Losing your income is a terrible experience for anyone to go through and if you’re one of the millions of people who also have credit card debt, even the smallest loss in your earnings can knock you down even further. Here are three strategies for you to hold steady while you work to fill the void!

• Notify your creditor as soon as possible about your situation to avoid any late fees and to come up with a plan.
  
  Although it may seem intimidating at first to tell someone from a company you owe money to that you’re unable to pay your bills, taking that initiative and being honest about your hardship demonstrates you are acting in good faith, which may make them more willing to work out a solution with you. Be as detailed as possible about your employment status and how you plan to budget, even if you don’t have new income lined up yet.
  
• Re-do your budget to make sure you only cover what is important.
  
  Shelter, food, utilities, and fuel for your car are the four pillars of what expenses are most important. Once those are covered to the best of your ability, go and budget for other things like your credit cards and other payments. This where you also evaluate whether you need all those streaming subscriptions. Stick with one to keep sane and get rid of the others. Perhaps you’ll realize you’d be fine without them.
  
• Immediately look for ways to generate new income.
  
  Try to land a new job if you’ve been let go as quickly as possible and once you do, try to find additional sources of income. In today’s world, many people are part of the gig-economy which means temporary positions are common and organizations hire independent workers for short-term commitments. A big example of this is Uber and Lyft. You can use your car to transport people or make deliveries and get paid for it. Work your regular job during the hours you must, and then do your side hustle or side gig during off hours.