3 Ways Women Can Plan Financially to Make Ends Meet While Out of Work

Gloria Martinez loves sharing her business expertise and hopes to inspire other women to start their own businesses and seek promotions in the workplace. She created WomenLed.org to spotlight and celebrate women’s achievements.

Amid COVID-19, women’s jobs have been hit especially hard — and many working mothers have had to make the choice between working full-time and staying home to care for their children. And if you’re one of these women, you may be looking for some ways to plan for the future and stay financially afloat throughout this challenging time in your life.

As you navigate unemployment and explore the financial options that may be available to you, the team at KG Meyer, P.C. can help you with all your personal finance needs — whether you need to create or modify a household budget, tweak your investments, and keep your retirement savings plan on track. Additionally, there are some steps you can take to earn money from home, cut unnecessary spending, and plan for the future of your career. To explore three of the things you can do to plan financially when you’re between jobs, read on.

1. Retool Your Budget and Spending

After losing your job, one of the most important things you can do aside from applying for unemployment benefits is to modify your household budget and cut back on unnecessary spending. When tweaking your budget, make a list of your highest-priority expenses (such as your groceries, utilities, rent, or mortgage) — and any low-priority expenses that can be cut for the time being. For many, these low-priority expenses include things like magazine subscriptions, memberships, restaurant dining, personal care, clothing, and recreation.

To save money while unemployed, you’ll also need to prioritize your bills and determine whether there’s anything you can do to lower or defer your payments until you’re back to earning a steady income. However, you may qualify for food and housing assistance in some cases — so don’t hesitate to look into these options if you’re struggling to stay afloat after losing your job.

2. Start a Side Gig or Online Job

In addition to tweaking your budget and looking for ways to save money during unemployment, plenty of side gigs and online jobs are ready to be explored. Depending on your skills, experiences, and interests, these side gigs may include:

  • Work-from-home customer service jobs.
  • Online tutoring or teaching.
  • Freelance jobs in writing, editing, marketing, bookkeeping, data entry, or web design.
  • Pet sitting or babysitting.
  • Errand running through companies like TaskRabbit, Postmates, or Instacart.

3. Plan for Future Careers

As you save as much money as possible and work a side gig or two to make ends meet, it’s also important that you start planning for the future of your career. Do you hope to find a new job within your same industry, or would you be better off changing career paths? Do you need to sharpen your business skills or further your knowledge before looking for new full-time work opportunities?

Depending on your answers, now could be the perfect time to go back to school — especially if you pursue an online degree program that allows you to work some on the side. By earning an online business degree, for instance, you’ll develop powerful business acumen skills like problem-solving and financial literacy — regardless of whether you major in management and leadership, business management, or marketing.

The Bottom Line

Though you may be out of work at the moment, these tips will help you to retool your budget, pay your bills more easily, earn some money on the side, and plan for the future of your career. It’s normal to feel anxious and panicked after losing your job — especially in the wake of COVID-19 — but these practical tips will help you to make ends meet until you’ve landed a great new job and you’re back to earning a full-time salary.

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