Unemployment is a difficult experience. Whether you go through a job loss because of a layoff or termination, you may deal with financial and emotional stresses. Losing your job may even lead to bankruptcy.

You must carefully manage your budget if you lose your job. Here are some guidelines for maintaining your budget when you are unemployed:

1. Examine your spending

The first thing you need to do is separate your essential and discretionary expenses. Review your bank statements from the past few months and analyze your spending habits. Take note of your necessary expenses, such as housing, groceries, transportation and debts. Then, you may need to make your budget as minimal as possible. This means you may need to say goodbye to cable, eating out or a premium data plan for your phone. While these could be painful costs to cut, that cut may be crucial until you get back to a regular income.

2. Borrow money carefully

If you find yourself unable to make ends meet, you may want to borrow money. While this can help you out when you are in a bind, do it wisely. The interest can come back to bite you and only make matters worse. A reverse mortgage will affect your equity, come with interest and affect any future sale of your home. Only use loans for basic necessities.

3. Limit your credit use

Credit cards can come in handy during emergencies, but otherwise, keep your use of cards minimal; you can easily fall into an overextension. If you charge for more than you can pay back, you will suffer from serious credit issues. Also, avoid transferring balances from card to card.

4. Adamantly seek new employment

Dedicate your time to applying for new jobs. Your next occupation does not necessarily need to be aligned with your career, you may simply need something to tide you over. The best thing is to get some cash coming in so you do not fall behind.