Laid Off Or Fired? Now What?

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Need a Job Sign

Being thrown into a position where I had no more income coming in brings a host of thoughts to the forefront of someones’ mind. Nicole wrote about some of the things she felt. I’ve been compiling a list of things that came to mind, and some that dawned on me later. Here are those things and some of my suggestions.

Three big questions kept circling my mind – How am I going to pay my bills? – What do I do about healthcare? – How do I find a new job?

How am I going to pay my bills?
Don’t wait for any of this, you never know how long you’ll be out of work. The sooner you make lifestyle type changes the longer the money you may have saved will last. Of course, there’s always an option of finding another job. That’s not listed here under BILLS since I cover jobs further below.

Unemployment – First, be sure to file for unemployment benefits right away, regardless of how you left your position. Let the state decide if you qualify or not. Here in Illinois, you can start the filing process the day after you left the company.

Sell stuff – Ebay, Craigslist and garage sales are all decent ways to not only clean up around the house, but have a few extra bucks coming in. I was able to test the waters with Ebay and plan on selling more.

Expenses – look hard at all your expenses. Sure, cable TV is nice, but you don’t need it. Streaming services have much to offer as does your local library. Yes, you will still need internet service. But internet service alone is still cheaper than video and internet together. Cut the cord. Keep an eye out for any other expenses, not necessarily to eliminate entirely, but just to cut back on. Do you have any vices you can reduce/remove? It’s probably a good time to stop smoking or cut back on your alcohol consumption. Did you notice I said cut back on alcohol but quit smoking?? Can you guess which one is my vice which I’m not ready to give up? : )

Misc money items
Retirement plan – what to do with it? Did you have a 401k plan? Depending on your company and the plan holder will depend on your options. Typically though, if you have under $5k, you will have to cash it out or roll it into another qualifying account. If it’s over $5k, some companies will let you leave it while some will require you to move it as well. Check into what your requirements are and be sure to follow-through quickly to avoid any tax implications. Check with a tax pro to be sure which is best for you.
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Unemployment Interview – Determination

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Well, the determination of my unemployment benefits is in and it’s good news! Approved!!

Such a relief, as this will help offset some of the monthly expenses we will still have even after cutting back. Now I can go back to the Healthcare Marketplace and shop around for medical benefits and get that going.

Joe-

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Excel Formulas For The Average Joe

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Logo_Excel_137x60

Admittedly, I am a bit worried about not utilizing my Excel skills each day. My old job pretty much required me to know a good deal of Excel. Excel was probably the one program aside from Outlook which I couldn’t live without.

Nowadays, it truly amazes me when I would run into co-workers who didn’t know how to use Excel for what it is, an easy way to collect and calculate data. You know that person, the one who sends you a spreadsheet that is busy as hell with colors, different size fonts, and worse yet – hard coded totals. WTH? Did the person actually break out a calculator (and I don’t even want to know if they used the calculator on the computer or an actual calculator). Ugh, you get what I mean.

So, I figured I would start putting out some quick how-to’s with Excel formulas. It gives me some Excel practice and can also inform others if they weren’t already aware of some Excel formulas. Now, I am starting with some of the basics. As time goes on I’ll expand and get into the more complicated formulas. But for the first few Excel posts, we’ll keep it pretty straight forward.

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Me? I Don’t Have Any Vices!

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Say you were unemployed. You’re watching your expenses, maximizing your trips out with the car to take advantage of being out and watching your gas use, being responsible in general. But like most people, you have a vice…or two. When do you cut those? Do you cut those?? What qualifies as a vice? One could argue that having a fast tier of internet speed is a vice.

One thing I’ve been spending quite a bit of time thinking about is expenses. Cutting back where we can in order to have what money we do have saved, last as long as it can. In the back of my mind, I’ve also known there are a couple of *personal* expenses I have. Yeah…yeah…vices that I have which I could easily cut back. The thing is part of me doesn’t want to cut back on them because well, I enjoy them! The responsible side of me knows I need to cut back, at some point. Nicole has jumped in with both feet and cancelled her monthly box subscriptions. Darn it! That would have made me feel a bit better about keeping my vices.

For the record my two vices are alcohol and ammo. Typical American eh! I like my beer, there’s no doubt. The ammo, I haven’t really bought in quite a while. But I still look for a particular round whenever I’m at Walmart. While I don’t buy often, when they do have it in stock I load up.

What vices do you have which would be hard to part with if you had to stop??

Joe-

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Get Your Kicks…On Shopkick

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Shopkick

Have you heard of  Shopkick? We love it! It’s a smartphone app that gives you Kickbacks just for walking into stores, and also for scanning specific items. Then you redeem those points – called Kicks – for gift cards to your favorite places like Starbucks, Target, Walmart, and more. 

250 Kicks is the equivalent of one dollar and can be redeemed as follows:

500 Kicks = $2
1250 Kicks = $5
2500 Kicks = $10
3750 Kicks = $15
6250 Kicks = $25

Try Shopkick, a super simple way to save some $$$. : )

After you click the above link, just enter your phone number and you’ll receive a one-time text with a direct link to download the app. After signing up you’ll be ready to start collecting Kicks! 

Joe-

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