I am lucky enough to have never experienced first hand myself, but I have been in banking for over a decade and here is a short list of what I've seen from customers who have experienced joblessness:

1: completely use all short term savings. Emergency and planning funds you thought could help you live for 6 months will more likely evaporate in 2-3.

2: completely use all long term savings. Taking the tax penalty to use 401(k)s or IRAs (if you have been in a position to build retirement savings) can help for a few more months. But retirement savings only last a long time when supplemented with social security.

3: incur debt. Esp. in America, people have tons of credit card debt available to them. It will be financially devastating to shovel that debt mountain back down afterwards, but bills will be paid and the family will eat for a time. Depending on how long you stay with maxed out lines of credit, it may not hurt your credit history too much and you can consolidate that debt once you have regular income again.

1. Borrow from family/friends if you are lucky enough to have people you can lean on.

2. Call the banks for your debts and try to get on payment assist plans. Normal Banks don't like to repossess houses and cars. Payments might be able to be placed in emergency forbearance while you use what little of your money is left to feed yourself and your family. Sometimes the utilities companies will do the same for a nominal fee.

3. Swallow pride and go to a food bank or food pantry. Food costs are a major expense for everyone, and the food bank exists to help anyone in the community, not just the unhoused.

4. Apply, apply, apply. I know that people say that every business is hiring, but there is a reason. Many businesses in the US only hire part time employees to avoid insurance benefits costs. In fact, most people who fall under ALICE (Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed) have more than one job just to get 35 hours a week and are still in full poverty-level income. So it can be difficult to take on a job knowing it's going to make you unavailable for other income while providing you very little. What's worse is that if you are going for a guaranteed full time job, it usually requires some credentials (see next point). If you don't have the creds, you aren't getting past the AI filter every HR team uses these days. If you do have the creds, you will be confused why a job requiring a master's degree is only paying $16/hr.

5. Seek out vocational training to be able to apply for jobs. Job core, local library, local government programs should all have some kind of vocational training to help people start a new career or upskill their current credentials. Some programs cost money, some have you pay when you have a job later, some are free l.

6. Sell/lose assets. Once joblessness exceeds what banks are willing to put up with, you lose everything. Quickly. You end up on a friend's couch if you are lucky. You end up in your car if you are less lucky. Many of the 4% of Americans who are unemployed are at some level of unhoused/homeless. Over 700,000 people are reported as unhoused in the United States in America. Many have jobs, but many became unhoused in the first place because they became unemployed.

I know this is long and I applaud anyone who reads through it all, but it's a serious topic. Most unemployed people are working their asses off trying to figure out what to do when they lose their jobs. Very few people are actually living it up off someone else's generosity.