Unemployment survival tips
Food
- Organize shopping around the cheap deals for that week. Accumulate points, use receipts from previous shopping trips, or buy when stores have deals such as 10 percent off all items.
- By freezing food, you can stock up on more grocery store deals.
- Never cook for just one meal--make big portions for dinner and pack some away for lunch the next day.
- Use washable dish towels instead of one-use paper towels.
- Buy and cook the whole bird. Separating and skinning chickens and other fowl costs money, and some innards can be used in stews.
- Save on trips to the coffee shop by buying a coffee maker or French press.
Household
- Use Mint.com to budget and track your expenses. Tag each of your purchases using their tool and you'll soon realize where unnecessary things are adding up.
- Monitor your electrical output. Keeping track of how long you run the air conditioner/television/lights/etc. Unplug every outlet where an appliance is not in use.
- Find ways of making travel cheaper – get off-peak train tickets, hunt for the lowest plane fares, etc. Figure out if you use the subway or bus enough to justify a monthly unlimited Metrocard. If you don't use the subway that often, start riding a bicycle and use it even less.
- Government and non-profit agencies,still have monetary resources available and are looking to help those in need.
Entertainment
- Look for cheap entertainment. Many bars offer open mic events, board games, bocce ball, and pool tables.
- Get a library card and use it. That's a world of books and films for you for free.
- Indulge in nature. Visit your local parks and recreation department for current events.
- Improve your mind. Many museums, public gardens and libraries offer free admission or events for the whole family.
- Be on mailing lists for anything and everything -- events, sales, job postings, career advice, etc.
- Quit monthly memberships -- eMusic, Netflix and TimeWarner - or switch to cheaper plans. It helps to call your phone and cable companies directly to see where you can cut back on your monthly bills.
- Use the time to evaluate whether or not you are passionate about your career. This may be the downtime you need to explore and start a new career path.
Fashion
- Host a Freebie Swap: Invite friends over for coffee or drinks and trade items--clothes that don’t fit, old movies and dvds, or used toys—for free. Donate whatever items don’t get picked up and get a tax write-off.
- Self spa: Do it yourself for all beauty luxuries - or have a friend do the more difficult things (like cutting hair).
- Shop yard sales for inexpensive items that still have a history.
- Coupon sites like retailmenot.com post all the possible deals for a variety of online shopping sites.
- Repair or sell clothes instead of throwing them away. Consider using websites such as Craigslist.com, eBay.com, or the Facebook Marketplace Application.