How to Survive a Financial Downfall? You have worked and saved all of your adult life and now you have nothing left. Your employment has shut down and you are about to lose your house due to foreclosure. Your children are in university and you can’t afford to help them out anymore. The bills are mounting up and you don’t know what to do next.
Here are some suggestions which may help you out:
Shut off everything that you do not absolutely need such as cable television, cell phones, internet, rentals of any sort
Keep track of any expenditures and make sure your rent or mortgage is paid first
Go on an equal payment schedule for your electric, heat and water bills
Go through all of your belongings including your children’s and sort what you need to keep and what can be sold in a garage sale
Shop at second hand stores for household goods and clothing
Rent things that you need only once per year such as a tent for a family reunion or a pot luck supper
Ask people to bring their own drinks and chairs for a picnic
Join a vegetable garden co-operative to grow your own veggies
Sell the second car or truck and keep the better of the two
Refinance your house if possible before you lose it
Go to a credit counselor to consolidate all of your debts, loans and credit card balances
Pay cash for everything and get rid of the credit and debit cards
Start keeping a meal plan for groceries and shop with coupons
Buy in bulk when on sale for canned goods and cereals
If you do lose your home, rent for the time being until the market revives
Go back to your parents to live and pay room and board
Be prepared to take a job much below your expectations