Job Search & Career Blog

Hard Times When Unemployed

January 19th, 2008

Hard Times: managing your life

Unemployment isn’t fun. Trying to fit a life into a fixed income is like trying to fit a whale into a teaspoon.

We see a lot of people on CV Tips who are really going through some tough times.

There are quite a few things you can do that can make life a bit more bearable.

Money

• 1. Stay organized, and try to do realistic budgets where you can lay in food supplies and necessities.
• 2. Share all costs, if possible. Makes a big difference, instantly.
• 3. Shop around. You can usually find things cheaper, somewhere.
• 4. Get rid of bills. Sometimes, if you’re short of money, you can extend the payment. You might wind up paying a little extra, but you don’t go without in the meantime.
• 5. Don’t get into debt, if you can help it. If you can’t help it, minimize the amount you owe.
• 6. Just be careful when spending, and know what costs are coming, when they’re coming, and make sure they’re covered.
• 7. You can reschedule health insurance and other cover to cheaper options. Better to have some cover than none.

Food

It’s bad enough being unemployed without starving as well. Food makes you less tense, too. When you’re stressing out or driving yourself hard, you’re using up resources. Keep the engine firing.

• 1. Learn to cook. Makes food quality a lot better, and eating much cheaper.
• 2. Eat fresh vegetables. There’s a lot of very important nutrients. Help keep the brain on track.
• 3. Eat breakfast. It really does help. Get some cheap muesli, and some fresh fruit.
• 4. Buy frozen stuff in bulk for longer lasting supplies.
• 5. Generic brands are either exactly the same or lousy. Taste matters, so be guided by what you like in what you buy.
• 6. Long life milk is relatively cheap, and the vitamin and mineral fortified stuff is excellent, and lasts for a year.
• 7. Protein supplements are helpful, particularly those with a lot of different amino acids. The idea is to get as much nutrition in one place. Not really meal replacements, but extremely useful.

Fun

Unemployment can give you a very negative view of the world. Don’t let it. Don’t allow yourself to go stale, either.

• 1. Entertainment is cheap enough, if you know where to look. The net can provide a lot, games and contacts. Fun is where you find it, not what you’re prepared to spend going looking for it.
• 2. Social networks are often a good place to avoid the grind, and you can get some level of normalcy, without the pressures. Friends, online groups, you name it, all easy to find.
• 3. Real fun is what you enjoy. Since people usually become experts at the things they like, they also know how to get the most out of them. Whatever you enjoy, make sure you do it.
• 4. Anything creative, any art, will get your brain working at its best. Particularly when you try new things, and challenge your skills. That’s the cheapest and best form of fun around.

Health

• 1. Stay hygienic. Keep everything clean. Don’t allow yourself to get sloppy or disorganized. It will come back at you.
• 2. Keep fit. The surest way to becoming unemployable is to get unhealthy. Jobs require stamina, and if you’re out of condition, you’re more likely to get sick. Fit people simply get fewer diseases, can do more, and are more mentally sharp.
• 3. If you suffer from anything recurrent, like asthma, sinus, constant colds, use the spare time to find something that really works, and you can at least improve that situation.
• 4. Set yourself some standards for your health. Figure out what you consider to be a good healthy condition for yourself, and achieve that. You’ll not only feel better, you’ll find out how to make yourself feel better.
• 5. Can’t emphasize this enough: Eat properly. Diet is a major component of your health. You can’t be healthy if you aren’t getting what you need. It takes some time to figure out what any individual needs, but if you eat something and you’re feeling great afterwards, it’s a sure sign that’s what you’re missing. Research your diet a bit, find nice food that you can afford and like to eat.

Naturally, there’s a few ‘don’ts’, too.

• 1. Don’t just ‘hang out’. Avoid the sleaze, and sleazy people. Having time on your hands can be risky, and you can be drawn into other people’s problems. Anything messy, tacky, or illegal, it’s more trouble than it’s worth. Associating with some people and places is like hanging around with explosives. They only do one thing.
• 2. Don’t let ’situations’ run your life. Keep relationships healthy, and don’t get into any personal wars, if you can possibly avoid them. The time used on these things can be much better spent.
• 3. Don’t go on binges, or go overboard on ‘escaping’. Too expensive, too risky. A day or so of ‘escape’ can be a year or so of regrets and damage control. To say nothing of paying for things.
• 4. Don’t become dependent on third parties for anything, if you can help it. Letdowns create problems of their own, and after all, it’s you who has to cope with whatever goes wrong, not them.

These things relate to the most important things in your life. The idea is that you get control over them, and can work on improving your situation directly.

All of this comes from personal experience, and it all works. Have fun, stay healthy, and make life what it should be.

Also of Interest:

• From Unemployed to Homeless
• Advice when being Layed off

This entry was posted on Saturday, January 19th, 2008 at 3:52 pm and is filed under Unemployment. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.

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