How to Live off Unemployment Benefits

Depending where you live, unemployment benefit checks could be mailed to you weekly, biweekly or monthly. Although this is not how the system was originally set up, it may take several weeks for each weekly check to show up, so you can be without any income for 10 to 15 days after filing. Learning to live off unemployment benefits takes some planning and preparation.

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

Instructions

1. Find out if you qualify for food stamps or any other federal program that can help you ease the burden. If you're counting on unemployment benefits to pay all your expenses (including medical bills, groceries and housing), you may find that the numbers simply do not add up. Explore all options to make sure you are getting everything to which you are entitled.

2. Create a budget. Understanding exactly how much money comes in and goes out on a regular basis will help you tweak your expenses to make the most of your situation. You don't need complicated software to plan your finances. A simple piece of paper listing your expenses by category is enough.

3. Give up expensive habits. Stop smoking or eating out, reduce your cable TV to basic and replace expensive shampoo for the store brand. While all of these things may not seem that important at first glance, savings do add up.

4. Learn how to make the most of what you have. When you live off unemployment benefits, you are still required to apply for at least one job every week. This means you will be spending money on transportation, clothing and meals away from home. You can reduce your expenses by getting a weekly bus/subway card (if your city allows it), keeping your clothes neat (so you don't need to use the dry cleaners so often) and eating at home to avoid spending money in restaurants.

5. Reduce unnecessary expenses to a minimum. Wearing warm clothing inside instead of turning up the heat can help, as does learning to turn lights off when they're not in use. If you have a cell phone, switch to a cheaper plan and make sure you stop paying for things you don't use, including newspaper subscriptions and others.

Tips & Warnings

• Avoid tapping into your savings if you can. Instead, keep them safe for a true emergency.
• Your unemployment benefits may be canceled if the government suspects you are not doing everything you can to find a new job, so make sure you keep track of any applications and expenses related to looking for a new job, just in case you are asked to provide proof of your efforts.

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[mfrydman]

on 11/11/2008 Is there a possibility that there will be another extension beyond the 13 weeks to unemployment benefits? Is President Obama putting another 13 weeks into the package?