With duration of unemployment becoming the longest during any recession on record, the continued decline in the housing market, and the threat of a double-dip recession, people are justified in their concerns about their employment and their investments.  After all, you can’t really control what is going to happen with the economy or whether the market will soar or plummet.

On my recent economy rant post, I went into some uncertainty about the stock market and economy as a whole and concluded with three recommendations on things that you can control:

1. Live frugally within your means

2. Save your money and have a big position in cash for emergencies and tough times

3. Build your skills and career to be economy-proof

The last recommendation prompted a 20somethingfinance reader, Jesse, to ask the following question:

“I would like to hear more about how you think one should economy proof your skills and career. I’m currently in a turbulent field, (marketing communications) and thinking about how to either make my job economy proof or changing careers. What are your suggestions?”

It’s a great question, and one that definitely deserves some focus. It’s true, you can’t control the economy as a whole, but what you can do is control how you economy-proof you are. So I put together 5 recommendations. What you’ll find in these recommendations is that many of them feed into each other. If you’re strong in all five areas, your fears about the economy should drift away and you’ll find yourself to be a much more well-rounded employee and human being.

1. Find a Career that is Indispensable, Even in Recessions

This will undoubtedly be the hardest one to come to grips with and take action on, but some professions are much harder hit in recessions than others. And your profession might just be one of them.

Looking for a recession-proof career? Find a profession that is indispensable to the public. If you’re an auto mechanic, a plumber, or a nurse – a recession should have little to no impact on you. People will always need your services, and demand in a recession might actually go up for people with these skills. If you’re in finance, retail, or home construction, the demand for your services will plummet in a recession. It doesn’t matter if you’re an all-star performer or not, in many cases. If your job is easy to replace by cheaper labor or when the economy rebounds, you will be one of the first to go and you will also have a harder time finding a new job.

As a real-life example that hits close to home, my wife is a landscape architect, and back in January of 2009, right after the beginning of the financial sector collapse, she and a good number of her co-workers were immediately laid off. Why? For starters, in a recession, nobody is building anything. Her second problem was the way engineering firms bill hours. If they have people on payroll whose hours can’t be billed towards a project, that worker becomes red ink. Her profession is the first to let people go in a recession. And that’s not a fun place to be.

2. Start Getting Paid to do the Things you Love Outside of Work

This suggestion is much easier to implement than the last, and the two combined will leave you in great shape.

There are lots of things that you love doing (I hope). And the odds are that there are a lot of people out there willing to pay you for doing those exact same things for them – just remember that prostitution is only legal in Nevada. I kid, I kid.

Here’s a list of 55 marketable hobbies that you can get paid for. What does getting paid to do things outside of work do for you?

• Multiple Income Streams: It goes without saying (but I will anyway), that added income streams outside of your day job are going to help as a safeguard in the event that you lose that day job. Huge benefit.
• When you have that added cushion and know that you can get paid for doing things you like doing, it starts to shift your perspective. Odds are that you won’t be as stressed out about losing your day job, and if things go really well, you might even voluntarily leave your day job, regardless of the economy.
• You start growing skills in areas that are in demand, which could lead you into your next career.
• It helps you build a network in those same areas.

3. Network Like Crazy

If you don’t have a LinkedIn account, start one today. Find anyone and everyone that you’ve ever worked or been friends with, and connect to them. Keep your profile up-to-date and add new connections as you make them. You never know when your social network will come in handy and if you wait until you get laid off to start putting one together, you’re at a big disadvantage. Focus on having genuine, positive interactions with other professionals, connect with them, and don’t feel shy about reaching out to them when needed.

4. Volunteer

Whether you have a job at the moment or not, start volunteering. I used to work in non-profit and two of the volunteers I worked with while there are now full-time staff. If you believe in a particular cause and work hard, that will be noticed by the organization and it will also be noticed by other volunteers you encounter. You’ll also often find that these volunteers are a very well connected bunch who might just be able to help you get your next job.

5. Perform

If you love what you do, are passionate about it, and make calculated risks, you’re going to stand out amongst your peers as a top performer. You want to make it hard for your employer to let you go, not easy. As I mentioned earlier, some careers are indispensable. Some employees are considered indispensable as well, even if their role is easily filled by others. If you hate your job and are not passionate about it, you might be in the wrong career or working at the wrong employer.

And the last thing you can do is just relax and not stress out. Until something bad happens, nothing bad has happened. Do the 5 things I mentioned not out of fear, but because they will make you a more well-rounded, happier, connected, and relaxed person.

Recession-Proofing Discussion:

• What steps have you taken to recession-proof your career?
• What careers do you think are indispensable?

Related Posts:

• Stop Dreaming & Start Retiring
• Get Paid to do what you Love
• 7 Lessons Learned After One Week of Unemployment
• Unemployment Benefits Extension

The Huffington Post highlighted a disturbing trend that I feared might happen where employers are completely overlooking applicants who are currently unemployed. Disturbingly, they are notifying potential job applicants that they ‘Need Not Apply’ right within the job posting itself! This one hits close to home because my wife was laid off for non-performance reasons early last year (she has since found a job, but it wasn’t easy).

Before we go into the reasons why this is ethically disgusting, it’s worth pointing out that these employers at least have the hubris (or stupidity, not sure which it is) to announce it externally. I’d imagine for every hiring employer that it announcing this policy, there are 20 who are smart enough not to. But that doesn’t make it any less excusable from an ethical standpoint.

Why this Employment Policy is Ethically Inexcusable for an Employer

1. Based on Wrong Generalized Assumptions

It’s wrong to think that an employee who is unemployed is unemployed because of their performance (which I’m guessing is why these companies are doing this). Entire divisions in companies have been cut, cuts are often based on seniority, and extenuating circumstances that otherwise has nothing to do with an employees performance are all legit non-performance reasons for being unemployed.

2. It’s Evil

Those who have been unlucky enough to lose their jobs are down on their luck already. If they are otherwise qualified, there is no reason why anyone should be kicking dirt in their eyes while they’re down.

3. It Promotes Disloyalty

If you are only hiring someone who is currently employed and looking to move jobs in this volatile economy, aren’t you hiring a ‘job hopper’ to some extent?

4. It’s Close to Being Illegal (and Probably should be) – Unemployment by Race

There are borderline Equal Employment Opportunity violations at play here. In new unemployment data released by the U.S. Labor Department last Friday, the unemployment rates by race are as follows:

• whites – 8.8%
• asians – 7.5%
• hispanics – 12.6%
• blacks – 16.5%

That means that an African American is twice as likely to be unemployed vs. a white or asian.

What to Do if you See an Ad That Highlights this Policy

If you are employed and actively looking to find a new job, do me and every unemployed person a favor – send the employer your kick-ass resume along with a note that says “I was interested in this job until I read your ‘No Hiring the Unemployed’ policy. I don’t want to work for an employer with this type of unethical hiring policy.”

Discussion:

• What do you think of this policy?
• Would you feel comfortable working for an employer with this type of policy?

Related Posts:

• How to Write a Winning Resume that Stands Out
• Book Review: Winning Job Interviews
• 7 Lessons Learned After One Week of Unemployment

There was a really positive response to the ‘marketable hobby’ concept in my post about shifting the perception of what retirement is and should be, so I thought it would be great to explore it a little further with everyone and give it a post of its own. What exactly is this ‘marketable hobby’ thing?

Marketable Hobby: A definition

Let’s first start off with the hobby part of the definition. Wikipedia defines a hobby as:

“An activity or interest that is undertaken for pleasure or relaxation, often in one’s spare time.”

I think that sums it up just about right. Doing something that we choose to do because we are interested in it, it makes us feel good, and it adds to our life satisfaction. Sounds great!

But not just any hobby will do.

The 3 Types of Hobbies

A line needs to be drawn here. You can really lump hobbies into three different categories when considering whether or not one can make an income doing them.

1. Hobbies that everyone loves that nobody is willing to pay for: Sorry if you love these things (I do to), but couch surfing, eating, long showers, walks on the beach, and reading books might just fall into this category. It’s the kind of stuff that most of us love doing and wish we could do more of. Since you’re gaining all the benefit from the activity, you’re going to have a hard time convincing others that they should pay you for it.

2. Hobbies that top professionals get paid for: This is the stuff that a lot of us really like doing that a few elite performers do actually get paid for doing. Professional sports, musicians, actors, comedians, and other specialized professionals can make a good living from these things. But since everyone kind of secretly wishes they could fall into this category, you have to be REALLY good to make a respectable income in one of these areas.

Unless you are extremely naturally gifted, you must invest a huge about of time in order to compete for the few paying spots that are available. You have to make it your only hobby. Because of that, time and the opportunity cost of lost income from investing that time to get that good at it is a huge barrier of entry in this group. You usually have to have someone else supporting or sponsoring you, and even then there are no guarantees. You’ll also notice that those who rise to prominence typically have a hard time staying there.

3. Hobbies that a lot of people can get paid for, because there is a huge demand for – the marketable hobbies, if you will: This is the stuff that a lot of you alluded to in my retire now post. Just think of all the possibilities out there! I’ll list a few that you brought up in that last post and a few of my own ideas:

• Auto: Everyone who owns a vehicle needs maintenance at some point. There are a lot of people out there who absolutely love working on mechanical things. There’s also a lot of people out there who feel a need or desire to ‘baby’ their cars. Hence, the auto detailing industry. And there’s also a group that Tuan mentioned, that love customizing vehicles.
• Cooking: I have a friend who made a decent income from being a ‘personal chef’. He basically was hired to come in and do holiday parties, cocktail parties, dinner parties, and even in-home meal preparation. On the latter, there is definitely a market of wealthy people out there willing to spend good money for you to make them some home cooked meals that they can heat up over the week.
• Writing: From blogging to freelance writing and even publishing your own book, writing is always going to be a marketable hobby that a lot of good and even average writers can get paid for. A lot of businesses need help producing content, and if you enjoy writing, you can make a decent income at it.
• Financial Planning: Many of us have money to manage but little knowledge about how to do so. Financial planning is an entire industry built around this need.
• Photography: Just about any special event – from press events, to weddings, to sporting events needs a photographer. Someone is going to get paid to do it, and if you’re honed your craft and enjoy doing it, why not you? This hobby can also result in passive income if you license your photos for sale online or elsewhere.

We’ll stop there, but I think you can see where I’m going with this… There’s a lot of opportunities out there based on the needs of individuals and businesses. The key, I believe, is that you have to save someone else the time and trouble of learning how to do it and then actually do it on their own.

Think About Work Hobbies – Or at Least Tasks you Like Doing

Work hobbies? Yep. The stuff at your 9-to-5 that you gravitated towards because you really enjoyed doing it. The stuff that you lost yourself in and made the time fly by. Maybe you just loved typing, talking to customers, working on the company’s web design, or playing with numbers.

Even if you absolutely hate your day job, I’m sure that there is something about your job that you really don’t mind doing, and actually kind of look forward to. Well, if you’re getting paid to do it already, why not make more of your day that activity and get paid to do it on your own? If your company has a need for it, odds are that others will to. Find enough of them, contract with those companies, and do the activity you like for as much time as you want on your own.

The Catch (Hint: It’s in the ‘Marketable’ Part)

That’s right, there is a catch to all of this. And it’s the part that really does separate the dreamers from the doers. It’s the marketing part of ‘marketable’. Yes, there is a lot of really cool work out there that you can get paid for, even with average skill, but unless you know how to market yourself, you’re going to have a hard time finding it and winning it.

You’re going to have to fight for the right to paaa… kidding…. to close the deal. And it’s the part that a lot of people get tripped up on. Your writing isn’t going to sell itself when you’re first starting out. You have to get out there and sell it. You have to network, you have to have an online presence, you have to find out where the opportunity is. That’s an entirely different topic that we’ll touch on in an upcoming post, but I wanted to get the point across.

If you want to follow your dreams, you’re going to have to sell your product/service and sell yourself. There’s nothing sleazy in that, and in fact, the sales process can be highly rewarding, but you’re going to have to be open to it.

Marketable Hobby Discussion:

• Have you turned hobbies into your main source of income? Tell us how!
• What ideas do you have for ‘marketable hobbies’ that others are willing to pay for?
• Have you ever actually been paid to do any of these things?
• What kind of things have you paid others to do that you could have done for yourself?

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With my wife having just gone through the résumé and interview process all over again, we both did some research into the latest recommendations for creating an effective résumé. If you’re looking for a job in this market, I’m sure that you’re well aware that the competition is heavy, so it’s more important than ever to create an attention grabbing résumé that will at least get you through the door for an interview.

In order to create a résumé that gets you an interview, you really only need to focus on to major areas: design and content. Yeah, they’re two big generic areas, so let’s get into the specifics of how to be exceptional with each.

How to Design a Résumé

I’ve heard a number of recruiters say that they only give a résumé about 30 seconds before they move on to the next one. To make sure they look at your résumé a little longer than that, the design of your résumé is essential. Put yourself in the place of the person reviewing your résumé – what would make you take a closer look?

I’m not going to go too much into creativity of design because it really varies for each job. If you are going into a marketing, advertising, graphic design, or other creative field, then it makes sense to create a résumé that visually stands out as ‘exceptionally creative’ from your competition. If you are going to be an investment banker or accountant, it should go without saying that you probably want to stick to more of the traditional résumé format.

Bullet Point Format: Résumé are best absorbed if they are formatted like promotional brochures, not like mini auto-biographies. Taking it a step further, each bullet point shouldn’t go beyond one line in length. If it does, you’re probably ‘flowering’ things up a bit too much.

White Space: You need to draw the eyes of your résumé reviewer to the headers and sections that you really want them to review. To do this, make use of white space around the headers. White space, when used effectively, can also de-clutter an other-wise messy looking format.

Font: Make use of bold and italicized fonts to give your audience a visual break. Use strong caution when choosing more than one font, and make sure that if you are using more than one font, that they blend together nicely. A resume should be like a well design promotional brochure, not a scammy internet sales letter.

Résumé Length: Keep it to two pages at most (with a ton of white space), and preferably 1 page. Again, your goal is to get noticed, not to highlight every single thing you’ve accomplished in your career. There will be plenty of time to expand on your highlights, once you get in for a first and hopefully further interviews.

Have Multiple Formats Ready: When applying for jobs in the past, there were times when an employer wanted you to simply cut and paste into an html based web form. If you do this, it’s best to have a .txt file version of your resume on hand. If format doesn’t matter and you can upload, I’d recommend saving to a .pdf format so that you know the person reviewing your resume is going to see the format that you intended (and Adobe reader is available for free to everyone).

Résumé Content

Lead with your Best Stuff: If your experience is the most valuable asset that you can provide your new employer, lead with it. And lead with the best of it. Remember, 30 seconds is all you get, so your résumé should be like a fireworks display that starts with the ‘Grande Finale’. If you don’t have much relevant experience, lead with the transferable skills that you do have. If you are applying for an entry level position right out of school, lead with your educational achievements or relevant internship experience.

Get Rid of the Objective: Objectives are outdated. Let your accomplishments speak for themselves. A glorified objective statement can only decrease your chance of impressing its readership, and rarely will it make you stand out in a good way.

Kill the Generic Characteristics and Duties: If you’re a knowledge worker, highlight what makes your knowledge and skills exceptional. There is nothing exceptional about someone who “Is an excellent written and verbal communicator”, rather, opt for things like “Gave a speech to 500 industry professionals that received a 95% ‘very satisfied’ rating”. Instead of “Demonstrated proactive leadership skills”, clarify that you “Facilitated a cost cutting team of five colleagues that resulted in a year over year decrease of 20% of business expenses”.

References are Available at your Potential Employer’s Request: A résumé really doesn’t need a list of references anymore, but you still want to make sure that you have a statement at the very end that highlights that “References are available upon request”. I was asked by a recruiter a few years ago to send him a new résumé with this included.

Have Others Review your Content Beforehand: What may make perfect sense in your head may be a garbled mess to someone else. Have someone who is not afraid to give you honest feedback review your résumé for lingual diarrhea.

Cater your résumé to each Potential Suitor: Unless you are applying for the exact same position at 10 different employers, you should probably have 10 different résumés for those 10 different employers. Remember, a résumé is not about ‘wow, look how great and well traveled this person is and how lucky we’d be to employee them’, it should be about ‘how does this person meet every need we have and more’.

Résumé Writing Discussion:

• What things on your résumé really grabbed the attention of your current employer?
• What’s characteristics did the best and/or the worst résumé you have ever seen have?

Related Posts:

• Day One of Unemployment
• Book Review and Real-Life Application: Winning Job Interviews

This is a guest book review from GE’s wife, who has been doing a little job interview preparation, as she was recently laid off and has been job hunting.

In Winning Job Interviews: Reduce Interview Anxiety / Outprepare the Other Candidates / Land the Job You Love,Dr. Paul Powers takes you through job hunting, getting the interview, and then how to be successful in the interview. His enthusiasm, positivity and humor not only makes the book an enjoyable read but helps to boost your self esteem for the hunting and interview. Powers also has a collection of worksheets in the back of the book to help you focus and take action on the things you have learned.

How to Get an Interview

The first chapter is titled “Why job hunting sucks”. It is just a taste of the humor job hunters can relate to in this book. The chapter is really about all the potential roadblocks a job hunter could come across and offers simple suggestions to avoid them. The next section educates you on how to be an effective job hunter. The most effective job hunter is going to find the most opportunities, increase their chance of more interviews, and have more job offers.

Powers describes the three techniques for job hunting: postings, networking, and recruiters with statistics on the success of each one. Networking takes the cake, but he emphasizes that it is still important to address your specific situation and additionally use the other resources.

Preparing for a Job Interview

Next, Powers explains how important it is to prepare for the interview. By preparing you can stand out from the rest of the candidates with your knowledge of the company and you can reduce interview anxiety. He lists many techniques to use when researching companies with the library as a primary resource. He also stresses the importance of practicing interviewing with other people and preparing your own questions for the interview. There are worksheets in the back of the book to help you develop the right questions for your practice interview, as well as questions for you to ask the company. Throughout these sections Powers inserts points to boost your self esteem. The one I remember the most, on landing an interview, is this:

“The wind is in your favor. They believe you can do the job already that is why you got the interview.” It is so simple, but I had never thought of it that way.

Job References

There is also a section on the importance of references. Powers suggest that you get in touch with all of your references and have a face to face meeting with them on what they would say about you. This can be valuable because your reference can learn more about the job you are interviewing for and target your specific skills to those desired by the potential employer. This would work well if there is one specific job you are going after but a little more difficult if you have applied for numerous jobs.

Closing the Job Search

The book concludes with a very valuable chapter on closing your job search. Powers highly recommends taking the time to record all of your contacts and information you gathered in an organized manner so on your next job search you are not starting from ground zero. From personal experience, I see this as great advice because during my last job hunt I was not very organized at recording and even saving all the contact information I had gathered. At the time I believed it was not as necessary because I had scored a job I intended to work at for a long time. A year and a half later I have now been laid off and wish I would have done a better job of recording. Hindsight is 20/20!

How I Applied what I Learned in a Successful Interview

I picked up this book after a first interview and realized there was much improvement needed for my scheduled second interview. After assessing my mistakes, I was grateful to have a second chance to immediately apply some of the interview techniques from this book.

Mistake #1: Not enough research on the company.

In the first interview I was asked what I know about the company and why I want to work there. Before the interview I had done some research on projects for the specific position I was interviewing for and not a good general research on the company.  I was able to come up with a sufficient answer, but I could have easily been more prepared.
Solution: Before the second interview I collected all sorts of information on the company so that I could show the interviewers that I was interested in working for them. They never did ask me that question again, but I was more confident in my ability to target answers to other questions so that they reflected the company’s mission.

Mistake #2: Reciting task instead of skills.
For the first interview I had prepared my 30 sec answer for the “Tell me about yourself” question well enough that I did not stumble over the answer. However, I quickly learned from Powers that i forgot to include my talents and skills in this answer.
Solution: I inserted my personal strengths throughout my 30 second speech for the second interview. For example, I changed this task “I have worked on a variety of projects” to this skill “I have worked on a variety or projects with numerous teams due to my ability to work well with others on group projects”.

Mistake #3: Coming across as passive.
In the first interview, the interviewer dominated the interview with a long list of questions for me and before she knew it an hour had flown by and she had to get going. I had the opportunity to ask questions but she was in control of the direction of the interview.
Solution: Powers strongly believes you should walk into an interview with the intent of being in control at an appropriate level of assertiveness. A person with a sense of control radiates confidence, certainty and leadership. One technique I applied, after careful assessment of the situation, was to take lead with asking questions. The lead interviewer was stumbling over remembering a question he had due to getting over a cold. I suggested I ask a few questions to give him a break (a Powers technique) and he seemed very happy by my suggestion. From that point out I took over asking my carefully crafted questions to the interviewers. I could tell from their energy they enjoyed my questions and became more relaxed, which in turn lead to my relaxation.

From Powers and other sources I have determined the top four techniques for a successful interview are:
1. Research on the firm you are interviewing, know why you want to work for this company
2. Have a well crafted 30 sec speech about yourself, know your strengths, boast about them and be confident in yourself
3. Have a list of well crafted questions for the interviewer
4. Practice, Practice, Practice with someone

Related Posts:

• Day One of Unemployment
• 7 Lessons Learned After One Week of Unemployment

It’s been an interesting week. My wife (a Landscape Architect), and a number of her co-workers, were laid off on Monday. I had never encountered this situation before, but the ‘what-ifs’ always crossed my mind beforehand.

At the very least, this has been an eye opener for us, we’ve learned a lot about ourselves, and hopefully some of the lessons learned can benefit this site’s readership now and down the road. Even though we’re a mere week into this, here are some quick lessons that we’ve learned.

Unemployment Lesson #1: Trying to Get Out of Unemployment is a Full-Time Job

Since being laid off, my wife has done a number of things to get back on her feet that can be applicable to anyone. These activities can consume a lot of time and energy:

• filed for unemployment and calculated how much salary it would replenish
• said goodbyes to co-workers and gave them her contact information
• had a conversation with her former superiors and a ‘going away’ party of sorts with a large group of former co-workers
• recovered all files that could be used in a portfolio
• updated resume
• updated portfolio (this one took more than one day)
• looked for new job opportunities
• wrote a cover letter and sent resume to a potential employer looking to hire
• through networking has discovered a few possible contracting opportunities
• developed a LinkedIn profile and made 20 connections

Unemployment Lesson #2: Unemployment Benefits are not as much as you may Think

Unemployment benefits are capped at a certain amount. I’m not sure if this varies by state, but the cap amount is $362 per week in the State of Michigan. Unfortunately, this is less than a third of her former salary and doesn’t do much for us in terms of covering our mortgage and other expenses.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m thankful for anything that we can get, it’s just that the cap is fairly low and it definitely hurts those who had a relatively higher salary beforehand. It’s not as strong of a crutch as I thought it was going to be.

Unemployment Lesson #3: Do not Own a House Unless you have the Savings to Cover Income Loss

Fortunately, we have enough savings to get us through this phase. I’m very thankful for this, and if we did not have the savings, we would probably be very worried about the real potential to lose our house. We will have to cut into savings though, which is very frustrating, but at least we don’t have to live with the stress every minute of the day that comes with not knowing how we’re going to make our next house payment.

Unemployment Lesson #4: If you can Contribute to your 401k now, do it

I’m cutting my 401k contributions from the IRS maximum, all the way down to zero until she finds her next job. This was and incredibly sobering action to take. If you have the opportunity to contribute to your 401k, do it while you can. You never know when these types of situations may arise – taking away your ability to contribute. It’s one of those things you take for granted until it’s gone.

Unemployment Lesson #5: Network, Network, Network

It’s never too early to network, even if you feel like your job is 100% secure. If you’re only starting to network when you’re out of a job, you’re behind the pack. Twenty LinkedIn connections in a week is not bad, but how many networking opportunities has she missed by waiting until now to start a profile? Of course, networking in a non-virtual world is even more important. She’d be the first to admit that not networking outside of her co-workers was a mistake.

Unemployment Lesson #6: Tough Times can Bring out the Best in you

I’ve always imagined a chaotic scenario in the event of one of us losing our income. This experience has shown me that I can be much more calm and optimistic than I thought possible. We’re both seeing this as an opportunity for her to expand and grow her career versus blaming the world and feeling sorry for ourselves.

One yet to be tested quality that we will both need to make big strides in is patience. Hopefully, we won’t have to exercise too much patience (i.e. she’ll find a job quickly), but in this economy that is unlikely.

Unemployment Lesson #7: No matter how Frugal you are, there’s Always Room for more Savings

I’ve cut $65 off our monthly bill in telecom spending without losing any service that I’ll greatly miss. These savings are broken down into:

• cable: doing an inventory of the channels we watch and enjoy, we were able to cut our bill by downgrading by about $20/month and only lose one channel that we really watched.
• internet: I downgraded to a slower version of broadband. Sure, videos won’t load as quickly, but 98% of what I do online is just as efficient as it was before. Total savings here – $30/month.
• cell phone: After doing a monthly minute audit, I noticed we were only using about 400 minutes per month. We had a 700 minute plan, and I didn’t think there was a lesser family plan available. The rep told me that they had a 550 minute plan (not advertised on the site) for about $15 per month less.

We also did an audit of how much we were spending on grocery items and made a list of about 10 expensive food items that we don’t need, which could easily take about $150 off our monthly bill (and no, we haven’t resorted to seeking Spam handouts). Call me crazy, but this budget process was actually very satisfying to go through.

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Well, folks. Real life circumstances are going to have a heavy hand in some of the topics I cover over the next few months. My wife lost her job today (she’s a Landscape Architect). All of the news about the recession really doesn’t hit home until it impacts you directly. Today it has.

In her field, when companies can’t get sufficient credit to finance new projects, workload decreases. This all thanks to corporate greed and financial deregulation. Some of her colleagues lost their jobs as well. Unfortunately, working in a very niche profession in an economy like we’re facing today presents an even tougher challenge. I’m also concerned that things won’t turn around until 2010 or beyond.

Although this is a huge hit to our livlihood and financial situation, I am confident that we will get through things and come out better off in the long run. We’ve already developed a plan of ways to attack this.

How We are Fighting Unemployment

1. File for unemployment

We need to do further research on what % of her salary unemployment will cover and how long benefits are good for, but at least the paperwork process has begun.

2. What are Our Priorities

Our first choice is to stay local. We have a home and trying to sell it in this economy is not ideal. I like my job and don’t plan on finding a new one unless I have to. Secondly, we both have family about an hour away and would like to stay within the state, at least. Third, if we have to move, my employer does offer some relocation possibilities. This really is going to effect where she focuses her efforts in finding a new job, and we’ll probably work in this order:

• look locally
• expand out in a 30 mile radius
• if we are forced to expand beyond that, I will need to start looking for opportunities within my company

3. Keeping Dignity

Even though there’s a sense of urgency for her to find a new job, we have to keep reminding ourselves that it has to be the RIGHT situation. She shouldn’t rush to take just any job.

4. Update Resume and Portfolio

What better time, right?

5. Network

She’s reaching out to everyone she knows to touch base with and throw her resume out there.

6. Create Lists

On this one, we will be creating a list of every possible employer out there within the area. This includes name of employer, contact name, number, website, etc. We’ll also be collecting a list of every possible job board, and check them weekly.

7. Extreme Frugality

I have been living the lessons I teach on this blog, but now I am forced to take them to the next level. I’m actually looking forward to this opportunity to see how much I can really cut back on in the next few months.

Next Steps in Unemployment

We’re tired, and it’s time to get some rest. The challenge is going to be to remind ourselves to be patient, take our time, and truly believe that things happen for a reason and we’ll come out better in the long run for going through this.

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