Whenever you are looking to make a career shift it is really important to address your finances. Many people can be rather ostrich-like about this, but if you analyse your situation at the beginning then it will certainly smooth your way later.
Identify your outgoings
The first step you can address is the budget. Whenever you move from one career to another that includes a time for retraining, you need to have a close look at your budget. Often it means a time of pulling in the belt and cutting back in some areas. It is always best to identify this before you set out so you can make plans.
Take a piece of paper and create two columns:
In the first column write down all your main monthly living expenses, the ones that are not avoidable - mortgage payment/rent, utility bills, insurances, basic food bill, car payments/costs, health care, anything that is a fixed and unavoidable cost.
In the second column write down all the other payments you make in a month - health club subscriptions, meals out, holidays, clothes, luxury foods, hobbies, movies, luxury goods payments, everything that is a choice rather than a necessity. If you don't know what these might be then keep a note of all your expenditures in a month; everything, even that cup of coffee. It is quite revealing.
It is always good to see where the money you're currently earning is going and it helps you to see where you can implement a change of priority. What could you spend less on? For example, taking lunch to work rather than buying it every day. Or maybe there are expenses that you can simply drop for a short time until you are earning sufficient money again.
Prepare for change
Sometimes retraining, starting up a business or going freelance does require us to change our lifestyle, if only temporarily. The long term result - the new career that you love - is always worth a short-term cut in expenses. One word of caution: do not budget out all the fun stuff in life. You also need to be able to enjoy your life whilst you retrain and so identify some of the less expensive (or free) things or activities that you can keep.
Once you have got real about your current and projected finances the next step it is to work out the shortfall. This is obviously something you will need to do with your partner, if you have one, as it will affect them too. Is this shortfall an amount that you can supplement with part-time or evening work? Could you see yourself doing a full- or part-time course and working enough to fill this shortfall?
Going part time
If yes, then you have the next step - identify the part-time work that you could do that would pay enough. This is a matter of research, the wider the window, i.e. the more willing you are to do a wide variety of work, the easier it will be to find part-time work. Make a list of all your usable skills and of the type of work you'd be willing to do. For ideas go to a job website and search different skills. You might also try talking with employment agencies as they are a good source of ideas. Once you have some ideas start contacting those types of companies. Another possibility is that your current place of work might consider a part-time position as often companies do not want to lose good employees.
Explore the options
If, however, you realise that part time work is not going to address the total shortfall then it is a rethink that is needed. Is your only option a full-time course? Could you re-look at that element of the puzzle? Given your financial picture what would be possible? Maybe a longer, less time- consuming course? Investigate if there are any grants available or maybe student loans that have a low rate of interest. This can help pay for the course as well as supplement your part-time earnings. Sometimes you do need to finance a retraining through loans, but the main thing to do is to have a debt repayment plan before you go down that road. In this way it feels more attainable and can't get out of control.
Another option, if you do not like the idea of large loans, is to see if you can save some of the necessary money before leaving your current job. Once you have identified possible cuts in your current budget this may seem more possible than it does right now and may not delay your progress too much. Finances are a juggling act; look at different variations of ideas and see which one might suit you best.
Most importantly be real about your finances. You need to approach your finances without rose-tinted glasses. Be creative and open to any (legal!) idea or way that makes it possible for your dream to come true. When we come from that space, with a determination to make something happen, we cannot fail.
