<prompt> Human: Wanted to post a quick update - the last time I posted on rpersonalfinance was right after I was laid off in September. Lots of good things have happened since then!Basics: Im 35 and was laid off six weeks after starting a new job paying 100K. I was laid off with two weeks severance pay and compensation for 14 days unused vacation time. At time of layoff, I owed 40K credit card debt and 30K student loan debt.Whats happened since then: After losing my job, I found myself in the hard position of owing a ton of debt not having any income. I immediately got on unemployment, started living extremely frugally on my severance pay, doing whatever freelance work I could find, and looking aggressively for a full-time job.After having no luck finding a job right away in my field--I work in a city with relatively few job opportunities in my industry of experience--I decided to work self-employed and form a corporation for myself.The good news! I set a salary for myself, with the remainder of the money staying in the corporation or taking it out in 2018. I aggressively started going after clients in my field for large projects paying over 10,000 apiece. This strategy scared the heck out of me, but it worked. I received a few referrals and after a difficult first month, my company had 3 paying customers starting in November 2017.Other concrete steps I took:1. Spending money only on the bare essentials--rent, bills, and a ricebean diet. Any extra money would go towards extra payments on my highest interest debts until I became financially stable.2. Sticking to the salary I draw from my own corporation ONLY. Instead of spending additional earnings right away, I would keep them in my business bank account for a rainy day.3. I took out a 25,000 loan from Lending Club for my highest-interest credit card debt on five year repayment plan w 11 APR. My credit score immediately jumped 30 points, which led one of my credit card issuers to raise my credit limit in response, which led to another 20 point credit score jump.4. All my extra money went towards paying off my highest interest credit card debt.Stumbles: I had an unexpected dental emergency in November which required paying approximately 2000 out of pocket, with another 2000 due later in 2018. Boo!Results: 5 months after I was laid off, I actually have... LESS DEBT THAN WHEN I LOST MY JOB. In September 2017, I had 78,917 in total debt and 35,522 in assets. As of the end of January 2018, I have 78,200 in total debt and 33,716 in assets.Next Steps: 1. Consolidating the remaining 8000 of credit card debt I have left onto a one-year zero APR consolidation card and aggressively paying it off by 1218.2. Saving 2000 for an engagement ring now that Im financially stable again.3. Building my current 1500 emergency fund into a 10,000 buffer for future hard times.Summary: This was a modest debt reduction, but one that was TOTALLY AWESOME AFTER LOSING MY JOB. Being able to reduce my debt and keep my head above financial water after losing my job--even after a health emergency--is something Im really proud of.I wanted to post this because i know a lot of rpersonalfinance folks are out of work or having otherwise tough times. I hope this helps!Assistant: What industry do you work in, and how did you start off a business independently ? Did you have a client contact already? Human: I work as a technical writer mostly white papers UIUX documentation - this is one of the things I did previously at my full-time jobs, and where I saw the best opportunity for my business.I spent a few hundred dollars to incorporate a company, hired an accountant to do initial paperwork and set up my bookkeeping software, and went to work.The hardest part was finding clients. I used to do this for a living so I had an initial contact network built up, but it was hard work.Basically a lot of emailing people I know professionally and asking if they knew anyone who needed a freelancer or whose company needed an outsider to help with technical writing. I also did some Facebook advertising and posting on LinkedIn groups to find clients, but most of my initial clients were friend of friend referrals.I hope that helps!  <response>: Wow, I had a similar job, just got laid off. Your post is crazy useful, thank you for posting! 