How to stay financially afloat during unemployment… Provided there is some kind of support existing.

Although financial aid is not available for unemployed people worldwide, I can share some pointers for those to whom it is available. This is about how to keep going when you’re going nowhere fast. You may have a bigger fish to fry (building a business, innovating, doing independent research, following a hunch, building an artistic career) than getting yourself into a job of some description. If you’re just not sure what you want to do, I suggest you get some “dishy job” somewhere, something meaningless and easy, something that doesn’t stress you out but gives you a bit of extra money – as long as it’s more than the unemployment pays.

However, this is for those who have decided to tighten the belt for a higher good, whatever that higher good may be.

For the long haul.

1. Set goals so high that you will pat yourself on the back when you reach halfway, and don’t really worry if you make it all the way. (Keep your goals motivational, in other words. Alter to more realistic as long as it’s mouth-watering.) Set goals so high fancy cars and jewelry do not tempt you on the way. It has to be more important than anything else in your life… Or at least you have to know what is more important than this so you know when to tap out and give up.
2. Know why you’re doing it, and forget about expecting anyone else to understand you. Don’t expect them to pat you on the back for heroism. They won’t until you’re a millionaire.
3. You have to stop thinking about your alternatives (too much.) If you’ve decided to do this, stop wasting time second-guessing yourself and your decision. Sure, the odd occasional self-check is healthy, but don’t put your energy into thinking about something you’re not going to do anyway.
4. Accept the fact you may fail in your ultimate goal. That is no reason to not try.
5. Consider “money” as something other people have and spending something other people do. It is not for you, not yet. You’ll have your share and then some, but not yet.
6. Put fancy things out of your mind. If you know you’d love motorbiking, the last thing you want to think about is owning a motorbike.
7. Learn to deal with the shame of “not contributing.” They don’t know what you’re doing and may not understand. It’s OK. You haven’t got the time to explain to everyone who sees you as a loser what you do. Move on. Keep working.
8. Put it out of your mind that you should be good enough for a romantic partner empty-pocketed, even if you’re a female. An equal partner helps to pay the bills. That said, if someone WANTS TO take care of you financially, and you’re OK with it, it’s all good, but don’t expect it to be your right by any stretch of a self-respecting person. Accept it as a reason for rejection if they find out you’re broke and unemployed. Be emotionally OK with it.
9. Accept the fact your parents are worried. Accept no criticism for your choices. Let them cry, shout, weep, and carry on, and still keep your head straight.
10. Keep a rainy-day fund that you add a little money to weekly. Never touch it for frivolous reasons.
11. Don’t drink, at least not in excess. You’ll have to have some indulgence, however, but keep the cost financially acceptable.
12. Do not make financial commitments on a wish “by then” you can pay it. You either can or cannot.
13. If you cannot afford to pay it twice, you cannot afford it. Don’t make purchases that exceed this rule.
14. Never borrow money. No matter how patient people are, they will never be endlessly patient.
15. Do not take help from people who will only be after a huge share of your hard-earned money for a sandwich they once bought you when you were poor. They’re “buy-in when the stocks are low” -people.
16. Never accept help or even company from people who like to remind others to “remember who was there for them on their way up.” They are coat-tail riders and abusers.
17. Be the least of your employment-officer’s problems. Be courteous, dress reasonably, never challenge them. Play the game. Try to be forgettable to them. Don’t make them lie for you to keep their jobs. Give them as little reason to pay attention to you as possible, but keep to the truth as much as you can and have to. Learn every loop hole in the system and exploit them to their fullest extent. (What does it say you have to do? Do that, and nothing extra. If you have to send job applications, but it doesn’t say they have to be good, send bad ones.)
18. You cannot afford a pet or a child. You just can’t. If you can’t live with either idea, give up now. (I had a dog, but it was a constant stress to wish he doesn’t need vet care. I bought him on a “I’ll be good in a couple of years” idea, thinking by the time he will be old and more sick, I’ll be able to afford his vet bills. Luckily the dog was relatively healthy but it was a constant worry. He died at 14, 2 years older than the median for his breed, but I was still broke.)
19. It’s possible you can’t get there in a reasonable time frame. What do you do then? (I keep going.)
20. Do not pray to God. He’s a plain old cunt, and Satan, as fair as he may be, he will remind you of your greed sooner or later. No short cuts.

Money is something other people have.

If the first emotion you feel on the thought “money is something other people have” is jealousy and envy, and feeling of “that’s so unfair,” you can’t do this. You just won’t have the carry-through. You have to be able to put money and status out of your mind. Even when it sometimes creeps in, you have to be able to push it out of your mind with a simple deep breath and a reminder of why you’re doing what you’re doing. They don’t see it. You do. They’ll see it when you’re done, and then, they’ll see you for what and who you truly are.

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