Tweenjo Forums

Former Senior employees

Former SIG employees

Former South West Trains employees

Former Taylor Wimpey employees

Former TfL employees

Former Wincanton employees

Former Yell employees

Former Zavvi employees

Former employees of Bodycote

Former employees of Barratt Developments

What do you think of the budget? It seems that in practical terms it offers very little for the unemployed, especially if you're over 25....

I think in the current climate it's great to go somewhere where your savings go further - this should allow you to travel for longer and hopefully miss more of the credit crunch! What do others think?

I think it's a great time to freelance, as a lot of companies have frozen their head-counts for permanents, but still have new projects which need delivering. Freelancers are a great way of plugging the gap! What do others think?

I'm wondering about those too - they do seem expensive, I'm interested to hear what you get for the money. Is it just checking for typos, formatting etc, or do they really 'get' the professions people are in?

I never signed on myself - was interested to read Rob's blog post about it on Tweenjo, "Signing on, not giving up!"

I spent a month learning Spanish in Quito, Ecuador a few years ago - the classes were really well run, it was affordable, and it gave me much more confidence to travel around Latin America solo. Highly recommend it!

One or two of my friends have taken on bar work - it has the double advantage of bringing in the money while also stopping you from going out and spending it!

You have to become realistic as quickly as possible, but it's difficult. You might be in denial at first but you'll be setting yourself up for a fall if you don't get a grip on it fast.

Take an evening out to do a proper budget detailing your income and essential outgoings. Then keep a record of how much you're spending on a daily basis. It might sem a bit extreme but you'll soon discover that many things you considered essential aren't at all! Also, it's interesting to see how a few pounds here and there will add up.

Most importantly, I found that doing this gave me a sense of control over my life at a time when I felt I had very little.

I discovered that the one good thing - possibly the only one - about the current economic state is that people are a lot less likely to ask awkward questions and to accept that redundancies are currently a fact of life in the UK at the moment.

I'm lucky in that I don't have a family depending on my income, but I expect that the blow might be lessened somewhat if you do your research and check out what you're entitled to, so you can at least reassure them that they will be okay financially.

Oh and also, allow them to give you support - it's a difficult time for everyone and they'll want to help as much as they can.

Good luck!

How did you spend or invest your redundancy pay?