No series about being unemployed can be taken seriously unless money is discussed. So here’s my money discussion.
Every time I’ve been unemployed, I’ve read articles about how a person is supposed to take time to find themselves, give themselves a break, yada, yada, yada. Well here’s reality – yes, allowing time to emotionally breathe is good, but what about paying the bills? How can I take a break when the worry of paying my student loan each month is a heavier emotional weight?
If you’ve been following my Surviving Unemployment posts, you’ve probably noticed that I say I’m lucky. I’m in a relationship with someone who has a good, full-time job (at least today and probably next week…) with health benefits. We share our incomes and have a nice nest egg in the bank account, so I’m ok financially for at least a bit. If I wanted to take time to find myself, I probably could, but money or not, it does bother me that I’m not making a contribution to the bank account and paying my way.
I was raised to be independent, a really wonderful thing my parents taught me. And perhaps I can’t make quite enough to pay for everything on my own, but I’m always determined to pay for the debt that I’ve incurred myself – aka, that student loan. I don’t have a car payment right now, but if I did, it would also be on the list. So nest egg or not, not bringing in an income at the moment does bother me. That said, I do need to take a little time right now to find myself. I don’t want to jump back into a terrible job again and be miserable. That’s not good for me, my spouse, or my friends who all have to put up with me.
So what’s a person to do? Well, here’s my strategy based on past unemployment as well as my current one.
File for unemployment. I didn’t do this the first couple of times I was laid off because in my mind, unemployment is welfare and I’m no charity case. However, when the third time hit, I gave in. According to the all-knowing internet, unemployment taxes/insurance are paid by our employers and taken out of our payroll deductions each payday. So one way to look at it is that we’ve earned the money, it was just set aside for this purpose.
I will say that it’s a pain the butt to do it though. I was required to file information on a regular basis, for me that was weekly and I was required to list two contacts/applications I made that week. That didn’t bother me as much as when the State of Iowa, in all their wisdom, sent me a demanding letter stating I was to report to Des Moines to the unemployment office so that I could meet with a caseworker. The date and time was set for me. Fortunately, I lived about 15 miles away, but I wonder if people were required to go there from all over the state or if there were other regional offices. Because the date/time was set, I had to take off work from the temporary part-time job that I DID have in order to go to the meeting (hello? – talk about counterproductive!). Then when I got there with required resume in hand, the caseworker said she thought I wasn’t getting a job because I have a Master’s degree and potential bosses may have thought I was out for their job. Talk about out of touch with reality!! First, that’s an old-fashioned way of thinking and second, I’d venture a guess that at least half of the architects in the country have Master’s degrees, it’s quickly becoming a requirement for the profession. So that ended up being the worthless trip I thought it would be. And yes, dealing with it is a pain in the butt, but some type of system has to be in place when it’s a program intended to work for everyone all the time.
Look for a job right away. I was too proud the first couple of times I got laid off and didn’t want to “go backwards” by taking some part-time retail or fast-food job. I had been there, done that and felt that I had already paid my dues. But thanks to the aforementioned unemployment benefits, I had to do something so I applied for a seasonal job at a national chain store. I hated doing it, but then found that it wasn’t so bad. I wasn’t working as a checker, so I didn’t have to deal with people and, fortunately, the management for that particular branch seemed to recognize that I was capable to working – and actually would – so they pretty much left me alone to work. I did my task during the time I was scheduled and then went home. As an architect, working in that capacity also gave me another insight into a business that has only helped me in my actual profession. Sure, it paid minimum wage, but it gave me a place to go at a scheduled time and a something to do. That’s important to mental health during unemployment. I met some really nice people too. It worked because I knew it was temporary, if I didn’t have something else to look forward to, it would have become depressing, but now I know I could do it again.
Get creative. Now I haven’t done this yet, but am maybe working on it now. An opportunity to work as an independent consultant within my field popped up this week and I’m currently in talks about it. It’s temporary, but I’m qualified to do the job and it would pay more than minimum wage. I also have the opportunity to set my own hours and work from home. The work from home thing isn’t something I’ve wanted to do in the past, but right now in my state of mind, it sounds really nice. At this time of the year with the holidays coming up, there are unique options available at pumpkin patches, ice skating rinks and even the Hillshire Farms pop ups in malls around Christmas. It’s always possible that one of these odd little jobs can lead some something else. If it were the summer, maybe a neighbor or two would want their lawns mowed or gutters cleaned.
I am a creative person and have put items I’ve made up for sale on Etsy. I haven’t had anything listed for several years now, but I did make one sale on there, and several others at local craft shows. This would require some up front investment and it seems that everyone is on that bandwagon so competition is pretty stiff, but it could be worth a try. I still have a box of inventory that I plan to post in the next few days – I need the space and would it’s the right time of the year for knitted scarves!
Look for an actual, real job within your profession. Seems silly to leave this one for last when it actually should be first, but to me it seems to be the option with the most common sense. Use all contacts, social media, job listing sites, employment agencies, friends, family, whatever…to reach out and let people know you are available. I haven’t been the greatest at this in the past, it always feels a bit too pushy for me, but not this time! I’ve shamelessly let good friends know my status and reached out to an acquaintance of mine when I saw a posting on his company’s website I was interested in.
Cut back spending. Also common sense to me . My spouse made a good point to me. He said if you wouldn’t buy it when you’re unemployed, why would you when you are employed. Made good sense. Perhaps our spending habits need to be reevaluated globally, not just at a time when paychecks have stopped being deposited into our accounts. There are a few things though that as a society we do when we have more money. Do we really need a Hulu, Netflix, Amazon Prime account AND cable? Maybe not. I’m a fan of keeping personal internet because that’s my main portal for looking for a job. Other monthly memberships and subscriptions should be evaluated too. Gyms are a great example of this – but maybe now’s the time to get all the use you can out of that – so I’d say it’s a toss- up.
I’ve got to say this. Watch out for those that promise the moon. A lot of people will make a living themselves by selling promises and “secrets” to others. I’m getting preachy here, but it should be approached with extreme caution. Sure, some people have experience and knowledge they can share, but “secrets”, probably not. There are no magic diet pills and there are no magic employment seminars. There are a lot of free resources available that are likely to provide the same information that someone will charge you $150 for at a magic seminar. Their secret is simply finding suckers.
I have been out of work exactly one week and one day and have been talking with multiple people all week about potential options. I’m not yet in a position where I can or need to get a part-time job. Right now it feels like I have a full-time job just looking for one. I know that I have options moving forward and that while it’s nice to think of work breaks as a good time to find myself, I think it’s silly to ignore the fact that we all need some type of money to live on.
