2 financial tips for when you're unemployed

So I've taken a little bit of a hiatus over the past two months, if you haven't noticed... It turns out being unemployed a. does not mean you're less busy and b. does not motivate financial housekeeping...and how am I supposed to talk about money and finance, when I am ignoring my own finances?

Loosing sight of your financial status

It's almost impossible to budget when you don't have any income, because keeping track of all your expenses is DEPRESSING!  It's interesting because before I was employed, I didn't understand why people who are unemployed don't budget since it's so important to manage your money, especially when you don't have much. But now I get it! When you know you don't have any coming in (I didn't even get unemployment benefits) you know you're going to either be draining savings or amounting debt. So why count it?

Well I can tell you why. Ultimately you will be better off knowing what's going on. The more disciplined you are, the better off you will be once you do start taking care of the finances...and we all know that at one point you will need to manage it.

similar to what my bank account looked like!

I must say I am happy I at least checked into my bank account to make sure I was above water and to keep an eye on the ever increasing credit card bill. Even though I stopped checking into my mint.com account and making sure I was staying within budget, I didn't constantly feel guilty since I had half an eye on it. Plus, now that I have a job I feel very ready to get back into it! I am excited to re-allocate my budget to fit my new income, and to start allocating money to my savings.

Small Steps
I did do something positive in terms of my finances over the holidays.  Since I couldn't save or budget or plan for retirement (my favorite thing to do! check out last years blog posts), I planned to save in the future.  I decided to start an automatic payment plan for my Roth IRA. But, here's the key: I scheduled the start date for one month in advance.

I didn't actually do anything to fix my finances at that moment, but I did something for my future and that felt just as good. Even if you're not sure about whether you will have the money next month I would recommend doing this, because you can always reschedule the start date. This will keep retirement planning on your mind at least once a month and will help you feel like you're doing something about your financial mess, even if it's not a lot.