Love Your Job? Things to Take Note During These Bad Times

If you’re one of those people who love getting up to go to work, you’re one of the lucky ones. But with falling sales and rising expenses, chances are your company’s in for a rough ride. Your in-tray used to be full and you use to work late. Now you find yourself with less work and you wonder if you’re joining the jobless millions soon. Worrying won’t help. It’s better to have some kind of plan.

Make Yourself Indispensable

Maybe the rumor mill at your company is working overtime and “restructuring” is the new buzzword fueling the frenzy. If you’re starting to feel the heat, it’s time to defend your job. Make yourself so irreplaceable so your boss can’t afford to lose you. Here’s how:

Be an expert at your job

Take courses and read trade journals to keep abreast of the latest developments in your field. Build your knowledge base and become resourceful problem solver. This will not only enhance your competitiveness as an employee, it will also make your employer think twice before giving you the pink slip.

Be a team player

This is NOT the time to play Gregory House. The misanthropic arrogant doctor maybe entertaining on TV but in real life this type of character is a pain. Take neglected assignments that slip through the cracks of everyday business and do it better than it’s being done. In these tough times, dispirited workers who can’t perform are the first in the line of fire. Make sure you’re not one of them.

Future-Proof your Income

When you’re working, you’ll be getting a steady stream of income until the day you are laid off. That’s when you will find it hard to sustain your lifestyle.

Here’s where the concept of active versus passive income steps in. Active income refers to income that you receive when you use your time and effort. The minute you stop working, the money stops coming. Passive income refers to income that continues coming even after you’ve stopped working. Rent from properties and investment income fall under this category. With property prices hitting rock bottom and the market bearish, it‘s the perfect time to shop around for property and stocks that could bring huge returns when the economy recovers.  

If they are not your thing, fret not. So long as you’re active and healthy, you can turn your hobbies into cash cows. If you love taking pictures, sell your shots to stock image companies like iStock or shutterstock. If you love to write, then sell your articles on Triond or Associated Content. If you have a blog, consider putting online ads and earn some income. With patience and persistence, your efforts will pay off in steady streams of passive income that will last till old age.

Reduce debt

Soaring consumer debt is one of the main contributors to the tough economic situation the nation is facing. Most people either avoid it all together or they drown in it. The trick is to treat debt like how you would treat fire. Control it well and you’ll be able to use it to warm yourself, otherwise you’ll be burnt.

How do we tame this fire called debt? One useful indicator will be the debt to income ratio. It refers to the percentage of your income that you use to pay your debts. Many banks and financial professionals recommend a debt-to-income ratio of less than 36% of your gross income.  

Here’s how you calculate this simple ratio:

Determine your gross income

Your salary before any deductions or taxes are taken out is considered your gross income.  

Determine your total debt

Take several of your recent credit card statements and calculate how much you’ve been paying on the average each month.  If you have statements from the last six months, from June 2008 to December 2008, your calculation would go roughly like this:

Total credit card payments (June – Dec 2008)  = Average payment per month
6 months

Then you will need to know how much you pay for all of your other long-term recurring debt. Don’t add in your household expenses, like utilities or grocery bills. Here’s how your expenses should roughly look like:

Rent/Mortgage per Month                                                 $ __________

Car Loan payment per Month                                          + $ __________            

Other Loan Payments per month                                     + $ __________

Average Credit Card payment

per month                                                                    + $ __________Total Debt                                                                    = $ __________(A)

Calculate Your Ratio

Sum up your debt, enter your monthly gross income, and then divide the total debt by gross income to arrive at your debt-to-income ratio.

Total Debt                        $ __________ (A)

Monthly Gross Income              $ __________ (B)

Calculate Ratio (A / B)*100      =  __________ %

Once you know your debt-to-income ratio, you’ll know how much debt you should feel comfortable with. What if your ratio is above 36%? This means you have too much debt. Refer back to your breakdown of  your monthly debt payments. Which debt payment can you reduce?  

Check how Much Savings you Have

You should also set aside some time to check how much savings you have.  Here’s how you do it:

Determine your income

Income refers to the amount of money you’re getting for your work. It comes from your paycheck or monies earned from investments, business profits, and real estate.

Determine your expenses

Anything that drains your income is considered expenses. Utility bills are a good example.

Determine your savings

To put it simply:

Income – Expenses = Savings

Your savings is what you have left after your expenses are deducted from your income. Ideally you should have enough money in the bank to tide you over for at least six months  and more if you are laid off.

By the time you’ve worked out how to make yourself useful, increase your income & savings and reduce your debt, your worries should ease. At this point, all you have to do is to STAY POSITIVE.