This past month of two have been rough without any cash coming in or at the very least, little cash coming in.
I was put on a Leave of Absence back in October of 2015 and was to return back in March of 2016. However, the company took their sweet time to hire me back on. So, my family and I went out without any income. But, there were life lessons that were learned.
- The company doesn’t give a damn about you!
And I don’t mean this as a slam against the norm, however, the company is to look out for number 1. It’s main responsibility to you as a worker is to pay you for when you do work. If they give you a benefit, then great. However, a benefit is not a right.
If the company doesn’t give a damn about you, then you shouldn’t give a damn about the company. Now, don’t think about using this as a reason to not do your job. But, your job is to look out for number 1 as well, just as the company does. We shouldn't be loyal to companies if they don't fit out values. While I was in this period of limbo, I kept crying out to the company to help me. Beings that it was their fault for delaying my comeback. However, I came to the realization that they don’t give a damn and I can’t give a damn either. So, I looked elsewhere and I found other ways to help ends meet.
2 (Side) Hustle!
I think for my generation, working 30 years, retiring with a gold watch and a pension are dead. Even a 401(k) is almost to that point. So, it is important to have your own side hustle to help bring in money. A side hustle is essentially a small business that will bring you extra income. The side hustle could even make it to the point where it is your main hustle.
The main benefit of a side hustle is cash. It helped me when I needed to pay bills. It also has a lot of transferable skills as well. Such as bookkeeping, negotiation, networking, etc.
Look to your marketable skills. Are you good with computers? Sweet! Offer to help people learn computers in their own home or via Skype. Can you draw? Awesome! Set up shop on merch.amazon.com and sell T-Shirts.
3 We spend too much on BS.
Let’s face it, in modern society, we spend a lot of money on stuff we don’t need. And mostly because it’s to entertain us! Not everything spent is money. Sometimes we spend a lot of time on BS. And the one thing we can never get back is time.
During this allowed me to prioritize needs vs. wants. My wife and I had an argument over going to a water park with some friends. At that time, we were still in limbo and we needed to figure out what was more important. Eating, making sure the water was on, or having a few hours of entertainment. My friends were having two parts of the day that day. The water park and a cookout afterward. We attended the cookout and were still able to interact with our friends and had fun. Now, I’m not advocating being a total hermit. Humans are meant to interact with other humans. However, it allows you to make a decision as to what is more important.
4 The Power of No
Saying no is one of the hardest things we can do. Just thinking of saying no to someone conjure up all sorts of emotions.
Saying no is hard but it allows you to NOT do things that fit your needs. With the example above, I had to say no to the waterpark, because we could not afford it at that time. Of course, we both had our dilemmas of “what will our friends say?” Our friends may have been mad, upset, disappointed. However, it set us up better for the future. Not just financially but to what is important to us according to our needs. Were we NOT just going to see people ever again? No, but we had to find other ways that would not put us in a worse situation. We were going to see them later that night. Either way, both sides got over their emotions and we had a great time.
5 You become more creative.
The less option you have the more creative with the options in front of you become. Essentially, you make the best of your situation.
During this time, I became creative in a lot of different ways. Food being one of them. Our family is not one to eat our all the time. But sometimes, pre-packaged convenience would sometimes be the norm. So, the solution was to cook more! Even though has always been out there, it also made me a better shopper. Stacking coupons, buying discount gift cards or using cash back apps for certain things I buy.
Overall the experience will teach you that what seems like needs usually are not and that saying no is a powerful thing. You can still have fun, you can still go out however you can re-evaluate everything to see what you perceive is just a want or something you truly cannot live without.