A Guide to Getting Back on Your Feet Quickly After You've Been Unemployed

My husband was unfortunate enough to be laid off almost three months ago now. We had expected that it would happen, but not when it did. It was swift and final. A check was issued, and he was gone. Although we had made some preparations since the signs of this had been appearing for some time, we were still knocked for a loop.

There was an initial period of disorientation when this happened, and we lost some time in getting started on his job search, since we had to figure out what we had, what was going on, and what to do next. Hopefully, the following advice will help someone else in the same situation to get off to a quicker start than we did.

Take a deep breath and assess the situation. The first thing you need to know is how much money you have to live on. If you're still working, it would be useful to have some money and food on hand at all times to carry you through such a time. A good guideline is to have at least three months of food in the house and/or three months of savings to cover your ordinary living expenses.

Another thing to consider is your debt load. It often happens that those who lose their jobs must take a lower-paying position for a time while they're looking for more ideal work. Would you be able to pay your debts if such a situation happened? Before you hand your credit card over to the merchant on a shopping spree, remember that heavy debt means you have to continually earn a higher salary to make the payments. The less debt you have, the less income you have to earn.

If you're out of work and already in debt, be up-front with your creditors. You can sometimes work out a payment arrangement with them, and then resume payment again when you're employed. Your credit may get damaged, but that's part of the chance you take when you get in debt. If you don't have to get in debt in the first place, then don't. If you work for an employer, chances are you will someday be unemployed for a time.