Building Enough Savings to Bridge the Gap

The shoe cobbler and the blacksmith know all about having to start over. When your profession suddenly isn’t as lucrative as it once was (or is on the brink of extinction), it’s a delicate balance between being able to pay your bills and having the money to start a new career.

Beginning a new career often means some kind of professional development. Whether those are courses at night school or a full-blown degree, you’ll have to come up with the funds somehow. To do this, you’ll need a solid financial plan that will involve cutting back, getting thrifty, and picking up some side gigs.

Here are some of the ways to bridge that professional transition gap.

Extra Work

The obvious solution here is to pick up some extra work, but that might be harder than it sounds. If your current skill-set doesn’t translate from one profession to any other, you may be looking at employment through a bank, restaurant, in the home or someone seeking a nanny or housekeeper, dog walker, or any other job that is part-time and doesn’t require specific skills - you may even need to combine a few of these to obtain the funds you need (and that’s better than borrowing money that will eventually lead to debt!).

If you can use your skills elsewhere, think outside of that box. Can you do clerical or assistant work? Other jobs that might fit the training you already have? Apply for everything you find and go on as many interviews as possible - you will find something eventually, and, again, that is a much better option than borrowing money.

School Help

The panic that comes with needing to obtain more skills or education right away is real. It may even cause you to sign up for a full course load right away, but this is not the best idea. Instead of draining your existing funds, consider taking one or two classes, to begin with. It might take longer to finish a course, but you will avoid the debt or student loan trap.

Reinventing yourself is a hard thing to do. It takes time and it takes funds. But believe me when I say that using cash instead of credit is the best possible way to begin a new career without a load of debt.

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