What to stock up on if you were preparing to lose your job ?

[Ggbwg]

I am just wondering what would be the best items to stock up on if you were to lose your job?

Mods if this is not the right place for this feel free to move it where it is. Thanks

My guess is....
soups
rice
noodles
but my mind is drawing a blank to the rest

[texxie]

first and foremost.......sorry.:sad:

now...are we talking food only or everything?

[cantstopshopping]

I am sorry to hear this, but maybe a good thing that at least you know in advance?

I'd be stocking up on anything I could get my hands on that is cheap or free....especially the long shelf life items (including paper products, HBA, etc).

Do you have a freezer? Freeze things you get cheap also, especially if you have a garden or a nice neighbor that gives fresh produce to you. ;)
Potatoes are pretty cheap here right now.....I bought a ton and am working on freezing them (french fries, wedges, hash browns, american fries, etc).

[shetlandponyluvr]

I'd stock up on baking supplies; flour, sugar, butter, etc. Only because I'd be able to spend more time cooking from scratch.

[GJohnson39]

I'm so sorry, Ggbwg, that kind of news is so hard to absorb. My husband didn't lose his job, thankfully, but his company did an across the board pay cut - at least we had a month's notice. When we got word, I did a complete inventory of what I had on hand, and of my coupon stash. I focused on stockpiling the most expensive "needs" - haircare, OTC medications, razors, paper products, laundry, cleaning supplies, etc. Then I went on a mad quest for free or nearly free deals on these items. I don't use much in the way of canned/boxed foods, so I concentrated on acquiring yeast, flour (all varieties), sugar, cooking oil/PAM and other basics instead for the pantry.

We don't have an extra freezer, but I worked down the ice cream, prepared foods, etc and filled the entire freezer with meat, butter, cheese, juice, egg substitute (I know, sounds weird) and veggies that were free/almost free/very cheap. I can make reheat meals/waffles/pancakes/pizza from scratch so I didn't need to dedicate room in the freezer for those kinds of things.

I did all this stockpiling while sticking to our food budget. At the end of the month, I was able to drop our food budget by 50% going forward. I stuck to basics like milk, eggs, fresh fruit/veggies in season, and found I still had $$ each week with the lower budget to buy freezer/pantry items when they were at their best price.

Now that a portion of the pay decrease has been restored, I have stuck to the lower budget and make a game of saving as much as I can from it ( I put it into a petty cash fund for little splurges) and putting all of the add back pay into the bank.

[coupondink]

from someone who lost her job in the 2001 recession...


money.


Start cutting back now. Save your money and only spend what is absolutely necessary to live. It hurts, but it is necessary. I know it is hard, but everything extraneous has to stop RIGHT NOW. Movies, going out, gifts, eating out, kids special activities and clubs, mall trips, spending, everything except the absolute necessary bills. But the bright side is that once you do without all this stuff, you may realize how unnecessary it is, like I did.

Sign up for unemployment as soon as you are eligible.

Start looking for work asap.

Remember, it is only temporary. You will find another job, you will get through this.

[Ggbwg]

Thanks for the tips so far, i hope to hear more. As for cutting down things.... not much to cut down were simple people here. My kids don't do many extra things and the things they will be doing will either go or limited. Thank goodness there little still and not teenagers.

Here's some more info about my situation. I didn't post it yet because i was waiting to hear what the final word is. We will find out Monday evening or Tuesday evening what is going on.

DH works for a printing company. Printing companies are dying a slow death anyhow. Everything is going digital, etc. So his boss sold the company did not tell anyone and there are several who will lose there jobs. About 40-50 people. I feel bad for one man he is away on funneral leave because his mom died and now he had to find out he will not have a job.

Anyhow, he will be interviewed on Mon. or Tues to see if the company that bought his boss's company will want to hire him. My guess will be no because they are all digital and DH does not print digital. If they do hire him he would have to work second shift, and pay cut would be 1/2 of his pay now. So he is going in tomorrow as scheduled and he will see what they have to say. We, will deal with whatever happens. I'll post an update of course once we know something.

THANK YOU everyone for your words of wisdom & kindness.

[puakinikini]

Thanks for the tips so far, i hope to hear more. As for cutting down things.... not much to cut down were simple people here. My kids don't do many extra things and the things they will be doing will either go or limited. Thank goodness there little still and not teenagers.

Here's some more info about my situation. I didn't post it yet because i was waiting to hear what the final word is. We will find out Monday evening or Tuesday evening what is going on.

DH works for a printing company. Printing companies are dying a slow death anyhow. Everything is going digital, etc. So his boss sold the company did not tell anyone and there are several who will lose there jobs. About 40-50 people. I feel bad for one man he is away on funneral leave because his mom died and now he had to find out he will not have a job.

Anyhow, he will be interviewed on Mon. or Tues to see if the company that bought his boss's company will want to hire him. My guess will be no because they are all digital and DH does not print digital. If they do hire him he would have to work second shift, and pay cut would be 1/2 of his pay now. So he is going in tomorrow as scheduled and he will see what they have to say. We, will deal with whatever happens. I'll post an update of course once we know something.

THANK YOU everyone for your words of wisdom & kindness.

I am so sorry! That stinks! My DH's job is highly specialized and when he lost his job over a year ago, we were very stressed as more emphasis is being put on formal education in his field (even though most of the people in it learned from doing the job, rather than going to school). We were extremely stressed. You sound like you are handling it well to this point - stay strong. It will all work out.

We have little ones too and I do not think they noticed much of a difference. Our oldest, who was 10 at the time did, but poor thing is used to his mother being terminated from positions and not working, so I actually think he was less effected than he would have been. We got lucky and he was only really out of work for a few months and he freelanced in order to at least pay the mortgage. We really cut back and it showed us that we could live on a lot less, which I would have thought impossible.

I am thinking of you and your DH.

[trishgil]

I just lost my job 3 weeks ago. I felt that it was coming for a while now, so since about January, I stalked up on everything that wont go bad. At first I thought I had totally lost my mind and became some kind of a hoarder (sp?).

Soaps
Shampoos
Conditioners
Laundry Soap
girl supplies
Canned Veggies
Frozen Veggies
Meat for Freezer
TP
Paper Towels
Seasoning Packets
Everything I could stock up on for free/cheap I did.

Then when I got the call it wasn't total panic. I don't have to worry about running out of anything and having to run to the store to pay full price. I can just continue stocking up when things are on sale. Of course cash like someone suggested, but with us that wasn't really an option.

I hope things go ok for you if it happens. I also hope you can find something quick.

[XUfan]

I am so sorry to hear about this! So many of us have already been through it, so hopefully we can help you out.

When we heard that my husband would be losing his job 3 years ago, we made a list of the non-food things we use on a regular basis. Soap, shampoo, toothpaste, dish detergent, laundry detergent and dryer sheets, contact lens solution, ibuprofen, tylenol, cold meds, tummy meds, bandaids, etc. We started looking for deals and stocking up on those things. We also looked at foods that would store well...pasta, rice, peanut butter, tuna, baking goods like flour and sugar, cereals...anything we could get cheap and stockpile. Don't forget that pepperoni freezes well (doesn't take up much space), and is nice to have on hand when you want to make a quick pizza.

If I think of anything else, I'll add it later.