Posts Tagged ‘online personal finance’
Just lost your job? 10 things to get you through the Nightmare.
Unemployment is hard to deal with at the best of times. With the challenges now facing the world’s economies, many are going to face this emotional rollercoaster for the first time in their working life, quickly needing to find ways of saving money and seeking out saving tips. It is therefore vital to realise that you are not alone and by acting positively you will improve your chances radically of finding new employment. You therefore need to recognise it for what it is, acknowledge it and move on.
Taking each of these in turn:
Recognise it for what it is; a period of acute anxiety. There are many contributors to this stress, including….
• A voyage into unknown territory - “what is going to happen to me?”
• A feeling that you are letting people down, particularly your immediate family. This feeling can be worse if you have younger children or dependents. Family goals will have to be postponed.
• A range of completely new practical challenges, like trying to understand the benefits system.
• Worry about mounting debts, including, in some cases, concern about having homes repossessed if there is a mortgage involved.
• Difficulty in adjusting to a new life style with a different income – “how will we keep up with our friend’s social scene”.
• Panic about how friends and family and even just other people might see you.
• A lower level of self worth - “how did I fail?”
• Anger at former employees or circumstances leading to the unemployment
• Lack of motivation “what is the point?”
Accept the situation. This may be hard to do, but once it has been achieved in a meaningful (not superficial) way you can get on with repairing the damage.
Move on positively and swallow your pride. You’ll need to make changes and manage the financial consequences of lost income. Do not hide from decisions. Some of the things to put on your agenda to consider include:
• Make sure that you access any benefits that you are entitled to straight away. It can be difficult and the means testing may feel intrusive, but it is important not to waste time. It is very difficult to get any form of benefits paid for the period when you should have claimed and did not know how to.
• Review your budget in detail. When you have completed this, do it again taking out the bits that you can live without. Make every penny count by finding ways of saving money.
• Speak immediately to your bank and other financial relationships before any damaging situations arise. They are professional and should give you some breathing space, particularly in relation to your house or mortgage.
• Dont hide from humanity. The best way to get back into employment is to get out and speak to people, so find out what friends and previous colleagues are doing. Visit places including social clubs, business networks, sports clubs and make sure people know you are looking for work. Word gets around and generally people are willing to help. You will quickly discover that you are not alone.
• Turn the unemployment into a long term opportunity. What do you really want to do? Update your CV and start thinking where you want to be in the future.
Finally, try to gain benefit from any help that is available from friends and contacts. Look online for any help available during this thorny period. For example, look for personal finance software that can help you to manage your budget better and to coach you about saving money. There are also a variety of sources online for saving tips that could be useful, so seek them out.