Out Of a Job​—What Are the Solutions?

“It’s going to be brutal. Many businesses are broke, but won’t admit it yet.”​—U.S. financier.

MANY have already experienced the harsh reality of that dire prediction, made late in 1990. In some companies, “surviving” employees wondered if they would be next to be laid off.

What would you do if you lost your job today? It is the course of wisdom to be prepared. As the previous article pointed out, losing a job carries a financial as well as an emotional impact. Therefore, more is involved than simply paying the bills. Following are some guidelines that have helped others to keep financially and emotionally stable when faced with the loss of a job.

1. Do Not Panic

When Dominick lost his job, he had to give his house back to the bank and move his family in with his mother. His advice is to remain calm, no matter how extreme the situation may appear. “Job or no job, you won’t dry up and blow away,” he says. “I honestly had to learn that we weren’t all going to die.” Rather than flooding the mind with worst-case scenarios, calmly work at productive solutions.

2. Think Positive

Jim and Donna have four part-time jobs between them. However, they earn less than Jim alone earned at his previous full-time job. In spite of this, they have accepted it as a teaching experience for their five children. Donna stated: “Without the problems they’d have been better off in a material way. But they’d have missed the pitfalls that teach you how to live.”

3. Open Your Mind to New Types of Work

Even white-collar workers can choose to change professions and start over in new work. “People don’t look at alternatives until they are forced to,” said Laura, who was fired from an administrative job. “In the ’90s,” she noted, “people have to learn to be more flexible.” Trying to get the same type of work you are accustomed to​—or the same pay—​may only weaken your chances of finding work. This may at least partially explain why it often takes white-collar workers longer to find work than it takes blue-collar workers. So open your mind to the possibility of new types of work. Many have had success offering some kind of service to others, such as housecleaning.

4. Live Within Your Means​—Not Someone Else’s

A powerful tool in advertising is to create a “need” that did not previously exist. Often you are made to feel that everyone else (except you) is informed and acting upon that need. ‘This is the style everyone is wearing [except you].’ ‘The movie everyone is talking about [so why haven’t you seen it?].’ ‘The car everyone is driving [when will you buy it?].’

Similar persuasion may affect how we view and spend money. A friend takes an expensive trip. Suddenly you need a vacation. Another friend purchases a new car. Suddenly your car seems old, inadequate. Becoming envious of what everyone else is doing will only make you spend money you do not have, buying things you do not really need. Avoid such self-defeating comparisons.

Jim, the laid-off worker mentioned earlier, observed: “People crash when they can’t maintain the lifestyle they think they want. You only need to worry about food and shelter. The rest is truly irrelevant.” As the Bible recommends at 1 Timothy 6:8, ‘be content with sustenance and covering.’

5. Be Careful With Credit

A credit card can be an asset, but it can also be your greatest liability. Some use the credit card as a crutch. They use it to bypass completely the ‘can I afford it?’ question. The card becomes a painkiller that lets you spend without thinking about or feeling the effects of losing money.

In recent years a virtual credit-card craze has enveloped many countries. What are the results? A computer salesman from Korea who bought a new car with a credit card summed up the matter: “When it is time to settle my credit, I always feel terrible. It’s just as if I gave that money away.” In Japan nearly half of all those seeking financial counseling are in their 20’s. The 140 million credit cards in that land are largely held responsible for the huge debts of young people.

So be careful with a credit card. Use it, but do not let it use you. Do not let it blind you to your true financial status. This will only add to the stress of losing a job.

6. Keep the Family United

In a survey of 86,000 people, more than a third said that money was the number one problem in their marriage. Another study found that money caused the most fights. “Differing attitudes toward money can strain relationships,” said financial consultant Grace Weinstein.

Even a seemingly close-knit couple may have widely different views of money and how it should be spent. One may be a fanatical saver, the other a voracious spender.

If not talked out, money matters can snowball into family fights. “There is a frustrating of plans where there is no confidential talk,” says the Bible at Proverbs 15:22. And while discussing financial matters, try to understand and accommodate your mate’s views.

7. Keep Your Self-Esteem

Grace Weinstein noted: “For the man or woman who is no longer earning an income, there is the emotional problem of diminished status and reduced independence, both resulting in loss of self-esteem.”

Do not quickly conclude that you were laid off because you were not valued as a worker. Twenty-nine-year-old Rani was laid off just three weeks after receiving the highest possible raise in her level at her annual review. While being an honest, trustworthy worker may keep a person from being laid off, this is not always the case. So one need not take being laid off as a personal affront to his worth. Valued, reliable workers may be affected too.

8. Set Up a Budget

Many cringe at the idea of a budget. They feel that it represents confinement, something that will restrict them from buying what they want. Not so. A budget is a tool to help you achieve your goals, not restrict you. It is simply a system of control, a laid-out plan to tell you where your money is going and how to make it go where you want it to.

Surprisingly, many have no idea just where their money is being spent. Instead, they fall victim to impulse buying and then lament: “Where did it all go?” The need for avoiding such spending is especially important when times are difficult financially. The Bible wisely states at Proverbs 21:5: “Plan carefully and you will have plenty; if you act too quickly, you will never have enough.”​—Today’s English Version.

To follow this advice, keep a written record. Write down everything you spend for an entire month, categorizing your expenses. Also, keep a record of how much money is coming in. If you find that more is flowing out than is coming in, look at your expenses to find the source of the problem. Once you know what you spend and where you spend it, you can gain control of your finances.

Keep your budget flexible. In the first few months, mistakes will be discovered, and some expenses may be overlooked. Make adjustments and corrections until the budget fits your needs. A good budget will thus be your servant, not your master.a

The above guidelines may help a person to ride out a period of unemployment. But to be effective, these points must be balanced with a proper estimation of the true importance of money. Really, how vital is it? Should anything else come before money, even when one’s job is lost? We will examine these questions in the next article.

[Footnotes]

[Box on page 8]

To Prepare a Budget:

1. Calculate how much cash is coming in.

2. Keep a record for an entire month to identify where your money is being spent.

3. Prepare a budget based on the first two steps. Decide how much should be allocated to each category.

4. Make adjustments to your budget as needed.

[Picture on page 7]

Couples should communicate so that money matters do not turn into family fights