by BlondieWrites on January 15, 2010
Did you just received the dreaded layoff notices that are being distributed all across the country? It seems as if no industry is invincible. Hospitals, schools, auto factories, construction companies, and retail stores, are all cutting back costs. Unfortunately, that means a rise in unemployment. If you are laid off from your job, as opposed to fired, you will get unemployment benefits. Nevertheless, these benefits do not equal your former paycheck. For that reason, many unemployed Americans are concerned with debt. It should be a concern of yours too. Luckily, you can take steps to avoid it.
So, how can you avoid debt after being laid off from your job?
Determine how much you have available to spend. After getting your first unemployment check, you will know how much you will get each week for the remainder of your allotted time. There are four weeks in each month. Therefore, if you receive $300 in unemployment, your monthly income is now $1,200. This is how much you have available to spend. Most laid off workers who fall into debt do not take the time to know how much money they have available each week or each month. Instead of trying to live within their means, they continue with their normal spending habits. Only, they aren’t brining home a normal paycheck.
Make a list of your monthly necessary expenses. These are limited only to things you need. They include rent or mortgage, car payments, auto insurance payments, gas, and food. As for your utilities, aside from heat, electricity, and water, only include your phone right now. Television and internet are nice, but should be looked at as extras. We will focus on these in a minute. Returning back, total your necessary expenses for each month. For example, rent is $400, electricity including heat is $150, auto insurance is $100, gas is $40, and food is an average of $200. Right there is $890. Subtract that from the above mentioned $1,200 a month and you have $400 left. Remember, this total will fluctuate based on your savings and unemployment benefits.
Eliminate impulse purchases by tracking your spending for one or two weeks. Above, you created a generalized monthly expense list. You based this on the necessities, such as rent or mortgage, utilities, car insurance, car payments, and food. Many Americans waste money on unnecessary purchases and impulse purchases without giving it any thought. You need to give it thought. Be aware of your spending. Buy a small pocket notebook from the dollar store and carry it and a pen with you everyday for one or two weeks. Each time you spend money, even on a coffee, write down the purchase. Review the list at the end of the week. What could you do without or make alternatives for? Instead of buying a coffee from Starbucks or the local gas station, make yours at home and so forth.
Cut back on extras at home. As previously stated, aside from heat, water, and electricity, you should only include your telephone as a necessary utility. Television and internet is nice, but not necessary. Luckily, you should still have money leftover. Unfortunately, it may not be enough to cover the current cost of your television, internet, or cell phone bills. If that is the case, try cutting back before doing without. Practice talking on your cell phone less and lower your minutes or replace your landline with your cell phone. Do without the movie channels and lower your cable or satellite bill. For internet, revert back to dialup or see if a lower and cheaper internet speed is available.
In short, the best way to avoid debt after being laid off from work is to live within your means. You have less financial resources, so you can no longer keep your former spending habits. As soon as you receive an exact dollar amount for your unemployment benefits, create a budget. If your expenses total more than the funds available, work on cutting costs. Do so and you will avoid debt.
Popularity: 2% [?]
by BlondieWrites on December 1, 2009
If you were recently laid off from work, you need to make cutbacks. Are you drawing unemployment benefits? If so, this weekly check is nice, but it likely does not even come close to what you were making before. That is why cutbacks are important. Luckily, you can take many steps. You can reduce the cost of your phone, internet, and television. You can temporarily stop buying new clothes or new toys for your children. These are all great moneysaving tips, but the easiest way to save money is to be cautious with food. Food is a necessity, but also something many Americans overspend on.
How can you lower the cost of food after a job lay off?
Choose the stores you shop at wisely. For food, shop at a grocery store. For non-food items, such as toilet paper and home cleaning products, avoid the grocery store because you will find higher prices. These items are best purchased at department stores and discount stores, like Dollar General or Wal-Mart. As for your grocery store, make sure they have the lowest prices in town. View a weekly sales flier or visit other nearby stores. Closely examine their products, sales, and everyday prices. The easiest way to save money is to shop at a grocery with low prices.
Try the store brand or off brand products. Name brand products are nice. Many Americans must have a certain brand cereal, mayonnaise, and salad dressing. If operating with limited financial resources, you may not have a choice. Here is a good test, try one store brand or off brand product a week. Each week you shop, try something new. Make sure it is low priced and only buy one or two, don’t stock up. If you like the cheaper version, great. If you don’t like it, you didn’t waste much money, but at least you tried. On average, store brand products and cheaper off brands cost $1 less!
Grocery shop alone and leave the kids at home. If you are a parent who takes your children grocery shopping, you are likely to spend unnecessary money on impulse purchase. Your kids have been good the entire shopping trip and they give you that cute little look, how can you possibly resist letting them get a candy bar or a bag of cookies? It is hard and most parents can’t resist. If you are one of those parents, leave the kids with family, friends, or a part-time babysitter. Not only that, but stick to your list. Whether you spend $5 on unnecessary impulse purchases each week or $50, the savings will be high at the end of the year.
Limit your purchase of junk foods and special treats. For parents, these items are often bought at the suggestion of their children. If you aren’t a parent, you have a sweet tooth. Unfortunately, that sweet tooth can cost you money. You may be use to having cookies each week, but cut back. Instead, only buy two packages for the entire month. If you regularly consume junk food, it will be a transition. Work on cutting back your intake and then try to eliminate. You should notice an increase in savings, an increase in energy, and a decrease in weight.
Use coupons. Aside from shopping at a grocery store with low prices, the next easiest way to limit the cost of food after a job layoff is to use grocery coupons. These coupons are found in Sunday newspaper inserts, as well as online. As for online coupons, you have two choices. Online coupon websites, like Coupons.com, post a wide range of coupons. You can also perform a standard internet search to find the websites of your favorite products. Some post printable coupons right on their websites. Regardless of how you find grocery coupons, be sure to use them. Small-time coupon users can easily save $5 a week. Avid coupon users can easily save $50 or more!
Popularity: 2% [?]
by BlondieWrites on December 1, 2009
Were you recently laid off from work? If so, you may be in financial distress. Even those who collect unemployment benefits barely find themselves scraping by. If you are one of those individuals, you need to make significant cutbacks. What might those cutbacks entail?
Sell your house. If you live in a home with an expensive mortgage that you cannot afford and if you do not anticipate finding a job in the next two or three months, get out now. Try to sell your home before your credit is severely impacted. Luckily, the housing market is starting to slowly improve in many areas of the country. Layoffs are increasing in frequency, but many Americans still have their jobs and can get a loan. List your home for sale based on its last appraised value or fair market value. Don’t sell yourself short, but middle class family homes, in the $75,000 to $150,000 range are easier to sell.
If you have been trying to sell your home and cannot, do you have extra room? If so, rent out a room. Do backgrounds check and check references. This can help offset the cost of a mortgage you cannot afford. In addition, right now many Americans have steady income, but poor credit. These Americans cannot get a home loan, even though they could likely afford one. For that reason, consider renting your home. This is ideal if your house is too big, but do not feel comfortable living with a stranger. Use the incoming rent to pay the mortgage. Use your spouse’s income or your unemployment check to pay rent on a much smaller and cheaper apartment.
Find a new apartment. If you are renter, as opposed to a homeowner, is your rent too expensive? Can you no longer afford it or will you barley be scraping by? If so, look for a new place to live. If you have children, you may want to keep them in their same schools. This is good, but live where you can afford. A city may have an average rent of $1,000. However, fifteen minutes away a smaller town may have an average rent of $500 a month. Due to the poor economy, many landlords are releasing tenants from their contracts with appropriate notice, such as 30 or 60 days.
Sell your car and buy a cheaper one. Your best avenue is to sell the car outright yourself. List it for sale in newspaper classified sections, Craigslist.org, and other places online. Consider the value of your car. Set a fair selling price, but make sure you have enough to payoff the rest of your automobile loan and buy a cheaper, used car. Driving around a used “old clunker,” may not be what you had in mind, but you can find quality used cars for $1,000 to $5,000. Right now, you need something that runs and gets you from point a to point b. As for just selling you car, this isn’t recommended. Even if there is public transportation in your area, remember the poor job market. When find a new job, it may be two or three town away.
Look at the cost of your landline and cell phone. Do you have both? Many see success with replacing their landline phones with cell phones. If you can’t, practice talking on your cell phone less and lower the minutes. If you can get out of your cell phone contract without large fees, do it. Get a prepaid phone and use it for emergencies only.
Lower the cost of your internet. Many times, internet access is considered an extra. Yes, it technically is. However, it is now a job search tool for you. If actively looking for a new job, you need internet access. Don’t cancel yours. Instead, look for cheaper lower speed packages or opt for dial up access instead.
Lower the cost of your television. If you have internet access, consider doing away with your television altogether. You can get your local news and weather online. If you want television, get the local channels only. You don’t need one hundred or more channels, many of which you never watch. Luckily, most shows are now streamed online for free. In addition, the season DVD will soon be released on Netflix. Speaking of Netflix, if you do away with television, consider a subscription. For less than $20 a month, you can get unlimited movies with three movies at a time!
The above mentioned lifestyle changes may sound significant and impossible to make, but remember your financial situation. You were laid off from work. It may be one month before you find a new job, but it may be one year or more. Don’t fall victim to debt, take charge now.
Popularity: 1% [?]
