Ben Edwards's Blog: Money Smart Life, page 8

Want to Start a Career? Consider Moving to One of These Cities!

It’s a tough job market out there. Trying to start your career can be a difficult proposition these days.

However, there are some places where it’s a little easier than others to start a career.

If you are struggling in your current job market, it might be time to move to a different job market.

Top 10 Cities for Starting a Career

A recent report from Wallet Hub offers a look at where you might be able to find better job opportunities. Here are the top 10 cities for starting a career:

Washington,...

How to Know It’s Time to Quit Your Job

We often refer to the traditional workplace as the “rat race.” As the name implies, it’s often seen as a place that we want to escape. However, it’s not always best to simply walk away. In many cases, due to the fact that you are likely using your job as your primary source of income, it makes more sense to carefully consider whether or not it is truly time for you to quit your job.

Do You Have a Backup Plan?

The best scenario is to quit when you have a backup plan. When everything is in place,...

Do You Have a Plan for a Career Setback?

The idea of losing your job, or experiencing a large cut in your hours, is probably not one that you want to think about. However, the reality is that the economy is changing, as is the job landscape. I’m a freelancer, and I don’t have to worry about being “laid off,” but even I think about what might happen with a career setback.

A couple of years ago, one of my major clients was acquired by someone else, and after more than five years of working with this client, I suddenly saw a dip in my “...

How to Be Productive – Even When You Don’t Want to Be

Some days, I don’t feel like doing anything productive. I want to sit around with a book and not worry about getting things done.

While it’s nice to take a break sometimes, and while weneed to take breaks on occasion, the reality is that sitting around in a stupor isn’t going to help anything. There’s a difference between taking a break for half an hour to regroup and accomplishing nothing all day because you’ve been sitting in front of the TV in a daze.

When I feel like succumbing to a complet...

How to Fill the Hours After a Layoff – Constructively

After the shock of a job loss wears off, you must put your free time to effective use. Just as every dollar of assets is precious, so is every hour of your free time. Using each wisely is a key to your future survival. To stay in control of your situation – to the degree that is possible after a layoff – you have to set up and maintain a regular and productive lifestyle.

Create a Daily and Weekly Agenda

Each night before you go to sleep, write down your plans for the coming day. Keeping your mi...

Thrift – Your Best Friend After a Layoff

A layoff attacks you emotionally, mentally, spiritually, and, most significantly, economically. Suddenly there is the demand of living as you have been but doing it on a lot less money. There could be some severance pay, and you’ve no doubt applied for unemployment compensation, but neither will keep your lifestyle going forever. Thrift is your best friend after a layoff, and the sooner you implement it, the better your chances of financial survival will be.

Here are some tips to help you thro...

How to Make the Most of Underemployment

In many cases, underemployment means doing work you don’t enjoy for less than you’re worth.

Sometimes, being underemployed means only working part-time hours, even though you want to work full-time.

Underemployment can be a drag on your morale, and it is especially difficult, since you can’t usually collect unemployment benefits when you’re underemployed, so you end up struggling financially.

Here are some of the ways that you can make the most of underemployment:

1. Improve Your Marketable Skill...

Seven Steps to Investing in Yourself

Many of us spend the majority of ourlives investing in other people’s projects and dreams. We work long and hard each day to achieve the goals of our employers. We pay 15–45% of our income in taxes to pay for the plans and efforts of our country, state, and county. We invest our money in small and large corporations for a return so they can use it to earn multiple times that return. We’re using a lot of our time and money to further the cause of things bigger than us. If you’d like to make an...

How to Stay Motivated While Looking for Jobs

It’s not fun being unemployed or underemployed. In fact, there are a number of studies that indicate that being unemployed can be bad for health, and long-term unemployment and underemployment can be more damaging to your overall mental health and wellness than many other negative life events.

One of the issues is that it can be difficult to stay motivated as you look for a new job. It’s hard to focus when you don’t have a purpose for your day, and many people take a self-esteem hit when they’...

What You Shouldn’t Do After a Layoff

You’ve cleaned out your office and moved everything back home. There’s some severance pay coming and unemployment should start before too long. Now you have all the time in the world. What you do with that time – and what you avoid doing with it – will make all the difference in how quickly you find a new job.

Naturally, you should give priority to looking for a new job. That’s pretty obvious. But there are also some very destructive things you shouldn’t be doing. Unless you consciously resist...