Pre-redundancy panic

[Benji2011]

I have been under threat of redundancy since Jan. I feel that I have done all the right things in getting my CV together and applying for other jobs.
The company need a headcount reduction of 30 out of 250.
There will be an announcement tomorrow in which areas of the business the post are to go from. I am a home worker who has done little work since Christmas and feel particularly vulnerable. Those who are to go will know within 1 week. I have a possible redundancy package of about £8K.
Just recently (last 2 days) I have suffered what I believe to be panic attacks. These are characterised by hyperventilating, rapid heart beat, floods of tears and feelings of "somebody please make it go away" my wife is very supportive but does not know how to help me. I am on fluoxitine but have been taking these for less than 1 week. I also have a limited number of sleeping tablets (10) and find that I need them to get ny sleep at all.

The main cause of my worry is the loss of income. My montly outgoings are £1200/month and I can see no way of surviving on the dole.
My wife cannot see any areas that we can make significant economies it just seems a hopeless situation.

[lilly123]

Hi Benji
I have not long found out that I am being made redundant . Its a horrible feeling with a rollercoast of emotions. It is a lot to take in which has probably brought on the panic attacks. It will take a good few weeks for the tablets to kick in. Keep me posted how you get on?

[nomorepanic]

Hi

I was made redundant in February and it is a struggle to live off the benefits I am getting (£65 a week) and I am rapidly eating into savings to just pay the mortgage and bills etc so I can sympathise with you on this one.

[Benji2011]

How do you manage ? Where do you make cuts?
Thanks for the support, where can I get help with budgetting?

[nomorepanic]

The problem I have is that I have savings (ISA's, shares etc) of over £16,000 (I can now see why people don't bother saving lol) and I have a partner that earns so both of those things are taken into consideration when deciding on the benefits available.

I have made silly little changes that have helped such as ....

I used to buy big packs of vegetables - like potatoes and things like carrots and sprouts. What I do now is go to the local vegetable shop and I buy just what I need. So I only buy 4 potatoes if I know I will only use that many over the weekend. My partner loves sprouts and I used to buy him a bag at about £1. He will only eat about 5 so I just buy him 5 loose ones and that costs about 23p!

I am also playing all the supermarkets off against each other - Tesco and Asda are both doing this price check guarantee thing. Tesco's give you double the difference back so you can make a small profit there. You do need to keep your receipts and have a printer to be able to print off the coupons however.

I also do not have the TV on at all in the day to save electricity. It only comes on in the evening at about 8pm ish.

My washing is now done on the quick programme that is half the time - hence half the electricity - the same with the dishwasher.

When shopping for food I look for the 2 for 1 bargains. We have a member on here that always goes to the supermarkets late at night or just before they close and gets loads of bargain food stuffs that they need to sell quickly.

Little changes do add up in time.

If you DO get made redundant then you need to call the Job Centre for advice on what benefits you can get but sometimes they don't tell you all you need to know so Citizens Advice may be better.

Do you also sign up for Martin's money tips online?

[snowgoose]

Hi Benji,

so sorry to hear of your very valid worries ..............it is horrible and I do empathise a lot .
but dont lose heart yet ................the future is uncertain of course but there are ways to shield the blow . my hubs was out of work twice while bringing up family ,mortgage etc. I cried a lot and panicked ............my mind went in to catastrophising mode ..................home lost and bailiffs at the door :weep:

it didnt happen Benji . I spoke to all the major companies and mortgage people ..........got some time ...............you are unfortunately not alone as Nicola points out :hugs:

I loved Nicola;s advice about cutting down .............it is true you really can
my tip is to go to supermarkets about 5ish ........that is when they mark down
especially the cooked chickens etc and fresh pies .
my hub and me are like two well trained sheepdogs and veer off in separate directions until we have coralled the mark down assistant :blush:

just a little joke there ............I know how frantic you feel ...........but dont lose heart ......I have just this afternoon got an email from a cyber friend whose husband has been out of work for 6 months . his dream job was offered to him while they were out in Tescos .
if it happens ...........be proactive ............scour the ads ......send of cvs .......never ever give up Benji xxx

set yourself a goal each day if it happens you are made redundant to send so many letters and applications ..........that act will give you some control back .

hope this does not come across as patronising ...........so not .....cos I know how anxious you feel .
good luck ..........take each day as it comes [i did ] ...........and always do something each day that is positive even if you feel like crawling back under duvet
sending good vibes to you xx