Surviving Long Term Unemployment
Any length of time spent unemployed is difficult. When you first lose you job you can tell yourself it's only temporary and sometimes it is. Long term unemployment can leave you discouraged and wondering if you're going to get by. There is no need to panic it's possible to get through with or without savings in place. It's just easier to survive when you have some money saved. There are some tips that will make the survival of being unemployed for an extended period of time much easier.Reduce ExpensesUnemployment compensation benefits can be a lifesaver when it comes to the initial period of unemployment. The problem is that they're less than your wages and won't last forever. Reducing your expenses as soon as you can once you lose your regular income will go a long way to helping you survive. When you take a look you'll notice that there are several areas that you can cut back on.Saving money in the budgetis the easier than you think. You have to examine your expenses and cut out all of the ones that are considered luxuries. Do you need cable when you're out of a job? How much do you pay for phone service? Taking a look at these two things can immediately reduce your expenses (unless your under contract). Turning off the cable will save you an estimated $60 a month thanks to the new digital services. If you have a digital box you can watch local channels on an analog television, with fewer choices you might turn the television off more.Free Resources
The library is a great place to sit for a day. You can type up your resume on your laptop and use their computers for up to two hours to search the Internet. Jobs are sometimes posted online and a lot of companies have gone to electronic applications that allow you to put them in over the Internet without driving to numerous locations. This convenience saves on gasoline. The library is also full of books and videos that can be read and watched for free. You may just find something to help you with your job search on the shelves.Check StorageIt's not uncommon for people to have things tucked away in closets, backyard sheds and paid storage buildings. Start with the paid storage building, take everything out and bring it home. Once everything is out cancel the storage and go through what you have this could take a while but the end efforts will help you a great deal. All those things that you forgot you owned can be used to hold a yard sale and donated to local charities. The money you earn isn't to be spent just yet, it goes into savings since you wouldn't have normally had it. When you get through with the things in the paid facility check your sheds and the closet for items to sell; this increases savings once again.Alternative Income SourcesSearching for things such as online writing jobs, housekeeping and even yard cleaning jobs will help you to survive long term unemployment. Remember that all earnings from working while drawing benefits must be reported and will reduce the amount of you weekly benefit check. Even if the reduction is small it'll help to stretch the amount of time that you can draw your benefits. Who knows you may be able to build one of these alternative income sources into full time income when you have exhausted your benefits.Savings Deposits
Keeping a small amount of money out of your benefit check to deposit into savings will help to keep you from spending all the money that you have on you. Even $10 a week during the six month (24 week?) initial benefit period is a savings of $240 to help you manage the first weeks after you've exhausted your benefits.Follow All Leads
Every lead that you get for a job should be followed thoroughly. Don't sit around and wait for the phone to ring, call the companies you applied to in order to check on your application.
There are several things that can be done to survive a period of extended unemployment. You have to make sure that you alter your lifestyle, explore your options and learn to be a bit more frugal.
