Financial concerns may be uppermost in your mind when you are laid off or retrenched. Do you have a contingency plan? If you do not have one, then it is recommended to plan one now. The areas you need to look into are:

1. Your debts
If you have debts, you may want to list them out and plan how to tackle them. If you had been planning to take out a new loan or do something that cost a lot (e.g. renovating the house, buying a second car, etc.), it is advisable to postpone the plan.

2. What are your important expenses?
Expenses that are considered “needs” must be given priority first like food and medical expenses. Being cautious and prudent with your spending is also wise until you can find another source of income to replace your old one. List down your essentials and non-essentials as well as recurring monthly bills.

If you have been tracking your expenses, then you would have an idea what is your monthly expenditure. If you need help in this area, get the free ebook entitled “The Wise Parents Money Strategies” for guidance. When you subscribe to the Wparent newsletter, you also get three spreadsheets to organize your personal and household finance.

3. Prepare to make changes in your lifestyle
When the family is dependent on one income only (if the other partner is working), expect some changes to your lifestyles. Logically, the family cannot expect to maintain the same lifestyle on less income.

You may have received some amount of compensation from your previous employment. However, unless you have a new job in the near future, this money is needed to see you and your family through during the gap period.

4. Temporary work
During your search for a suitable job, you may also consider to take on some temporary jobs or freelance work. One good thing about doing this is it prevents you from feeling down and instead it helps you to focus on the future. To learn about moneymaking ideas, read my previous article “Moneymaking Ideas For You“.

5. Life changing decisions
Where necessary, you may need to make life-changing decisions. For example, if you are unable to keep up with the house loan or mortgage payment, you may need to move the family to an affordable place or to move in with a kind relative temporarily. Another example is if the new employment is located at a different place, the entire family may need to relocate in order for you to take on the new job.

The above are only ideas to start you off thinking about your financial situation. People who have been laid off tend to sink down to depression. During this time, there is a tendency to avoid dealing with pressing personal, financial or family matters. Therefore, it helps to understand the emotional phases you would expect to go through. Read the previous article entitled “What Happens When You Are Laid Off?”

Do you have an advice to share on the above? Please feel free to voice it out.

photo credit: paper or plastic?

Are you looking for a job or employment or just a great moneymaking opportunity? Your reason could be any of the following:

• You have been laid off or retrenched and currently unemployed
• You are a stay-at-home parent and wish to find a part time or full time job to supplement the household income
• You have a job but you wish to find other sources of income (create multiple streams of income)
• You are a recent graduate and you want to do something while searching for a suitable job
• You are a graduate but find it difficult to find employment and hence you plan to start something on your own
• You hate your current job and wish to look for an alternative work

Whatever your reason is, finding a job in this current economic downturn may not be easy. Being jobless when you need the income is no laughing matter. This is where the list of suggestions below may be helpful to you. The ideas below will give you a wide range of choices to choose from. The hardest part could be deciding which job; task or activity suits you and fits into your family life.

I am unable to give a detail description for each of them in this post, as it would take pages and pages to cover all of them. For subscribers of the WParent blog newsletter,I will provide the job description for free upon request. You may send me a message requesting for the job description at jacquelyn@wparent.com. Please select any 3 of the moneymaking ideas below that you are interested in and I will give a reply soonest. However, I will not entertain request from non-subscribers, as you have to be a subscriber to request for the information.

photo credit: tanakawho

• Offer services:

Babysitting, childcare, companion to the elderly, house-sitting, pet sitting, personal shopper (e.g. clothes, groceries), new parent helper (this is common in Malaysia), house cleaning, office cleaning, window washing, laundry service, carpet cleaning, car washing, rubbish removal, driving services, moving services, sewing services (e.g. curtains, clothing), cooking services (e.g. for working people, the elderly), grass cutting/gardening (tree or shrub pruning), house painting, catering, baking, handy person/handy man (e.g. repair, maintenance), computer services (e.g. computer repair, maintenance, website design), tour guide, newspaper delivery

photo credit: nertzy

• Teaching:

Art teacher, music teacher, dance teacher, academic tutoring, cooking teacher, carpentry teacher, sewing teacher, self-defense teacher, sports teacher (e.g. soccer, football, swimming, tennis), crafts teacher (e.g. candle making, soap making, basket weaving), fitness trainer, cake making or decorating

photo credit: bald_eagle89

• Small businesses (stand/cart/kiosk):

Vending machine, food stand, ice-cream stand, cake stand, snack or fruit stand, hot dog cart, popcorn or candy stand, handicrafts stand, T-shirt stand, toy stand, jewelry stand, book stand, secondhand stuffs stand, party organizer, photography, writing (e.g. ebook, books, articles), eBay business or other internet business (e.g. blog, website,internet marketing, MLM, affiliate programs)

photo credit: Doonvas

Successful people duplicate their business ideas and expand them. Eventually, they offer the same business opportunity to other people through franchising. The above are some of the ideas that you can look into. I am sure you can come up with more ideas of your own. Please add your ideas below if you do not mind to share them here.