Losing your job can be overwhelming, but taking immediate control of your finances is crucial for maintaining stability during your job search. I’ve written before about the steps you need to take immediately after losing your job. One of those is to assess your budget—but what does that look like, exactly?

If you’ve never used a formal budget before, now is the time to start. But if you already have a budget, how should you adapt it to your current situation? Here’s how to evaluate your budget and make strategic cuts that will help extend your financial runway.

First off, calculate your new monthly cash flow

Before making any cuts, assess your current financial situation. Here’s what that looks like in actionable steps:

• List all sources of emergency income (unemployment benefits, severance pay, emergency savings).

• Calculate how many months of expenses you can cover with existing resources.

• Review your last three months of expenses to understand your spending patterns.

• Categorize expenses as essential (housing, utilities, food) vs. non-essential.

Once you’ve listed out these numbers in a handy spreadsheet, you’ll be able to map out by just how much you need to cut back your expenses.

Find where to make strategic cuts

The average monthly expenses for American households total $6,440, according to the 2023 Consumer Expenditures Survey conducted by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and released in September 2024 (the latest data available). Using this number, and taking a look at my own bank statement, let’s take a look at some sample categories where you could cut those costs immediately.

Subscription services ($50-200+ monthly savings)

Review all recurring charges and cancel non-essential subscriptions. This includes:

• Streaming services (keep one, cancel the rest)

• Gym memberships (switch to home workouts)

• Any sort of premium app features

Entertainment and dining ($200-500+ monthly savings)

Some ideas to adjust your social and entertainment budget:

• Replace restaurant meals with home cooking.

• Host potluck gatherings instead of going out.

• Use free entertainment options (libraries, parks, community events).

• Look for happy hour specials and restaurant deals when you do go out.

Transportation ($100-300+ monthly savings)

Optimize your transportation costs:

• Reduce non-essential driving to save on gas.

• Consider temporarily suspending extra car insurance coverage.

• Use public transportation when possible.

• Combine errands to minimize trips.

Phone and internet ($50-150+ monthly savings)

Negotiate or downgrade services:

• Switch to a cheaper phone plan.

• Remove unnecessary add-ons.

• Consider a prepaid plan.

• Downgrade internet speed if possible.

• Call providers to request temporary hardship rates.

Bill negotiation can work because companies have incentives to keep customers happy and retain business. It costs more for them to acquire new customers than to keep existing ones. As long as you make reasonable requests and politely threaten to take your business elsewhere, many service providers will offer discounts or perks.

Utilities ($50-200+ monthly savings)

Minimize utility costs:

• Adjust thermostat settings.

• Use energy-efficient lighting.

• Fix any leaks.

• Line-dry clothes when possible.

Shopping and personal care ($100-400+ monthly savings)

One place to start with your specific spending goals is to physically write down the things you want to buy before you buy them. Another tip is before making a purchase, especially online, add items to your cart and wait at least 24 hours before completing the transaction. This cooling-off period allows you to reassess whether you truly need or want the item.

Here are more of my tips to becoming a more conscientious spender, so that you can cut back on spending that isn’t adding true value to your life.

Insurance and financial services ($50-200+ monthly savings)

After losing your job, you’ll need to review and optimize coverage:

• Shop around for better insurance rates.

• Increase deductibles temporarily.

• Pause credit card reward programs that cost annual fees.

• Review and cancel unnecessary warranty services.

• Consolidate accounts to avoid multiple maintenance fees.

Looking forward

While you’re focusing on reducing expenses, remember that this is a temporary situation. Maintain a balance between aggressive cost-cutting and maintaining your well-being. I recommend starting with the easiest cuts first to build momentum. From there, start to track every dollar to identify additional savings opportunities. Be realistic about what cuts you can sustain long-term, and keep some small treats to maintain morale during your job search.

As you implement these budget cuts, you’ll be working on an active job search strategy to minimize the time you’ll need to operate on such a minimal budget.

Your next steps should include:

• Implementing these budget cuts gradually, but systematically

• Creating a weekly budget review routine

• Setting up job search alerts and networking activities

• Tracking your progress in both areas

Remember, the goal is to stretch the funds you have now until you can secure a new gig. Be sure to read up on your rights, apply for unemployment benefits if you qualify, and check out your health insurance options. All of this can be done within the first few days of losing your job and it will make you feel better just to get started. And for an even more stringent approach, check out our guide to a minimally viable budget.

The winter sky has some brightly lit star patterns visible this month, including a triangle featuring Mars at one of its points, making it worthwhile to brave the winter temperatures for stargazing.

These shapes aren’t constellations, but asterisms: groups of stars that form recognizable patterns but that don’t have official locations from the International Astronomical Union. The Big and Little Dippers are asterisms, for example, though their stars are part of the constellations Ursa Major and Ursa Minor.

The Winter Triangle, which is especially visible now, is made up of the stars Sirius, Procyon, and Betelgeuse, which are found within the constellations Canis Major, Canis Minor, and Orion, respectively. And the asterism is part of an even larger asterism known as the the Winter Circle (or Winter Hexagon), which is also visible in the winter sky from December to mid-April.

For the next few weeks (until about mid-March), there’s another triangle lighting up the night. The “Mars Triangle” is an even less official shape—not technically an actual asterism—with the name merely a suggestion by Space.com. If you connect Mars with Pollux and Castor, both from the constellation Gemini, you get smaller isosceles triangle, with the Red Planet as the brightest of the three points. This triangle will slowly shift as Mars moves relative to the fixed stars until they are all in a straight line in early April. Unlike asterisms, the so-called Mars Triangle is temporary and in flux.

Where (and when) to look for the Winter and Mars Triangles

The Winter Triangle is visible in the Northern Hemisphere now through the rest of this month. Look high in the southeast sky, near Orion’s belt, after sunset. Sirius, the brightest of the three stars, will appear first, followed by Procyon and Betelgeuse. The triangle is visible until the early morning hours, when it will set toward the west-southwest. (The Winter Triangle appears in the Southern Hemisphere between May and August.)

To see the Mars Triangle, Space.com suggests looking east around 6:30 p.m. local time. Mars is the brightest point and currently the vertex of the triangle, with Castor and Pollux making up the base. The triangle will be visible until about mid-March, though again, the shape will shift significantly between now and then.

The Winter Circle, which includes Sirius and Procyon (from the Winter Triangle), Castor and Pollux (from the Mars Triangle), as well as Rigel, Capella, and Aldebaran, rises in the east and sets in the west throughout the winter.

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If you’re looking for a new show to watch this week, I’ve got your back. I’ve scoured the schedules of Netflix, Prime, Max, Hulu, and other streaming platforms to bring you the best and most notable shows streaming this week.

New streaming movies this week are sparse, but there are a ton of good shows to make up for it, like Zero Day, a new series starring Robert De Niro; the premiere of season 3 of The White Lotus; and the return of HBO’s acerbic news show Last Week Tonight.

Zero Day

This is the first time Robert De Niro has starred in a TV series, so Netflix is going big with Zero Day, a political drama/thriller series detailing the aftermath of a deadly cyberattack. De Niro plays respected former President George Mullen, who’s heading up the investigation of an information attack that killed thousands of Americans. Mullen must navigate a world of shady tech moguls, government power brokers, and his own past if he’s going to prevent a second, even deadlier cyber-disaster.

Where to stream: Netflix

The White Lotus, Season 3

Mike White’s Emmy-winning series The White Lotus is the best. Its mix of biting commentary on wealth and privilege, well-drawn (but nearly always reprehensible) characters, and pitch-black humor add up to a nothing-else-like-it TV series. Season 3 sees a new group of pampered Americans arriving at a White Lotus luxury resort in Thailand. I can’t say for sure, but I’m guessing they’ll have unexpected and troubling times instead of a restful vacation. Season 3 also see the return of Natasha Rothwell, who played the spa manager from season one—one of the few sympathetic characters in the show’s run. Other notable cast members include Walton Goggins (The Ghoul in Prime’s Fallout series), Carrie Coon, Scott Glenn, Leslie Bibb, Michelle Monaghan, and Parker Posey.

Where to stream: Max

1923, Season 2

Harrison Ford and Helen Mirren return for the second, and reportedly final, season of critically lauded drama 1923, a show that aims to tell a story as big as its stars. In this prequel to Yellowstone, Ford and Mirren play Jacob and Cara, matriarch and patriarch of the Dutton family, proud ranchers from Montana whose lives are shaped by drought, pandemics, and war, and who must face off against and a cadre of evil moguls who have their eyes on the ranch. Big drama!

Where to stream: Paramount+

Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, season 12

There’s a new season of Last Week Tonight premiering this month, and I’m pretty sure sardonic host John Oliver will to have a lot to talk about in 2025 America. Oliver promises to ask the hard questions, like “Have two presidents ever kissed?” and “Did Tucker Carlson’s mom really leave him $2 in her will?” (She actually left him $1.) Don’t miss it if you like pointed political humor, because who knows how long pointed political humor will remain legal.

Where to stream: Max

A Thousand Blows

Created by Steven Knight, the genius behind Peaky Blinders, this British boxing drama is made for fans of hardcore Victoriana. A Thousand Blows takes viewers to the mean streets of London in the 1880s where we follow Hezekiah (Malachi Kirby) and Alec (Francis Lovehall), two friends from Jamaica who immigrate to the UK only to find themselves fighting for their lives in the crime-ridden East End. The pair run afoul of criminal kingpin and pugilist Sugar Goodson (Stephen Graham) and find a friend in Mary Carr (Erin Doherty), head of an all-woman shoplifting gang known as the Forty Elephants.

Where to stream: Hulu

Reacher, season 3

Universally praised action series Reacher returns for a third season. Based on Lee Child’s seventh Reacher novel, Persuader, season 3 sees former military operative Jack Reacher going undercover for the DEA in New England and facing off against a character played by Olivier Ritchers, the seven-foot bodybuilder called “the Dutch Giant” in muscle-show circles, and Zachary Beck, played by Anthony Michael Hall, the six-foot tall American actor called “The Geek” in 16 Candles.

Where to stream: Prime

Last week’s picks

Love is Blind, season 8

It’s been five years since Love is Blind launched, and to mark the anniversary, Netflix is releasing a new season of the romance-based reality show. Season 8 is set in Minneapolis and finds another crop of singles agreeing to meet and date romantic partners—and potentially get engaged—without ever seeing each other. As a life choice, waiting until the wedding to lay eyes on your spouse-to-be seems unwise, but as a television diversion, it’s top notch.

Where to stream: Netflix

The Witcher: Sirens of the Deep

It’s probably going to be more than a year until the new Witcher game comes out, but in the meantime, check out The Witcher: Sirens of the Deep, a feature-length anime movie that continues the adventures of the famous monster hunter Geralt. Based on one of the original Witcher stories, Sirens of the Deep finds Geralt at a seaside village, investigating a series of attacks. At the risk of spoiling the story, there are monsters bedeviling the town—merpeople, mankind’s ancient, soggy enemy.

Where to stream: Netflix

SLY LIVES! (aka The Burden of Black Genius)

If you don’t like Sly and the Family Stone, we probably shouldn’t hang out. Directed by Questlove, whose first documentary series, Summer of Soul, is a classic, SLY LIVES! investigates the life and legacy of Sly Stone through amazing archival performance footage of Sly in his prime and in-depth interviews with the people who were there. Deeper than the “wasn’t Sly cool?” movie this could have been, SLY LIVES! doesn’t shy away from the bigger issues surrounding his fame or gloss over his downfall.

Where to stream: Hulu

Cassandra

Just the premise of this German sci-fi series should be enough for most people to watch it, despite the subtitles. In Cassandra, a typical suburban family moves into a home built in the 1980s that was meant to be the “house of the future.” The massive old computers in the basement still work and the household robot still clanks around, but something is very wrong with this house. If you’re like me, and you feel like you’re being haunted by computers and AI, Cassandra will resonate deeply.

Where to stream: Netflix

Surviving Black Hawk Down

This Netflix original documentary series tells the story of the Battle of Mogadishu made famous in Black Hawk Down. Speaking of, both that film and Surviving Black Hawk Down were produced by Ridley Scott, who gathered survivors of the incident on both sides to tell the story of the harrowing day when two American helicopters were shot down in Somalia. If you like true-life war stories, don’t miss it.

Where to stream: Netflix

Muslim Matchmaker

Hulu’s original series Muslim Matchmaker is from Indian Matchmaking creator Smriti Mundhra’s Meralta Films, a company with a proven track record of creating cross-cultural reality dating shows. The series follows the adventures of Hoda Abrahim and Yasmin Elhady, matchmakers who help Muslim Americans find romance. The focus is on traditional Muslim relationships, so this is not a show about hook-up culture; it’s a show about finding the person you want to settle down with, but that doesn’t mean there’s a shortage of awkward first dates.

Where to stream: Hulu

Resident Alien, season 3

I don’t feel like Resident Alien gets enough love. The quirky, inventive comedy sci-fi series is entering its third season, and the first two were awesome. The titular alien, played by Alan Tudyk, is no longer on a quest to destroy all mankind. With the gray aliens on the way to end humanity, Harry (or more accurately, the alien wearing Harry’s skin) now wants to save Earth and thwart the invasion, all while trying to navigate the weird culture of people without blowing his cover.

Where to stream: Netflix

Have I Got News for You, Season 2

If John Oliver isn’t enough comedic news coverage for you, why not give Have I Got News for You a try? Hosted by Roy Wood Jr. with Amber Ruffin and Michael Ian Black, this show takes the grinding misery out of “following the news” and makes it fun. Each episode features a different pair of celebrity guests who compete against each other in games and quizzes that test their knowledge of current events. It’s a little like a TV version of NPR’s Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell Me.

Where to stream: Max