“No Job, No Prob”, subtitled How to Pay your Bills, Feed your Mind, and Have a Blast When You’re Out of Work” by Nicholas Nigro is a fun little book filled with ideas on how to spend your time, make some money and not freak out when you find yourself unemployed. Most of us have been there at one time or another, and it can be a frightening experience. This book helps you take charge of the situation and make the most of it.

The author starts the book with a fairly long introduction (titled Unemployed and Proud), which is full of stories about being unemployed. He includes the first of many “exercises”, worksheets where you can answer questions to help you with everything from analyzing your next job options to saving money on expenses.

He shares several stories of “rich and famous” people who have been unemployed in a sort of fun, “guess who this is” way. And, then he tells a great story of Rich Covello, who had several jobless episodes, but used that time to “keep on living”, doing fun things while he contemplated his future and continued his education. Covello decided to start a business and rejected at least one idea before buying a small dog and cat accessories store. Seventeen years later, Rich and his partners sold their eight pet food and supply stores to Petco for a large chunk of change. Five years later, Covello started another pet business, competing against the larger chains.

Many, many people start businesses when they are unemployed, sometimes out of necessity and sometimes it just seems “kismet”; the right time to launch a dream.

Nigro peppers the book with “Unemployment Benefits”, short highlighted blurbs where he points out some “cool” things about being unemployed, such as “You no longer have any colleagues who can put the bite on your for a short-term lunch loan.”

Part One: Taking Control:

Nigro provides information on filing for unemployment benefits, negotiating severance packages, keeping health care coverage and keeping a roof over your head. In the next chapter, the author helps you deal with the reduction in income by reducing expenses. He has tips on how to cut your grocery and clothing expenses and even how to find “freebies” , complete with numerous website addresses where you can find free stuff. He also examines several opportunities to make money, from taking temporary jobs to selling things on eBay to starting a home-based business.

In a section called “How to Live on Less than $20 a Day”, the author walks you through a day of being frugal, including saving money on entertainment, walking instead of driving, reading books from the library and shopping in dollar stores.

Chapter Three talks about establishing a routine for your days and focusing on job-hunting. He has tips for resumes, cover letters and job interviews.

Chapter Four delves into discovering your strengths, interests and options.

Part Two: Having a Blast:

This section of the book is filled with fun stuff. It’s about taking advantage of the extra free time you now have. These chapters range from “Twenty Things You’ve Been Meaning to Do All These Years” and “Twenty Ways to Get Smarter” to “Ten Things to Do with Your Old Briefcase.”

Part Three: Kicking Back

Chapters in this section include dealing with stress, ways to relax, meditation, and my favorites “Twenty Films That Will Lift Your Spirits,” and “Twenty Books That Will Make You Think.”

Part Four: Feeling Good

This short section is about connections. Chapters deal with friends and family relationships, maintaining connections with people you already know (your network) and twenty ways you can build new connections.

My Take:

I liked this book a lot. I loved the friendly, helpful and fun tone the author used. He provides some great tips and solid information but in an easy-to-read format and engaging manner. I loved the “fun” stuff in the book, because I think that keeping one’s spirits up is always a good idea but very difficult to do if you find yourself jobless, especially in this economy. However, some people might not enjoy the light-hearted approach. I do think it might be easy to focus on the fun and forget the job hunting, which could be risky. I really loved his making money without a job ideas. I started my business five years ago when I was unemployed, so I’m a big believer in using unemployment to propel you toward your dreams. Nigro provides great catalyst information on how to do that in this book.

You can buy this book at Amazon.com



A review copy of this book was provided by Amazon,