Saving for the rainy days

Cutting back on expenditures comes after any unemployment scenario so the earlier we prepare ourselves for the upcoming days; the more we can sustain our daily needs without having to go empty handed.

Whether you are unemployed or not, cutting costs is definitely a smart idea when it becomes necessary to tighten your budget. One of the many cost-cutting measures  we can make use of is by using coupons. Coupons are often times the way which establishments try their best to reach out to their loyal and potential customers.

Among the best coupon sites that you can make use of are the following:

• www.dealcatcher.com
• www.retailmenot.com
• www.clevermoms.com
• www.couponmom.com
• www.couponcabin.com
• www.couponheaven.com
• www.valpak.com/coupons/home
• www.coupons.smartsource.com
• www.fatwallet.com
• www.thebudgetfashionista.com

If you’re eager to cut costs on some particular items like travel for example, you may visit www.budgettravel.com or www.wejustgotback.com. For restaurants, you may try www.restaurant.com for coupon deals which can be a dollar off on lunch or dinner.

And always remember, if a product or service is offered for “free,” make sure it doesn’t have a catch such as asking for your credit card numbers or any of your personal financial information. If you do this, you may open yourself to identity theft.Given the recent unemployment scenario and no relief in site, being prepared and informed always has its rewards while we keep ourselves afloat until the right job opportunity comes along.

These recent fiscal times  remind us to be fiscally vigilant. In our hope of taking advantage of big savings for groceries and other commodities, we are bombarded by endless offers online, television and in our mailbox.  Many promising deep savings and money making schemes to help relieve the stress relating to being underemployed as well as unemployed. For money saving tips and tricks and personal budget resources, feel free to visit HowToSaveMoney.com

If you feel  a certain business is taking advantage of you or others, visit www.RipOffReport.com. You may also discover from the site the various opinions and what others are saying about a certain company in question.

Your overall financial goal is something that only you can define. However, as most experts advise—live within your means, pay your debts (especially on your credit cards), and always save for the rainy days.

Need support with food stamps? Check out Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and see if you qualify.

This treatment is degrading because it brings your spirit down instead of bringing you hope that every one has the fair chance of landing a job.

Little that we know that there are actually some methods that we thought would work for the longest time, but were not aware that they are more or less a waste of time than we might think. Here are some of the things that might actually create a shift in your job-hunting strategy as these 5 least productive ways of finding a job are revealed.

Mailing out Resumes

Mailing out resumes to prospective employers is probably the most convenient way of looking for a job but then convenience doesn’t always equate to success. In fact, only a meager 7% success rate is achieved using this method. Some studies have shown that only 1 out of 1,470 resumes actually results into a job.

There are actually tons of resumes piled up on every company job openings and sometimes, you might even think why these companies don’t even try to call you up to inform you if they received it or not instead, you end up waiting in vain for nothing.

Well, it’s so easy for them so shred those bundles of resumes anyway on a daily basis so why bother wasting your printer’s ink on something that might less likely work.

What pays off using this method is only when your resume is handed over by your friend, who highly recommends you, to his employer. This means that you’re just an inch away from getting into the company’s doorstep.

This works most of the time since this type of recommendation is a quick pitch especially if the person who hands down your resume to his boss is an asset to the company.

Answering Ads in Professional or Trade Journals Related To Your Field

Niche jobs are mostly found on these types of ad placements. Basically, the more you are experienced in your field, the more likely you are to find the suitable job for your qualifications however, as these jobs are more specialized, most of them may require you to relocate thus, it should be something you’re open into considering before you apply.

Using the Internet to Find Jobs

This may be odd despite all the hype that the “internet is the future”, well, this might be true at some point but not in all occasions. Chances are, only 10 out of 100 turn out to be successful using this method. In these trying times, the more it gets worse and you can simply end up wasting your time in front of a computer gaining nothing.

The more you use it as some studies have shown, to find a job, it relatively adds to lower self-esteem and depression mainly because people expect much on the results because of the power of the internet but it’s the other way around.

You may have actually read a lot of great testimonials about people who were able to land good jobs through the internet while this can be true, this doesn’t always happen to everyone else. Think about it.

Responding To Local Newspaper Ads

This method can really be old school but then only 5-24% success rate is attributed to applicants who have used this route and land a job. Newspaper ads may be great for average income jobs but not for high income ones as companies normally don’t plaster these types of openings in the newspaper as they feel that they needed something more sophisticated than someone who simply responds on ads.

While newspaper ads can be a great source of stop-gap jobs or filler jobs (or a job needed just to earn something no matter how you liked it or not) until new opportunities come to your liking, newspapers are not much or a main source as they are becoming extinct however, over avenues could actually provide more relevant information such as your local craigslist.org listings.

Asking For Help from Private Employment Agencies or Search Firms

Private search firms normally provide job placement services and most of which operate as business for being head hunters. Most if not all are under-advertised jobs or contracted jobs by head hunters for some companies’ employment requirements however, you must also know if they are going to charge you a fee in case you get in or will the employer handle the charge to pay them so you have nothing to pay for. This detail is something that you should be aware of in case you end up using this method.

Studies have shown however that only 5-28% success rate is generated using this method of looking for jobs.

There are more ways that have not been discussed in detail above that comprises the least effective ways of finding a job and these includes going to places where employers pick up workers such as union halls. This can be a useful source of jobs too but they are mostly temporary which gives only an 8% success rate. Secondly is taking the civil service exam. This could actually provide you an edge when looking for a job in government agencies but it only has 12% success rate and finally, visiting your local/state employment service office shows only 14% success rate.

This list is not at all intended to demoralize your ways of looking for a job, it only serves as a guide that, while for example, if 10% success rate can be achieved from one job-hunting method, would it be better if you’ll focus more of your efforts on those that actually work? In our upcoming post, you’ll be exposed to which job-seeking methods work the most with higher success rates so stay tuned.

Why not think about moving back home? Yes, you read it right. Moving back home may not be the right answer for some but if you have good relations with your folks, there’s no reason for them not to welcome you unless you weren’t in good terms but then, once you’re down and out, you’ll do whatever you can just to live through the day.

Practice humility and be thankful. Tell your folks your current financial condition before even trying to show up at their doorstep and if they ever offered you to stay until you get back on your feet, go ahead and swallow your pointless pride and do so.

Of course, don’t be lazy but help in their daily grind, chip in and help with household chores, I’m sure they’ll appreciate it and don’t forget to say thank you as many times when needed and mean what you say, show it if you must.

Or else, find a friend where you can stay temporarily but do the same things above, be useful and thankful.

Seek financial counseling if you may. Find the right person that could help you out with this one through your friends, church, clubs, or friends. Having the right financial counselor in the aspects of debt management, savings and spending will do a great deal in keeping you attuned to your priorities and not sliding backwards.

Find a stop-gap job. Yes, this could be any job that you might not want to do just so you could earn money, that’s what’s important. The trick here is that, since you don’t like the job anyway, you wouldn’t be staying with it for good therefore, you’ll be motivated to work harder in finding the right opportunity which you could earn more and is something that you like.

Living within your means or living frugally is never a bad thing. In fact, these lifestyles would give you much more reasons to be thankful for and be happy about.

Need more boost? Then, learn how to empower yourself during unemployment.

Job-hunting is not far from this reality. Applicants compete for job vacancies, veterans compete with newbies. Everything is a competition. Companies even compete for good employees.

The thing is, no matter what you call times like these—recession, depression, or economic crisis, you will always end up unemployed if you would not equip yourself with the right mental attitude, proper values, and competent knowledge.

History has its archive of endless economic downturn and struggle but still, it’s not impossible to say that there are people who happen to have jobs despite an economic turmoil. How did they do it?

Jobs are created out of many factors but for logical reasons, there still has to be jobs out there waiting to be filled that is either nobody wants to do or nobody’s qualified to do.

As they always say, patience is a virtue. So, while in job quest, remember that nothing’s too hard to those who try and persevere.

You might want to take note of these four pillars of effective job-hunting for the unemployed to get you going during your job search.

First Job Hunting Pillar

Treat your job-hunting as if it was your actual job. Don’t expect a hero to save you—the government or anyone else. If you’re a man who has faith, pray to your God as if everything depended on God but work as if everything depended on you.

Second Job Hunting Pillar

Keep working hard on your job hunt. Invest a lot of time while learning and educating yourself. Have tons of patience and be persistent because this is not going to be a smooth ride all the way. Determine which job hunting method works best and which doesn’t and learn from it.

Third Job Hunting Pillar

Examine yourself and establish what you really want in terms of work. Focus on what you want to achieve and act accordingly to that goal without hesitation. Being able to focus your strengths and attention to one specific goal will definitely reap some rewards in the end.

Fourth Job Hunting Pillar

Learn everything you need to know about job hunting. For a more enticing explanation on this, visit the main site, Unemployment Offices and sign-up for the ebook.

Discover the “ins and outs” about the latest job hunting techniques and trends. Learn how your skills measure up to your competition and improve it because what seemed effective before in your job hunting may not be as effective today, so keep on learning.

It’s sad to generalize that today’s job hunting is all about competition…and it’s tough. It would have been better if finding a job today is based on compassion but I guess, the world’s not ready for it yet. What do you think?

There are many avenues that you could find to search for work. You can always rely on the easiest route—the internet. Use the power of search via Google and find the same type of job you used to do.

There are basically a lot of job hunting resources to utilize including newspaper ads, social networks through friends, job boards and local unemployment offices. You could even use specific sites such as SimplyHired.com or Indeed.com for the job hunt.

What if nothing turns up from your searches?

The basic reason why this post was created is to elevate your thinking into some level which would allow you to exercise those dusty brain tissues. First off is to think about related jobs.

Ask yourself these questions and see if you can come up with some answers.

1. What are those equipments,  supplies or support services that you have learned from your previous job? Suppliers could have some job posts open that might get you in or vendors from your previous employers might have the same and they basically won’t doubt you especially if you have the operating knowledge of their equipments. Just ask and ask nicely.

2. Are there any machinery or technologies  you have learned from your last job? If so, try to figure out those places that could make of use the skills that you’ve learned using those machinery or technologies and approach the ones you’re able to find.

3. Finding the training organization or development provider to you or your company can help in finding your next job unless you’re good at communication but again, it never hurts to ask.

4. Contact those companies, organizations or customers that you have served in your last job. Their familiarity of you can help your cause in case they have a vacant slot in their team.

5. Have you led or participated on any community or service organizations from your previous work? If so, they might be one viable source of job opportunity.

6. If you have demonstrated some problem-solving skills and management abilities from your previous job, you might actually use this experience to find areas where you think your services will be necessary.

7. Did your previous employer worked with temporary agencies, outsourcing agencies or sub-contractors? Then, you have an added resource coming from them and see if they can give you a temporary, contractual or a long-term job.

8. Examine your community and determine the people’s needs and the services they are willing to pay for just because they don’t have much time to do it on their own. Ideas coming out of these needs can be a great starter to think of some small business venture.

Finding the job you used to have or something of the same kind can be hard especially if your previous job is becoming outdated. The best weapon to it is to continue educating yourself and learning new things as you go because you never know what comes next.

There can be a lot more to add to this list but for the mean time, use this as a quick guide in case you’re missing out on something. Bookmark this post or send it to your family and friends so they too can learn from these tips.

However, the sad news is, the bill doesn’t cover the 99ers—or those people that have already exhausted their UI benefits for 99 weeks.

This time, according to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) last Wednesday said that the Senate would vote move forward with reauthorizing unemployment benefits on Tuesday morning, after the replacement for the late Sen. Robert Byrd (D-W.Va.) has been sworn in.

Unemployed Americans will take immediate relief as the bill gets passed as it would be retroactive for everyone and that it will bolster expenditures in the market and taxes paid will then paid for the deficit in which the latter has always been the argument of Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) and the Republicans for blocking the bill consistently.

Again, this leaves us the question, what if the votes to pass the unemployment extension bill still run short with 60 votes needed.

A much deeper question is, are you anxious about the Unemployment Extension Bill? (Click on the link to answer the poll).

These things are the hobbies that we have come to embrace during the early stages of our lives. Some hobbies are even discovered latter in life. Love for a hobby can also turn into passion and when we utilized to the fullest can give us another avenue to earn residual income or even a business out of such hobbies.

There are definitely a lot of hobbyists which vary according to subject. Some collect miniatures items, others create stained glass works of art, collecting and preserving dolls, stamp collecting , while others build robots and anime figures.

So which of your hobbies can turn you from unemployed to employed?

Collecting Hobbies

While this type of hobby is more on the spending side, there’s also a way to earn income from this passion. Most of the time, limited collection action figures can be sold expensively. Antique collections as well can be auctioned or sold on eBay for a profit. You certainly can select which items do you think is sellable and for how much, should you have been doing the hobby for a long time. New hobbyist however can seek help from agents for auctioning.

Extreme Sports

Hobbyists of this nature are into physical fitness and are extremely healthy. They are best suited as physical fitness trainers or trainers of their specific sports.

Grip Strength, Scuba diving and Shark fishing are just among the many extreme hobbies around so if you’re good at it, you just might get a job out of it.

Outdoors

Outdoors hobbies like gardening might just earn you a living by selling your flowering plants and offering your superb gardening services.

The Arts

Blogging is definitely part of the art of writing although it’s a little free flowing. Blogging as a hobby when improved could lead to publishing your own book or get you a writing stint on bigger websites for a living. If you are however more persistent, you just might get famous and have long term advertisers on your site but then, it’s not an easy route to get money.

If your hobby is dancing, you just might get a dance instructor job assuming that you know ballroom dancing as most people are into it.

Your photography hobby may also lead to something more serious like going into the professional scene. Hobbyists normally practice their craft and improve faster overtime so it’s just a matter of time and effort.

Playing musical instruments are one big hobby that you can utilize into something bigger should you know how to play at least one. Joining a band or anything of that sort can actually increase your exposure thus income would come along.

If there are some more hobbies that you can think about that just might help unemployed people get a job, feel free to share it at the comment section.

The new legislation known as the “Americans Want to Work Act” which was introduced by Senator Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) is expected to essentially provide additional sustenance for unemployed workers for more than 99 weeks plus tax cuts for businesses that will hire new workers who have been out and looking for work.

The bill is cosponsored by Senators Charles Schumer (D-NY), Harry Reid (D-NV), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Carl Levin (D-MI), Bob Casey (D-PA), Chris Dodd (D-CT), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Jack Reed (D-RI), and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI).

The Americans Want to Work Act if passed will provide 20 weeks of unemployment benefits extension for individuals in states where unemployment rate is 7.5% or higher.

However, eligibility for weekly claims would still oblige individuals to meet regular unemployment insurance law requirements.

If you’re one of the many hopeful 99ers waiting for the government to do something with your condition, this is absolutely a blessing to look forward to. So share this post now with your friends and family.

If you’re one of the lucky workers with a job today, do you think this bill urgently needs passing or is just another disincentive? Have your say in the comments or simply answer the poll below.

It’s not the end of the world!   Think of it this way, if you’re someone who’s been long dragged into a job that you don’t even like in the first place, would you rather be thankful that you’ve lost it without being fired? Or do you think that loosing this job could  give you more time to spend with your family?

Some things happen beyond our control and whether we like it or not, we have to face it. There could be something much better to come; we just have to be as optimistic as possible to see what’s going to unfold.

There’s always a silver lining behind the clouds and we should understand that at some point, these hardships will sooner or later fade and everything will fall into place.

Take Good Care of Yourself. Nobody’s going to get hurt more than yourself if you keep beating yourself up—drinking all day, isolating yourself from your family, getting yourself immobile, etc. instead, take a breather, maintain balance and stop over thinking. Eat right, get plenty of rest, exercise regularly and maintain a healthy diet.

Surround Yourself Only with Positive People. The people whom you should seek support first is your family. Let them get involved with the situation by letting them know how you feel and what they can do to help you out. Open communication is very important in these trying times.

Don’t let pride and shame get into you, instead reach out to people whom you know such as your friends and relatives that might understand your situation and could help you with moral support, guidance or could recommend you with their connections. Network with people more than you did in the past and avoid indulging in self-pity.

Involve the entire family and create a realistic plan. We all know that along side loosing a job includes the burden of managing your finances—paying the bills, mortgage, insurance and the like. That’s why, it’s necessary to keep everyone in the household involved in creating an action plan while a new job is still underway.

Moderate or cut on some of your spending and find ways to save or resources to get extra cash.

Coping with unemployment is definitely a great hurdle in itself. Staying positive, resourceful and patient will go a long way in keeping yourself and your family afloat during these hard times and while there are unemployment benefits that you can take advantage of, it’s still necessary to keep yourself healthy in mind and body.

February 1992, Providence, Rhode Island, USA --- Unemployed people wait in a long line at the unemployment office in Providence. --- Image by © Joel Stettenheim/CORBIS

The ordinary worker normally relies from their wages for their daily grind. Chances are when these workers suddenly lost their means of living; they have no more left for themselves but savings that normally dries up as bills continue piling up.

In today’s hard times, unemployed workers mostly end up broke before they could even find a suitable job. This is where the government comes in for the rescue through the aid of Unemployment Insurance (UI) benefits.

Unemployment Insurance (UI) benefits are temporary aid provided by the local unemployment agency to its jobless citizens who were out of work through no fault of their own. This unemployment compensation is used to offset the amount of wages lost during the period of unemployment until the worker finds suitable employment.

The funds that are used to compensate the unemployed were taken from the Unemployment Insurance (UI) taxes that are paid for by their employers under the Federal Unemployment Tax Act (FUTA) which authorizes the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to collect an annual federal employer tax which will be used to fund state workforce agencies. The Federal Unemployment Tax Act (FUTA) will then cover the costs of administering the Unemployment Insurance Job Service programs in all states.

This means, that no money is being taken from the workers salaries. If an employee’s employer is paying unemployment tax, such is called covered employment and after some tenure at work, the employee may collect unemployment benefits provided that eligibility requirements are met.

There is another type of employment that does not entitle a worker from receiving unemployment benefits and that is called uncovered employment and such are the workers of non-profit institutions. These organizations are not covered by unemployment tax law therefore they don’t pay unemployment tax which is used to fund unemployment benefits.

Unemployment Benefits Eligibility

There are certain requirements that each state requires for applicants in order to receive unemployment benefits however in most cases, they are mostly the same in scope. Self-employed individuals are automatically disqualified from receiving unemployment benefits. Partially employed or those that had been working in reduced hours than normal whose earnings as well have been reduced as a result may be eligible. Totally unemployed workers can initially apply for unemployment insurance benefits but this doesn’t mean that they are automatically eligible and can receive benefits because the reason for separation is normally looked upon and investigated by the unemployment office.

The cause of unemployment must be favorable and should not be a result of misconduct or improper behavior or insubordination.

Other than having a graceful exit from work, tenure from work is also looked upon to determine monetary eligibility which means, an applicant for unemployment insurance must have accumulated paid wages under covered employment which is normally computed as the base period or the fourth of the last five quarters of the calendar year at the time of filing.

Each state uses this same principle but may differ in terms of qualified wages earned as an eligibility requirement. Once monetary eligibility is established, the applicant can now file for unemployment benefits then other criteria will follow before unemployment compensation is released.

Unemployment Insurance Benefits Application Process

It normally takes two weeks before unemployment compensation begins with the first week being the waiting period which is not paid retroactively and the second being the time lag between eligibility for the program and the first actual payment.

Claims normally start through filing at a local unemployment office or online through the states’ unemployment office website when available.

Eligibility of claims are normally determined first, by monetary eligibility or the length of tenure and wages paid under covered employment, second, the reason for separation from work, and lastly, the availability to accept work at any time when required, the ability to do the work meaning physical and mental condition must not hinder an applicant from taking work, and the last important thing is that the claimant must be actively seeking work.

Passing these requirements does not end after receiving your first unemployment compensation pay because a claimant must determine eligibility each week in order to get continuous benefits.

Unemployment Insurance recipients must disclose all earnings they receive each week and must register with the unemployment office’s reemployment services and trainings when required and must not refuse job offers for no compelling reason, otherwise benefits will be denied.

These are just some of the basic details about Unemployment Insurance (UI) benefits that would serve as a guide to unemployed workers out there who badly needs a lift.

For more updates and to take advantage of our free ebook in surviving the challenges of being unemployed, simply fill-out the form on the upper right hand corner of this page.