Great advice. Thing is, unless you plan ahead, almost everyone cuts expenses far too little and too late. I'd add figure out your lines of retreat. If shit h

Great advice. Thing is, unless you plan ahead, almost everyone cuts expenses far too little and too late. I'd add figure out your lines of retreat. If shit happens, what goes first - cable, phone contract, nice car etc.? If shit keeps happening what's next? When? Figure it out beforehand with family whilst calm over a nice bottle of wine. You won't be making rational decisions after the shit hits the fanm and your partner is stressing over how you're going to keep feeding the kids.... Common scenario seems to run something like this. Lose job, burn normal money for six months or a year whilst "I'm bound to get a new job this week", and only then think about significant restructuring. Fast forward another six months and only now is cable tv or mobile contract being looked at. Hmm, maybe we need a cheaper car. "Sorry guys can't afford to go out this month". And so it goes until you lose the house. I lost touch with a great friend and his family in the dot com fun who went through something like this. He looked increasngly ill and stressed until one day their phone no longer rang. Never did find out what happened to them. Couple of other friends went through similar, though rather less dramatically. I went from a higher rate than I dreamed possible to unemployable for six months+ literally overnight. As a contractor at the time I was poison to the permanent market. (Brilliant interview, but we think you'll get bored... etc)