I quit my job (without another lined up)

A few weeks ago, I shared with some close friends that I was working through a 'job quitting list'. Working through a to-do list, I was going to quit my job - without another lined up.

If you are in the same boat, and if for any reason you are also quitting your job without another lined up, I wanted to share the things I did to financially secure my husband and I.

Work out current emergency funds

Worst case scenario: if I didn't secure a new job soon, how long could we survive on my current emergency fund?

This was what I asked myself.

I should say 'funds', because I accounted for the worst case scenario and took into account every savings account we held, from short-term savings to long-term savings. I counted in terms of fortnightly essential living expenses.

The answer? 33 fortnights.

A reassuring number, and more than I’d expected!

But I didn’t think I was going to take anywhere near 1 year and 4 months to find a new job, so that allowed us to do the next step...

Sit on it

We agreed that I would wait two weeks before I made the decision to resign.

The two weeks weren't easy, but I did distract myself by coming up with other small ways to reduce our expenses!

Switch car insurance

My husband drives a trusty, reliable Nissan that's 14 years old. With any car that is lower in value, we asked ourselves, "If we accidentally crashed this car, would it be one we would want to completely replace?"

The answer was no, so we reduced our cover by switching from a Comprehensive policy to a Third Party Fire & Theft policy. This means that we'd still be covered for damage we do to someone else's property, plus of course if it was lost in a fire or stolen. As you'd expect, this significant change in cover reduced our fortnightly premiums.

Combine life & health insurance

My husband has life insurance and health insurance at two different companies. It happened unintentionally, but we never gave it much thought. We did a quote online at a company that does both under one policy, and it showed that it would cost less!

Not only does combining insurance policies often work out to be more affordable, it also simplifies things by giving you only one company to deal with, only one policy number to remember, only one policy statement to read, and only one payment to pay fortnightly (or monthly, weekly or quarterly).

If you're also trying to reduce expenses, ask your insurance company which of your policies can be combined. Is it your home & contents insurance? Is it your house & landlord insurance for a rental property? Or is it life & health insurance? All of these are real combined insurance policies I have seen or sold, so it's definitely worth asking about!

Secure references

Most employers will ask for two job references. I wanted to have them ready when asked, so I politely asked some people if they would be willing to be a referee for me, including my previous manager from the recruitment company I was employed at while working as a tax consultant.

What I got back was a heartwarming reply:

'Hi Sophia, yes I remember you, and am more than happy to give you a job reference!'

How kind and reassuring!

A small withdrawal

As a financial buffer, I wanted to withdraw a bit of money for the future, just in case we needed it.

I decided to withdraw from my Kiwibank Notice Saver, a PIE savings account that allows you to withdraw money only if you give either 2 or 3 months notice in order to earn interest. Giving 3 months notice, I withdrew $2000 - a sum that will be deposited into my everyday account early August.

However, the title of this blog post could have also been I quit my job! (before I had another lined up) because... I won't be needing to use that $2000!

YAY!!!

I resigned with a 4 week notice period, taking 1 week of annual leave. My optimistic logic here was that, if I secured a job soon, I wouldn't want my new employer to wait an entire month for me to start.

Luckily, my last day present at work turned out to be just the right timing - even before I knew it. I trusted the universe but also worked extremely hard during my job hunting process, and it paid off.

Next time, I'd love to share with you what happened during this job hunting process, how I aced some of the interviews (and epicly failed one), and the exciting outcome!

It is still a stressful time, but I'm praying things will settle down soon, with a fresh start, a new door opening, and plenty of learning opportunities ahead.

My heart swells at the thought of the happier, more abundant, more purposeful path I am about to take.

If you are also in the same boat, I hope this post has helped give you some ideas and inspiration!

I wanted to share a quote that really helped me when I was terrified.

Was I making the right choice? Was I being too impulsive? What if I lose everything in search of something better? At the same time, doesn't every decision in life come with risk? What is the point of constantly talking about trusting your intuition and acting with faith if you don't put it into action?

Well, here is a beautiful, inspiring quote from Brené Brown:

“I'm just so grateful, because to feel this vulnerable means I am alive.”

Love,

Sophia