‘You are fired!’ , ‘you were good but we have to cut short our team’ , ‘your performance is going down, what do you think?’ ; no matter how harsh or pseudo polite these words may sound, they mean exactly the same, and that is UNEMPLOYMENT! And that is the red light.
You have to start a new search for jobs and re-evaluate your spendings. But don’t worry, this is not the end of the world. You will get through this bigger and better.
Due to the hike in prices of nearly everything, be it food or clothes or other basic everyday needs, managing your budget has become a great challenge. In such inflation, one can not even think of saving extra bucks for the future.
Read Also: 25 Ways to Save Money in Pakistan if You are a Salaried Person
Most of the families in Pakistan are middle class, thus spending what they earn as there is a very small margin, and even if you do save some money, it either gets used up in case of emergencies or even if not, it is not something that you can solely rely on for your sustenance.
So as a wise man once said, you should always be prepared for the worst in order to get the best. This article not only focusses on the ways that you can manage your finances when you are unemployed, but these points, if integrated in your daily life while being employed can make you manage your expenses very well.
Now with increasing population and a great competition in the education field, we have many fresh graduates coming out every year with better qualifications and a more talent.
Thus, companies tend to prefer these multi-talented individuals over the old ones. Hence the chances of unemployment have also increased because of this competition.
Only a few people are left with stable, high caliber jobs. Rest have either been already fired or stand at a high risk of unemployment.
Become save-a-holic!
When you are unemployed, there is no fixed income. You may work as a freelance for some time but that is also equal to no pay at all, so the only thing left now for you is saving! Saving up after unemployment is essential, as you don’t know when and where your next job will be. Till then you have to survive with the money you have only.
You won’t get more cash miraculously from somewhere, neither will the prices of everything around you go down. Rather, you yourself will have to be realistic and use your money efficiently so that your basic needs are covered for your survival. And this needs to be done from day one only as every penny counts
Saving has a lot of benefits other than the obvious ones and we will discuss those here. For you to start saving, first you need to chalk out your spending and plan them out strategically, this makes you more organized and calculated.
Moreover, it makes you realize the true worth of money. You weigh the importance of your spendings, you realize what is important and what is not.
How to save money while being unemployed
Now being unemployed, you are already on a very low budget and saving up in this scenario might seem unreasonable and stupid. But this saving up is not for your extra needs but for your basic everyday food, clothing and house.
You need to realize that these things are an essential to your daily life, if you don’t have them, you will be at the stake of other’s mercy and believe me, no one wants that! So let’s discuss a few ways that will help you save small amounts till you get employed again.
1. Cook most food at home
This seems small but makes a great difference by the end of the month. Eating outside might seem convenient and sometimes cheap to you, but in reality you are actually paying a lot more and doing harm to your body. This you will realize when you cook food at home.
The added cost of groceries is way less than food from outside or the frozen food that you get. Also, eating such food does harm to your health which you might have to pay in the form of medical bills in the future. So cook at home, and stay healthy, alongside saving a few thousands.
2. Use public transport
Try to use the public transport as much as you can. For trips to the market, or searching for a job at different places etc. we don’t realize but the petrol cost every day takes up a major chunk of our money and so does the car maintenance. We are not telling you to sell your car yet, but save up on the cost by not using it for the time being.
3. Plan your spendings
Keep fixed amounts of cash for groceries, traveling, and rent. Keep the rest aside and don’t use it until it’s very important.
Read also: How Travel Insurance Can Help You Save Money!
4. Use your bank account
Now keeping that saved money in the cupboard might tempt you to spend it on something that for the time being seems important to you. So use your bank account and deposit your cash there. It will make you difficult to take that cash out and spend, thus making your saving more effective.
5. Watch your bills
By this we are referring to electricity, water and gas bills. Watch the usage of these resources and try to cut them down. Some tips can be to not use the air conditioner, reducing the water usage by taking a shower with a fixed amount of water rather than free flowing, switch of the lights not in use etc. this will decrease the usage resulting in less payable amount in bills.
Conclusion
So these were a few points to make your struggle a little easy. Follow them and feel the difference. And remember, this unemployment is temporary, so don’t loose hope and give it your best shot.
