Back in Christmastime 2011 rumors began kicking around town that the company that employed me was getting sold, which sent me into immediate high alert as my cash savings were minimal and the concept of unemployment seemed like a very real possibility in all the reports that I read on the internet news sites. I had started a financial makeover a few months before and started focusing on eliminating debt and that cleaned out a lot of my cash so I was feeling bouts of serious panic every once in a while.
The company sale became a reality probably a month after the rumors started and during this time, I started bunkering down to extreme austerity measures. I only ate out once a week, I stopped buying anything that I didn't absolutely needed, I didn't go out unless I had to, which cut down on unnecessary spending as well as increased savings on gas. Lo and behold, about 3 mos. after the sale, I have shored up 3 mos. of living expenses. This was assisted greatly by a year end bonus and my tax refund, of which I saved every penny after setting aside a portion into my 401k.
Well wouldn't you know it. The much anticipated axe did fall about 2 weeks ago and there were massive layoffs. Although by this time I had heard about the rather generous severance package and by my calculations, I would have been the richest I'd ever been if I had been laid off and received severance.
I'm happy to report that I escaped the bloodbath and emerged safely on the other end and have settled into the new parent company. What I learned about myself from this recent bout of job insecurity is that I operate best under a constant low level of panic. It drives a relentless and compulsive need to follow a rigid set of guidelines and goals I set for myself which in this case was a wartime rationing level of budgeting and spending and an obsessive compulsion to check my financial progress and continual retooling of net worth projections.
I practically get giddy when I look at my long term 10-year financial projections I made for myself. This is something I do often, when I'm stressed or when I'm bored or whenever I fuckin feel like fantasizing about my theoretical wealthy future. Indeed I got so damn high on myself earlier today that I started texting and IMing some gal pals furiously while at work about my fantasy half retirement 10 years from now. I highly recommend furnishing your get rich fantasies with spreadsheets and formulas. It feels much more real and eventually it will also become real if you use it as a plan that you execute. Plus it is a very comforting emotional and psychological tool for when you are having an episode of "FUCK THIS FUCKIN BULLSHIT. FUCK!!" moments at work.
Impressive!!!
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