Have you lost your job and wondering how you will survive without it? Well, I have you sorted. Here is a comprehensive list that shows you how to live without a job.
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Maybe you hate the hustles of a 9-to-5 job or have not yet got a chance to land that job; then, I am sure you know it gets rough sometimes without a secure source of income.
Nevertheless, even though you do not have a job and a monthly income from your employer, bills have to be paid.
Use a tool like Personal Capital to monitor all your income and expenses in an efficient manner.
It's completely free to use and is a great way to get smarter about your personal finances.
Worry not, we will discuss how to live without a job and make life easier.
After holding a traditional job, some individuals have ended up quitting their jobs and found ways to survive without full-time employment.
Yes, it is possible to live without having to punch the clock or having to endure that boss daily. If you are that person who needs some family time or personal time to do your things and has a happy life, then stick around to the end.
Well, we didn’t come here to rant on the negative side of employment or encourage individuals to quit their jobs, but I believe we all are free to make choices as deemed fit.
However, living without a job and enjoying all the freedom can be extremely challenging. It is advisable to make the right preparations before quitting the daily grind and venture into living without a job.
So how can you make money without a job? Is it possible to live without a job? The simple answer is a straight yes, but the trickier part is on the ‘how to live without a job.’
This article seeks to look into some of the strategies that can be employed to survive and thrive amid the ups and downs of not having a regular paycheck.
All the plans will be grouped under three sets.
Table of Contents
Minimizing Expenses
The first set of strategies that we will be looking at is on how to reduce the expenses, given that we do not have a regular paycheck. Controlling your costs goes a long way in ensuring that the little money you have does something useful and beneficial.
Spending less, however, does not mean to sacrifice on the essential needs, and here are the major spending areas that you can significantly reduce your expenditures.
Are you there wondering, ‘no job, no money what to do?’ Well, buckle up, and let’s take a ride.
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Save on Housing Expenses
Housing is a basic need that ought to be provided to any human being. Nonetheless, paying monthly rent with no regular paycheck can be stressful at times since paying that rent is more of a liability rather than feeding an asset.
If you are living alone, friends or relatives can let you stay with them as you couch-surf your way through the hurdles of life. Staying at someone’s else place will hugely cut out housing expenses as you won’t need to pay any rent.
However, this can be nagging to some as you might happen to be a burden to them. A way to beat this is to be useful within the house by either taking care of the chores at home or at times, paying a few bills in the house.
The other option to reduce your housing expenses if you are living alone is to arrange with a friend on how you can stay together.
Sharing a roof with someone else is an excellent choice since you will cut down the rent to half of what you are paying.
This strategy happens to be a better option than the former one if you don’t want to be a bother to anyone and live independently.
If you have a family, it will be hard to take the entire family to live in another person’s house. However, if you want to cut down some costs with regards to housing, you can consider shifting to a house that is cheaper and will be able to accommodate the entire family.
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Also, if your home is large enough, you can rent out a part of your house, which will also assist in minimizing housing expenses.
Here is where a tool like Personal Capital can become very handy.
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Saving On Food
As we seek for some costs that we should cut down, food cannot be ignored. Food is another basic need that is very vital for our well-being, but at times we overspend on the same.
However, here comes the catch; we cannot go without food as we can with Netflix, right? So how do we save on food expenses?
The excellent option here is to grow your food. With modern art in agriculture, you do not need a large farm to conduct some simple farming. New techniques, such as hydroponics, will allow you to plant your vegetables in-house.
Hydroponics might be an expensive option, and you may opt for the cheaper one. Just grab your old buckets or containers that will let you fill them up with soil and grow your vegetables.
If you happen to dwell in an apartment without a garden space, you may take your small garden on the roof-top for sunlight exposure.
Speaking of rooftops, you might as well think of rearing some poultry; though this may depend on your diet. If you are not a vegan, keeping chicken will add some protein to your diet without you diving deep into your pockets.
It is an excellent venture to save on your expenses as well as cook food that you are sure of its quality. I can consistently get 10-15% Walmart cashback by using Rakuten.
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Minimize Entertainment Costs
Well, unlike food and shelter, entertainment is not a basic need, and one can entirely do away with it, thus saving a considerable load of money.
We mostly spend hundreds of dollars when it comes to entertainment, as a recent survey stated that the average person spends $300 in a month on entertainment.
This cost is beyond the bar if you are living without a job.
Work with no play makes Jack dull, right? So I don’t want to pressure you to cut down all entertainment costs but thumbs up if you can. However, you can look out for ways on how you can cut those costs.
A simple way to do this is to write down how you spend your cash on entertainment and look for ideas on how you can minimize those costs or what you can forego.
For the readers, you don’t have to buy books. You can check in to a library or look for a softcopy version that will cost you way less. If you are into movies, avoid going to theatres and instead enjoy watching that movie at home with a group of friends.
Going out to have meals is another form of entertainment that you need to avoid altogether if you want to live without a job peacefully.
You can use a tool like Ibotta to get cashback for routine entertainment expenses directly into your PayPal account. Get $5 just for signing up.
See Related: Personal Financial Plan Example
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Cutting Down Transport Costs
Moving from one point to another is another factor to place into consideration. Transportation is another area that most people spend their money. If jobless, the first aim is to save on expenses, including transport costs.
If you own a car, it calls for some maintenance costs, insurance, gasoline, and relatable expenses. These costs can quickly deflate your pockets, and you might not be able to pay some other bills.
While living without a job, one has two options, to sell the car or use it as an asset.
Selling the car will get you several bucks that will allow you to survive paying bills for several months, if not years.
However, I don’t think that is a good option since money will eventually run out and go back to where you started.
Instead, you can use the car as a taxi or a cab, which will generate some cash to keep you on the move. It’s okay to sell your fancy car and buy a more economical vehicle that is suitable for the job.
Besides, if you own a car and you are not comfortable with either of the options, it is therefore advisable to use public means of transport rather than driving since it is way cheaper.
Nonetheless, whether you have a car or not, you can as well cut down those costs by walking over short distances or using a bicycle. Not only is it cheaper, but also good for your health.
See Related: Remote Jobs – Make Money from Home
Avoiding Debts
The other key point is avoiding debts, and if it necessitates you to take a loan, let it be minimal. Deficits always tend to drag someone into a pit that ends up being so hard to climb out of it.
More so, given that you are living without a job may be a terrible idea to pile up loans. The following continuation on how to live without a job focuses on how to avoid debts.
See Related: Can You Cash a Damaged Check?
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Avoid Using Credit Cards
No matter how cool they might sound, credit cards are a menace if you don’t have a regular and stable source of income. The cards will allow you to purchase and pay for services on credit, but what you may not put into consideration, is the interest rate, as well as the certainty of being able to clear your debt.
If you have one, it is not a must that you burn those credit cards or cancel them.
Not at all, but just put them away and avoid them like the plague until you are confident that your income is stable.
See Related: 17 Life Insurance Questions to Ask
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Plan Your Budget
Have a clear plan for your monthly budget and what you require. Jotting down the budget will allow you to realize what you need and what you do not need at the moment and in return, help you minimize your expenses.
This practice will help in maximizing the amount of money that you have, as well as save you from taking debts to pay for what you do not need. A trimmed budget cuts back on optional purchases and always protects us from liabilities.
Even if you have your job and instead take a pay cut?
It's important to handle your pay cut in the right way by budgeting and staying focused on your personal finances.
Use a tool like Trim to cut your monthly subscription expenses. This innovative app will scan your expenses and automatically provide recommendations on where you can “trim” your expenses.
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See Related: Get Paid to Read Emails
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Seek For A Low-interest Rate
This option should only apply if the loan is a necessity, and it is the only way out. When planning on taking a loan, seek for a lender who will offer you the lowest interest rates.
Know how to bargain and talk them into lowering the interest-rates, which they can, if you have a good loan payment record. Still, on loans, ensure that you pay off at least the minimum amount you owe each month.
You can use a tool like Credible to scan for the lowest cost lender.
See Related: Why Your Debit Card Declined (And How to Fix)
Create Income Generation Sources
One of the most excellent strategies on how to thrive without a job is diversifying your income. There are several ways to generate some passive income without being employed.
After you minimize your expenses and avoid all sorts of debts, its now your time to mine those bucks.
The following continuation includes a few ways on how to live without a job by finding sources of income.
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Turn Your Hobby Or Talent Into A Source of Income
There are various ways to turn your hobby into a real income generation opportunity. First of all, get to know your talent or hobby, then analyze what you can offer to people, and finally perfect your skill. Thanks to technology advancements, as well as the internet, it provides a broader audience.
For instance, if you love photography and you are passionate about it, you can get creative, take photos, and sell them online. Several sites let you sign up and sell stock photos. When one buys your photographs, some cash gets deposited into your account.
Besides the online venture, you can also offer photography services to your friends, relatives, or the neighborhood at a fee.
For the artists as well, they can work on their artworks as they refine their skills. They can sell their pieces online, sell them to store-shops, or even participate in contests.
The same goes for them that love cooking since they can offer catering services at a friend’s event or something of the sort.
One can also sell bizarre and crazy talents too. For instance, Fiverr is an online platform that lets you sell your services online. You can set up a gig stating that you will make funny videos with a Spanish accent for $5 and find people contacting you.
Do not feel limited o what you can sell or not. It is a matter of creativity and finding that niche. Here are some other side hustle ideas.
See Related: Ways to Make Money Without a Job
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Taking Online Surveys And Reviews
Taking online surveys is another great way of generating passive income right from home or at your favorite café.
It is also similar to taking reviews for a product where a company gives you a product for free, lets you use them, and then you write your review on the given platforms.
The two strategies are easy ways to get paid without a job since all they ask for is your feedback and data. You can make several hundred dollars from these opportunities.
Here are some of the best survey sites that will pay you a bonus simply for signing up.
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Blogging And Web Content Creation
With the internet age, blogging has become one of the most excellent practices that generate massive passive income. You can set up a website and post articles, commentaries, reviews, or even recipes.
Platforms like WordPress have made it easier to host a blogging website and quickly turn it into a money-making venture. It is also another field where you can turn your writing hobby into an income generation scheme.
The only challenge when it comes to blogging is that it requires dedication and patience before it starts to make you some substantial cash to pay off some of your bills.
If you are not comfortable to start your blog, you can write a blog for someone or a company and get paid.
Start blogging for only $3.95/month with Bluehost.
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Offering Expert Advice
Are you a specialist or knowledgeable in a particular field? Well, if that’s the case, you can provide expert advice to friends or other people at a fee. It can be based on your field of training or through experience.
For instance, you can decide to advise some of your other friends without jobs on how to live without a job.
Also, you can as well checkup for websites that pay for expert advice, although these sites are pretty serious on the idea of an expert. You will have to go through a rigorous evaluation process to join the high ranks.
Nonetheless, they do day handsomely based on your advice-history as well as ratings.
See Related: How to Market Your Side Hustle
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Become A Freelancer
A freelancer is anyone who offers his/her services at a fee but is independent of an employer. A freelancer may not have a single client, and neither is it a must to have a permanent client, although a healthy working relationship is encouraged.
Freelancing lets you work from anywhere, may it be an office or at home.
You can use a platform like Fiverr to create gigs and start getting paid immediately.
May it be a skill you own; you can offer it at a fee rather than seeking a permanent job. Some of the services that you can provide as a freelancer include web-design, tutoring, advertising, virtual assistance, translations, writing for cash, and many more.
Freelancing is quite affordable, provided you have the skills and tools to get the job done.
With time, freelancing can build up to be a full-time income. It is an affordable strategy to earn right from your couch at home and help you pay your bills even without a job.
Rather than lazing around waiting to have that job, put your skills to work today, and get paid. Use these freelance apps to start earning now.
See Related: Best Passive Income Apps to Consider
Conclusion On How to Live Without A Job
It is undeniable that not having a job can be extremely stressful. Lack of a secure source of income throws many into despair and depression. On the brighter side, it can be a blessing to others who can build the right mindset.
Lack of a job has made many become entrepreneurs and thrive without the 9-to-5 routine. I hope that the few points on how to live without a job will enlighten you in one way or another.
Use a tool like Personal Capital to monitor all your income and expenses in an efficient manner and start building different online income sources to surround yourself with the diversification of cash flow.
Do you have any other insights on how to live without a job? Contact us with any questions or comments.