Your personal spending might not be the first factor that comes to mind when you start to consider a career transition, but your overall expenses limit your options when it finally comes time to accept or reject a job offer. The employment landscape is uncertain right now, so while you might be tempted to return to your pre-pandemic habits as restaurants and salons open back up, that decision could get you stuck in regard to your viable work opportunities.
Right now, you’d be wise to resist the temptation to splurge. The economy will likely take several years to recover from the crisis brought on by the coronavirus outbreak, and this could mean additional layoffs, hours reductions, and pay cuts to come. To maximize your own flexibility going forward, there’s no better time than the present to focus on reducing debts and saving that cushion you may need between jobs.
The choice between ordering take-out and cooking for yourself probably doesn’t seem like a professional decision initially, but these everyday calculations can serve to set you up to pursue the work life you want. While interest rates are low, you might also consider consolidating your existing debt toward the same goal.
You may remember politicians floating the idea after 9/11 that shopping was some kind of civic duty. But you have a greater responsibility to yourself to get your finances in order for whatever changes in employment are thrown your way.
Limiting your consumption also has an added, non-financial benefit. When you cut back on or eliminate something you previously believed you couldn’t do without, you expand your ability to go beyond self-imposed limits. And that ability will serve you well and allow you to consider and pursue career options that you may have otherwise dismissed as impossible or unrealistic.
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