Abby Winger learned at least one thing during the more than a year she was out of work: how to live cheaply.
After being laid off from a home loan processing position, the 37-year-old Chatsworth resident scrimped to stretch her unemployment checks and severance pay as far as she could.
Now working in a temporary position, Winger points with pride to the time she used coupons and her store discount card to push a $99 grocery bill down to $65.
"You can't do the normal things that you would take advantage of if you were working, like going to the movies or going to get a haircut as much or even just going out to eat," Winger said of her time in the ranks of the unemployed.
It's never fun losing your job, but it's worse in an economic downturn, when more people are fighting for fewer positions. And it's especially tough in California, which is tied with Mississippi for the third-highest jobless rate in the nation. Unemployment rose sharply to 7.7% in August, California officials said Friday, up from 5.5% a year ago.
Experts say there are ways to soften the blow of a long layoff -- including acting early and decisively to cut expenses. The newly unemployed should also communicate with creditors, landlords and others owed money; you don't want to be driven deeper into debt with fees for late and missed payments.
"It can be a shattering, debilitating experience, but you have to take stock of things and realize it's not the end of the world," said Chris Marston, who counsels laid-off union members as community services coordinator for the AFL-CIO.
If you're mired in long-term unemployment, here are some steps that Marston and others say can help you ride it out.
Be frugal
Prudent money management is key. Resist dipping into retirement savings, experts caution, because those withdrawals carry high tax rates and 10% federal penalties.
You also don't want to rack up credit card debt -- that carries high interest rates and makes it harder for you to dig yourself out of the rut once you find work again.
"The better idea is to circle your wagons and make drastic financial cuts," said Gail Cunningham, a spokeswoman for the National Foundation for Credit Counseling.
Jessica Hodgdon, 24, was out of work recently for six months. To save money, she moved into the East Los Angeles apartment of a friend, who waived rent in exchange for Hodgdon's help cooking and cleaning.
