For a full year I was close to being homeless. However I am foreigner to where I live, so I am not allowed to be homeless, I need to have registration address.
I was in a tough situation and unfortunately I didn't know I would get into it ahead of time. Knowing that you are heading towards that works in your favor, although I know it's really, really scary. I did some things well and made mistakes in other way, so I'll tell you some things I did and then some I wish I had done. I see people have given some great advice as well. Good for you for writing on here and trying to be proactive. Just remember you will get through this! No matter what!
1. Sell some things. - this was something I did. Less than I would have liked, because I got socially anxious, but I still made some sales and those sales meant another paid bill or week of food.
2. Write down how much you spend on groceries weekly, keep track of it and start trying to cut that in half(more cooking, no takeout, no restaurants, no coffee out of home, eat simpler things you can cook cheap-rice, beans, potatoes)
3. Save as much as you can. - that may mean 3 months rent, but it can also mean 10$, 20$, anything. If you do lose your job, if you do get close to homeless, you'll be happy for every cent you've saved
4. Make a list of resources- like those mentioned above and others. If you need a loan(from bank or from friend), who would you ask? If you needed to stay somewhere for a night, what would be your options? Do you have a car? If you do and you live in bus-friendly city, can you sell your car to use as savings money, use bus for a while and get a car again when you're in better financial state?(I know there are cities where that's not possible, so that's just a suggestion). Is there any personal bill you can make smaller or eliminate for several months? (subscriptions, tiny bit slower internet, things like that)? Make sure you have as much information as you can in how you would handle the situation if needed, it will be harder to think of resources if you're panicking about where you'll sleep the next day
5. Is there any extra work you can do in the meantime? Part time gigs around your city, online jobs? Anything that can get you closer to having more savings?
As I said I did something things well, and some horribly. I also lived with my parents for 3 months,trying to save on food and such things(but I did keep my apartment as at the time ...well, it was more complicated to let it go). There were several months I was behind on ALL utility bills I had and eventually had to pay big sums to even them out. But at the time it allowed me to use the small money I had to pay rent and keep my place. There were a lot of weeks on very little food. Not that I recommend that at all. It was a hard year. But it did keep me from being homeless and at the time I was too anxious to allow other possibilities(for example roomate is something I'm open to now, but a while back when I was most anxious, I would have been too scared). Anyway, I'm sure whatever you decide and do you will manage this! One step at a time, it will pass.
