I know being unemployed is a tough spot to be in. I remember the time when I was laid off from my job when I got the news it was like a giant meteor just went straight through me. When I was walking out that door, it was like I was stepping into a whole new world, I was lost.
I was stuck. I didn’t know what to do. Everything was pretty much a blur, I had thousand’s of questions running through my head, how am’ I going to pay the bills? how will I make the ends meet?
If you are in the same spot as I ‘am, you probably feel like you are just scrapping for every cent that you find and saving money at this time is pretty much impossible.
Well, do not lose hope and know that you are not alone! I wish I knew what I needed to do sooner, it would have made it a lot easier and it would have probably saved me so much time.
Yeah, there were a lot of wasted nights spent drinking and confused on what direction should be taken. But I don’t want that to happen to you!
So I’ am sharing these 5 life-saving tips on how to save money when you’re unemployed.
Yeah, you heard me. Saving money when you’re unemployed is certainly not impossible.
Create a spending plan
This should be the very first thing that you do. Whether you have an emergency fund (savings account) or not, with the little money that you have left, you would want to maximize it as much as you can.
By having your own spending plan, you would be able to prioritize what needs to be paid first. You would know how much money goes out for groceries, for utilities and for other things that you and your family spend on a daily basis.
And if you don’t want to spend your time writing all those expenses, like me, I will share a couple of apps that you can find on your Android or iPhone devices that are seriously life-saving. Check out this list and find what works best for you!
Eat at home (Stop eating out)
As unfortunate as this sounds but this should be one of the things that you need to cut out first.
I personally love eating out and it was such a dread for me to change this lifestyle but I learned to look at the positive side on this — by eating at home you are not only saving money but it’s also a lot healthier.
If you hate cooking, try to add something new to the usual dishes that you make or you can even try to create new dishes.
It’s a lot of fun learning something new and who knows you might just end up enjoying this!
Find ways to save on groceries
This here is very important. I was not aware of how much I spent on my monthly groceries until what happened and let me tell you, the amount spent on it was a lot and it was not even necessary.
So I immediately started looking for ways to reduce my grocery spending and making a weekly meal plan is one of them.
Decide what recipes you will be making for lunch and dinner for the whole week. Once you have a weekly meal plan, you can then check sales on items that you will need on supermarket catalogs or other online sites that they have.
Next thing is coupons, trust me this will help you save A LOT.
To help you get started, I have listed a couple of sites that will let you print free coupons and you can also learn more about couponing on these sites.
- Thekrazycouponlady.com
- Passionforsavings.com
Put away your credit card
This is the perfect time for you to do this. Normally, the very first thing that we do once we are unemployed is to check how much credit we have left.
This is not a bad thing and sure this will help us make the ends meet, but remember this is only a short-term fix and eventually all your bills will pile up and you will realize that you are now in a worse position than you started.
So as much as possible try to spend money that you have.
Freelance!
This is the best time for you to look for different and fastest ways to make money. When I was unemployed, I was not sure what job to apply to next. I wanted something that was easy. I wanted to find the fastest way to make money — and that was freelancing online.
With this, I get to work at the comfort of my own home, plus almost all of the jobs that they offer pay weekly. So it ticks all of my checklists.
So if you are someone who is unsure of what permanent job to take on next, then freelancing will definitely work for you. I will be sharing a couple of sites to help you out.
I understand how difficult this time is but just remember that you are not alone and you have the power to change and turn your situation around.
There are plenty of resources and ways that can help you out — so look for the one that works best for you and your family.
Just hang in there and trust that things will get better!
Your Turn…
What will you add on this list? Let me know in the comment section below or send me an email, I would love to hear from you!!
