The end of the year is filled with travel plans for many of us. Thanksgiving at your sister's. Christmas back home. A cousin you have not seen in three years asking if you are flying in this year. In a normal year, you would book the flight and move on. But if you were laid off this year, you are counting weeks of runway instead of counting down to the holidays, and every expense hurts more than it would have in years past.

So now feels like the perfect time, right? If I can’t work, then at the very least I can put the time to productive use and finally build the gym body I have always wanted. And while this is a great time to set up routines you can carry into your next role, the financial aspect of starting a gym routine might not be so ideal if you are already strapped for cash without an adequate emergency fund.

It seems that anything I want to do in life now requires a subscription of some sort. Even if I just want to use an app for a single day, it now requires a subscription. Then I have to remember to dig into my Apple Subscriptions and cancel before the free week ends, or I get charged. Annoying. That means a large chunk of my budget (and probably yours as well) is being eaten up by subscriptions.

It feels that way since many people’s most expensive bill is their housing payment each month. And the worst part of that bill is that it can feel so out of your control. If you are locked into a mortgage for 30 years or just signed a year-long lease, that number can feel like a noose around your neck if you get laid off and have no steady income coming in.

Groceries are also one of the first places people make cuts to their budget when trying to save money post-layoff. They are mostly right to do so as the average American family is spending roughly $1,000 a month on groceries. This is a huge amount to come out of your income each pay cycle.

You are asking me to cut out the one thing that make me feel good when I am going through a tough time?