by Susan Klatz Beal

Created on: January 06, 2010   Last Updated: January 07, 2010

The loss of a job is a psychologically devastating experience, especially if you lost a job in a field you made your career for many years and for which you studied long and hard. Losing your job under any circumstances is horribly devastating. In an uncertain economy, it's hard to know when you'll be employed again and whether or not the new job will pay as well as the previous one.

As unfortunate a situation as this is to be in, it's important to be prepared to take measures to save money. If you know that your employer is going to be laying people off, start looking at the ways by which you spend money. Start thinking about the things you regularly spend money on without even stopping to think about what you're doing.

Here are some tips that can help you save money when you are unemployed.

*Eliminate non-essential shopping -

If you have a habit of shopping, be it for books, videos, games, shoes, clothing, electronics or anything that isn't absolutely necessary, eliminate all of these purchases. At a time when you have no income coming in, (save perhaps, for unemployment compensation,) you cannot afford to purchase anything that isn't absolutely essential.

*Refrain from eating out -

If you made a habit of eating out on a regular basis, think about how much you spent every time you ate out. If you were used to eating lunch out, figure you spent between $5 and $10 a day on lunch. By eliminating this expense, you can potentially save $25 to $50 a week. That means that you'd have between $100 and $200 extra per month.

If you go out for dinner a lot, even to get take out, go through the drive through at the fast food restaurant, you're probably spending at least $8 per person here. Even if you only do this three times a week, and it's just for yourself, at the minimum, you'd be saving $24 a week, but likely more. Here's another $100 a month that you may not have realized you would even have.

*Don't stop at Starbucks -

Those lattes you are used to getting on a daily basis - perhaps even more than once, no doubt cost about $5 each. You probably never stopped to think about the fact that you're spending $25 - $50 a week by purchasing that one latte every day. You'd have another $100 a month that you probably didn't realize you were spending so frivolously.

*Cell phone expenses -

Cut down on those cell phone expenses. That package you signed up for that allows you to have unlimited texting and calling could be costing you $100 a month. If each person

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