The recession is causing job loss meaning many families are finding themselves dependent on unemployment. The funds of unemployment are less than their working incomes. This means that there are corners being cut to survive. There are some financial moves that can be made in order to thrive instead of merely surviving the recession.
Reduce Expenses
Reducing expenses so that you are living on half of your income will help to make the unemployment dollars go further. Even if you are fortunate enough to have regular income still coming into your home you still have to take steps to protect yourself. The monthly expenses and household needs should be made to fit within the budget for half of the income. The other half of the income is designated for savings. Hopefully you have six months of expenses saved but if you don’t this will help you to accumulate them faster.
The reduction in expenses will require that you re-exam your budget to ensure that all of the reductions you are making are realistic.
Saving Money
When it comes to reducing expenses you have to find ways to save money. Reducing the monthly expenditures is the first step. There are a dozen things that can be done from reducing energy consumption to lowering the grocery bill. Something as simple as changing a few habits can help you to thrive during a recession. Do you drive yourself to work alone? Do you eat out a lot?
Car pooling to work will save you on both the cost of gas and of maintaining your vehicle. Little things like running errands all on the same day and letting your children ride the school bus will help out in the gas savings department as well.
When it comes to eating out you can increase your savings a great deal by staying in. Purchasing food from the grocery store and cooking at home will save you a lot of money. Using the leftovers to pack lunches for both work and school will cut down on yet another expense. While school lunches are rather inexpensive for students you can pack them a lunch with leftovers for less.
Recycling
There are a dozen items in the home that can be recycled for cash. Aluminum and steel can both recycled. Organizing them so that you take them both to the recycling center at once will give you some extra money in your pocket. This money can be split between savings and expenses. Even if you only recycle $40 worth of aluminum that’s one tank of gas that you didn’t have to take out of your income or $40 that you can place in savings for a rainy day.
Thriving during a recession requires savings. Reducing the amount you spend by half will help you to stretch your funds farther. Changing your habits will ensure that you live at or below your means which will increase the amount of money that you have to aid you through the recession. There are a dozen little things that you can do. When it comes to a recession you just might find that you begin to look for alternate forms of income such as a part time job in addition to your full time job or you start your own business.