Simple Tips to Manage Money While You Switch Careers

“Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life.”

Fun fact – though this quote is often credited to Confucius, its actual origin is unknown. Let’s just say that the concept of “jobs” didn’t exist back in his day. Today, you’re more or less one email away from slamming the laptop shut on a whimsical Wednesday afternoon and making a run towards the exit not wanting to ever return to that place. But you definitely shouldn’t because you’re smarter than that and it is bound to cause you more harm than you’d think. We can all agree on this: changing jobs or considering a career change, especially if you are a young professional, is nothing short of traumatic. If you don’t finance it well, you’re bound to find yourself in a royal mess.

Here’s where we urge you to explore less dramatic and more efficient ways of approaching a career change – plan it right. If you are looking to change careers or waiting for that perfect job, you are going to need some time. Be patient and plan your finances. If you promise to be patient, we promise to help you with the other thing – how you can plan your money while you change careers.

Cut Corners You Must

Begin this exercise a few weeks before you send out that resignation letter. Set a timeline for finding the right job and make sure you’ve budgeted your experience for that duration. Make a list of things you absolutely need to spend on as well as a list of luxuries you like spending on. Unfortunately, the hard pill to swallow here is that you cannot have everything. Strike off the expenses you can absolutely avoid and regulate expenses for others. This involves asking tough questions like “can those killer shoes be purchased a few weeks later?” and “Are those Friday beers really essential this weekend?”. If the Internet is to be believed, adulting is hard. But living frugally will help you focus on the need of the hour – discovering your dream career.

The Right Time to Start Saving is Now

When you were in college, you likely dreamed about finding a job and using your hard-earned money to travel the world and live the good life. Cut to now, when you’re stuck in a job you hate, spending the majority of your earnings on expenses and barely scraping by.

Time flies by when you are stuck in the loop of trying to do tasks you just don’t like. We’re here to tell you that the “dream life” is not just a myth and you need to start saving now while you work on making that dream come true. It can be as tiny as 10% of your monthly salary, but it has to happen NOW. Resist the urge to touch your savings. Set them aside for a rainy day.

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Your Notice Period is the Toughest

Remember when you had to make that choice of not logging on to your favourite online shopping site or keeping small amounts of money aside because we asked you to? Well, that is going to come in super handy after you resign. On average, notice periods range from one to three months, based on your company and designation. Some companies might pay you for this entire period only during your full and final settlement, which means you have to survive for a few months without a paycheck. This is the rainy day we talked about earlier. Before you hand in your notice, make sure you’ve got enough money to manage your day-to-day expenses.

Keep Those Monies Rolling

Savings are great, but we live in an expensive world and the money is very likely to run out at some point. To keep the ball rolling, watch out for various freelance tasks or short-term projects you can take up. These projects will definitely keep your savings from running out and also push you to explore interests you might not have considered while you were working that 9-to-5 you loathed. Use personal contacts as well as innumerable websites solely designed for freelancers and vendors to connect. Use your ‘free time’ to build a sound portfolio, one that you’d be proud to show off to your future employer.

Set (and Stick to) a Time Limit

You are a great candidate (we believe in you), but getting your perfect job is not entirely up to you. You must consider this when you set out to change careers. Set a time limit to your job hunt and stick to it. Set a daily target for reaching out to organisations. Follow up with the ones you’ve already approached but haven’t heard from. Landing that dream job is a long, exhausting process, but if you set targets and push yourself, you’re going to land it right!

Relax, It Isn’t the End of the World

So you didn’t land that job in your dream town. Maybe you even had to borrow some money from your parents. Do not ever consider this as a failure. You are doing your best, but sometimes, things get a little rough. The key is to never lose hope and get all the help you can in achieving your dream. There’s no shame in seeking help in every way possible. Get in touch with the experts and plan better the next time.

We’ve given you all the financial hacks you’ll need to quit the job you’ve always hated and focus on pursuing your dream career. Still haven’t figured out what your dream career is? We can help with that too! 

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