Furlough Survival Guide – 10 Tricks I Learned During COVID to Survive a Sudden Loss of Income
Welcome to the Furlough Survival Guide – 10 Tricks I Learned During COVID to Survive a Sudden Loss of Income.
What’s going on in the government has been really hard for the many federal employees who suddenly have no income, and are unsure when they will ever get paid for work that they might now be doing for free.
This is extremely stressful and I wanted to give you 10 tricks my family used to survive COVID when we also had a sudden loss of income.
#1 Use Up Your FSA Immediately Before It Expires
If you have an FSA with your work, then you need to spend the full amount before you lose it. Find out with your old job what that day is.
Find out the remaining balance and go get your doctor appointments, dentist, and so on done. We went to a drug store and to buy up over the counter medications, sunscreen, bandaids, first aid supplies, feminine products like tampons and so on.
#2 Apply For Unemployment
Go and apply for unemployment. Unfortunately, it takes a while for unemployment to start paying, but go and do it so that you can get the ball rolling. It took months before we got any money after applying. However, your state might be different.
#3 Find Free Food
During COVID there were places that gave out free food. You could get free school lunches. You could get bags of food for free from Housing Projects, Churches, and other locations. Look online for any free food services. You can also sign up for the Food Bank or any other Food Assistance programs available.
#4 Find Financial Assistance Available
During COVID there were financial assistance programs which I applied to and got some relief. During this Furlough there are businesses offering financial assistance.
I know Chase bank is offering services for furlough workers who have mortgage loans. Life insurance companies, banks and local businesses may have special financial assistance available.
Check with the companies that you normally pay your bills to and they might be able to help you.
#5 Obtain Marketplace Health Insurance
I know the contentious point of the federal budget is Marketplace Health Insurance. If it is still up and available, then go there and get health insurance if you need it. It offered some financial assistance to pay the premium, and can get you on Quest or another medicaid program if you qualify!
#6 $200/Month Groceries Budget
We had limited income and I managed to get our groceries bill down to $200/month. I bought only the essentials, and zero junk food.
A large 20lb bag of brown rice costs about $30 at Costco and can feed a family of 3 for at least 1 month. You can get a 10 pound bag of frozen chicken thighs at Costco in the freezer section for only $12.99. A Rotisserie chicken is only $4.99 and can last a few days.
#7 Empty The Fridge Before Shopping
It’s amazing how many meals you can make with just a little bit in the fridge. I learned that when I thought it was a good time to go shopping, I would wait until the next week or a few days later.
It was amazing how I still had enough to cook all of our meals. In addition, I saved money by going grocery shopping less often.
Before going shopping make sure your fridge is almost or completely emtpy. This will prevent food waste.
#8 Side Hustle While Looking For a New Job
Try Lyft, Uber, Uber Eats, and so on. We did Bite Squad as a family together, and Jomel would do Uber driving. He picked up a census job that lasted 5 months or so. He also got a position at our local grocery store as a Pharmacy Tech, which gave us discounts on groceries.
Later he got a contract with the State of Hawaii to be the Oahu Long Term Care Ombudsman. A year after they created a permanent position for him.
Check out contracts offered by the state, city and county. They can later lead to full time jobs if that’s what you are looking for.
#9 Ask for and Accept Help From Family and Friends
During COVID, AirBnBs were one of the many businesses that the local government termporariy prohibited. We had to change our AirBnB into a month to month rentals instead, which made a third of the regular income we would normally make. My brother helped us one month by giving us one of his stimulus checks to pay the mortgage.
We contacted friends for possible jobs. Jomel was in contact with a friend we made at the gym who gave us the information to apply for the government contract as the Oahu Long Term Care Ombudsman.
#10 Exercise Daily and Take Care of Your Health
Without a regular job, it’s a good idea to start exercising everyday and eating healthy foods. To save money and improve our health, I didn’t buy any junk food and we didn’t eat out during COVID.
We had oatmeal and fruit with chia seeds for breakfast. We made various rice dishes for lunch and dinner, which were supplemented by the free lunches we got for Jordan from the local school.
We would go for an evening walk through our neighborhood in Waikiki as a family. We also ran, rode our bikes and went into the ocean everyday. We got much healthier.
I started meditating everyday which improved my mental and emotional health.
Improving your health with help you deal with stress. It also helps build self confidence and make you a more attractive person to hire or do business with. It optimizes focus and makes your mind clearer and able to handle the challenges of finding a new source of income that align with your interests and passion.