Layoff will reprioritize your lifestyle, so if you find a job, stick to new habits
Despite recent assurances from his boss, my son-in-law, Kyle, was laid off from his engineering job three weeks before Christmas.
Kyle and the boys, 8 and 5 years old, could be covered under Veronica's employer's health insurance plan. If not, Kyle would have had to search for an individual plan (www.health insurance.com is a good online resource) or pay high premiums to temporarily stay in his former employer's plan under COBRA, a federal law.
Kyle filed immediately for unemployment benefits. (For information on these programs, which vary by state, check www.workforcesecurity .doleta.gov/unemploy/ uifactsheet.asp). He and Veronica cut out all nonessential expenses, including landline phone, pest control service, cable television, and eating out, and suspended deposits into Veronica's retirement plan.
"The first thing to do is analyze your expenses," recommends Tara Scottino, a certified financial planner in Dallas. Even recurring expenses such as auto insurance are not "fixed" if you find a better rate.
Also, avoid credit cards. "It's particularly important to protect your credit if you are laid off," Scottino said. Maxing out your cards - worse, missing a payment - will damage your credit score in addition to saddling you with debt.
On his job search, Kyle took to heart the advice to network, network, network.
"We told everyone we knew and were surprised how many people had a brother, cousin, or friend who worked in engineering," said Kyle.
"Don't agonize. Make your best effort today," advises Janice Sutera, director of University Career Services at George Mason University. Tailor your resume to the job and use the Internet to research opportunities.
Online resources include www.LinkedIn.com, a professional networking site; www.careerbuilder.com, which lets users search job listings using keywords; www.rileyguide .com with various jobs resources; and www.usajobs.com, the federal government's career site. Social networking sites such as www.Facebook.com also help. A former student Veronica taught in high school was a contact in Kyle's job search.
Patience and persistence paid off: Kyle is starting on a good new job this week. He and Veronica will begin regular deposits into an emergency fund (set aside 3-6 months of living expenses or 9-12 months if likely to be laid off, Scottino advises), then resume contributing to their retirement plans.
"We now approach every expense in terms of how we can save, and everything we have in terms of how we can get the most value," they said. "We came away with something even more important, a true understanding that we can get by with less."
Humberto Cruz is a syndicated columnist. He can be reached at askhumberto@aol.com. 
