The discussion on furloughs continues unabated. USAToday this past week published an article on the various furlough options that companies are using to reduce costs instead of opting to lay off employees. While there is a must-do list of things for someone in debt to accomplish while on unpaid leave from work, it’s important to financially prepare for the start of a furlough as well.

1. Examine your budget, and set aside savings to cover at least the big three: food, transportation, and housing – for the duration of your time off. Deprioritize discretionary expenses.

2. Don’t have a budget? Set one up quickly in minutes.

3. Avoid expensive travel and costly vacations while on a furlough. If you have outstanding debt, unpaid leave from work is not the time for the circumnavigating cruise of a lifetime, no matter how much you’ve been wanting it. Instead, plan for low-cost and no-cost ways to recharge your batteries.

4. Don’t spend all of your furlough days “on vacation”. Most people can recharge in as little as 3-4 days, so set up a hard deadline to stop kicking back and start planning for life after the furlough.

5. Get organized, stay organized. The furlough is a great opportunity to dedicate some time to simplifying your life, as well as finances. Haven’t tracked your debt before? Start using a debt tracking form now. Have clutter in your home that can be sold for cash? Collect it, clean it, price it, and sell it either through a garage sale or even better- through a free online forum.

Raj Patel writes for DebtGoal.com, a do-it-yourself system for getting out of debt and lowering your interest costs.  DebtGoal.com incorporates all of the techniques discussed in this post and can help users understand and get visibility to and manage their debt finances.