also avoid eating out at the moment.

Keeping your positive self-esteem during this transition is also very important. Avoid people or places that can bring you down. Try to realize also that everyone experiences hard times and that you can always find someone who is suffering more than you do. Be thankful about this and be ready to help others even with your current situation. It’s almost paradoxical but the more you give in life, the more fortune or good luck will come to you. That’s just the nature of the universe.