Budgeting After Redundancy: A 30/60/90 Plan for the First 90 Days
The first 30 days are for stopping the bleeding. The next 30 are for getting the runway. The next 30 are for getting the next role.
The email. The meeting. The walk back to the desk. This is the 30/60/90 plan.
The first 30 days after redundancy are the only days that decide the next 90. The plan is not a productivity framework. It is a financial plan. One specific action per bucket, no menus, no list of seven things to do before the end of the week.
You have just been told, or you have just told someone you love, that the job is gone. The walk back to the desk takes longer than it should. The first instinct is to redo the spreadsheet. The instinct is wrong. The spreadsheet is for day 31. The first 30 days are for stopping the bleeding, not for picking a new pension contribution. This page is the 30/60/90 plan that gets the savings alive and the next job search funded.
The page is the wider plan. The tactical counterpart for the lump sum is on the redundancy payment what to do page. Read them in either order. Both pages end on day 31.
Statutory redundancy pay in plain numbers (2026/27)
A genuine redundancy payment in the UK is made up of three parts, and the three parts are taxed differently. The numbers below are the GOV.UK 2026/27 figures. The formula is the same as it has been since 2013. Multi-employer schemes and union-negotiated rates can produce higher numbers, but the statutory cap and the tax-free threshold are the same for everyone.
| Part of the payment | 2026/27 figure |
|---|---|
| Maximum statutory redundancy pay (20 years service, age 41+, full-time) | £16,320 |
| Statutory notice pay (or payment in lieu of notice), capped at 12 weeks | Up to 12 weeks of normal pay |
| Pay for accrued but untaken holiday | Whatever the final payslip says |
| Income-tax-free threshold on a genuine redundancy payment (HMRC EIM13700) | First £30,000 is income-tax-free. Anything above £30,000 is taxed as ordinary income |
For a 47 year old with 12 years' full-time service, the statutory redundancy pay alone works out to around £7,290 (one and a half weeks' pay per year of service, age adjustment). Most readers will receive less than the £16,320 cap, which is the case for treating the number as runway, not as a windfall. Source: GOV.UK, HMRC.
The 30/60/90 plan
The 30/60/90 plan is a three-bucket framework. One specific action per bucket. The plan is not a list of seven things to do before the end of the week. The plan is three things, one at a time.
| Bucket | The single action |
|---|---|
| Day 0 to 30, stop the bleeding | Open a separate current account. Move the entire redundancy payment into it the day it lands. Do not pay off the mortgage, do not invest the lump, do not redo the spreadsheet. The action is the 30-day wait |
| Day 31 to 60, get the runway | Claim what you are entitled to. New Style Jobseekers Allowance (£719.80 a week for over-25s in 2026/27 if your National Insurance record is strong enough), Universal Credit if your household income is low, Council Tax Reduction, the Mortgage Charter if your lender signed it. The afternoon spent on the application is the cheapest hour of the year |
| Day 61 to 90, get the next role or the next income | Set a weekly job-search target. Five applications, three networking calls, one direct message to a hiring manager in your function. The redundancy becomes a 90-day project with a deliverable at the end, not an open-ended wait |
Day 0 to 30
The first 30 days are for stopping the bleeding. The single action is the separate current account. The account should be at a different bank from the main current account, so the temptation to dip in is one extra step away. The payment should land directly in the new account, not via a transfer from the main current account. The direct receipt is the rule.
Day 31 is the first day on which any decision about the lump is the right kind of decision. The full three-bucket split (runway, debts over 8% APR, the rest) is on the redundancy payment what to do page.
Day 31 to 60
The first job after the redundancy is the job of claiming what the reader is entitled to. Most readers in this situation underclaim. The applications take an afternoon each. The arithmetic on a 90-day claim is measured in thousands of pounds, not in the hundreds.
New Style JSA
£719.80 a week for over-25s in 2026/27. Payable for up to 182 days if the National Insurance record is strong enough. Apply within the first 30 days of the redundancy. The application is on GOV.UK.
Source: DWP, 2026/27 rates. Reconfirm at point of application.
Universal Credit
A means-tested payment for working-age people on low income. Use a benefits calculator on GOV.UK to check entitlement. The standard allowance for a single over-25 in 2026/27 is around £400 a month, with additions for children, housing and disability.
Source: DWP, 2026/27 rates. Reconfirm at point of application.
Council Tax Reduction is a separate, often-overlooked claim. Most readers in this situation qualify for at least some reduction. The application is with the local council, not with DWP, and it can take up to six weeks to process. Apply in the first 30 days. The Mortgage Charter, signed by most UK mortgage lenders in 2023, allows borrowers to switch to interest-only payments or take a payment holiday of up to six months without affecting credit score. Call the lender. The call takes 20 minutes.
Day 61 to 90
The redundancy is a 90-day project with a deliverable at the end. The deliverable is a job offer, a contracting pipeline, or a clear next step that the reader has not yet considered. The weekly job-search target is the project management tool. Five applications, three networking calls, one direct message to a hiring manager in the reader's function. The reader who has the spreadsheet, the target, and the daily standup with themselves treats the redundancy like a 90-day project. The reader who does not have those three things treats it like a personal failing. The first framing wins.
The redundancy also creates an opportunity that the employed version of the reader did not have. The 90-day window is the window in which the reader can have the conversation with the partner about money that the employed version of the reader kept deferring. The conversation is not a separate plan. The conversation is part of the plan.
The pension rule
If the reader was in a workplace pension, the right answer for almost every reader is to keep the pension contribution at the same percentage of pay, even when the employer has stopped matching. Workplace pension matching is the only money the employer has ever offered the reader that is a 50% return on day one, a 100% return on day one for a higher-rate taxpayer, and locked in for the next twenty-five years of compounding. The full rule is on the pay rise pension page.
The single most expensive mistake people make after redundancy is to pause the pension contribution because cash is tight. The compounding does not know the difference between a redundancy year and any other year. The pause shows up in the pot at 55 and at 65 whether or not the reader was working. If cash is tight, the right adjustment is to pause the ISA contribution, pause the mortgage overpayment, or pause the holiday budget. The pension contribution stays.
One action before 18 August
Write the four numbers on one sheet of paper. The date you were told. The date your employment ends. The amount of the redundancy payment. The amount of any notice pay. The rest of the plan follows from those four numbers. Without the sheet, the rest of the plan is guesswork.
- The sheet goes on the fridge, not in a spreadsheet. The fridge is the one place in the house the reader cannot avoid.
- The four numbers are the inputs to the 30-day separate-current-account action and the day 31 three-bucket split.
- On day 31, sit down with the sheet, the lump statement, and the redundancy payment page. The three-bucket split on day 31 is the rest of the plan.
For the tactical view of what to do with the lump sum on day 31, see the redundancy payment what to do page. For the pension-line rule, see the pay rise pension page. For the wider picture of whether the rest of the financial position is on track, see am I on track financially.
Related reading
- Redundancy payment: what to do with it in the first 30 days - the tactical counterpart for the lump sum, with the three-bucket split on day 31.
- Pay rise pension: what to do - the pension-line rule for career transitions, with the tax-relief maths.
- Am I on track financially? - the wider picture for the post-redundancy reader who wants to know what the rest of the financial position looks like.
Take Control of Your Finances
Use Delphina to budget and track your spending during this time.
Common questions
The maximum statutory redundancy pay in 2026/27 is £16,320 for a long-serving older worker (20 years service, age 41 or over, full-time). The formula is one and a half weeks pay per year of service for under-22s, one week for 22 to 40 year olds, and one and a half weeks for 41 and over. Weekly pay is capped. Most readers receive less than the cap. A 47 year old with 12 years full-time service works out to around £7,290. Source: GOV.UK.
The 30/60/90 plan is a three-bucket framework for the first 90 days after redundancy. Day 0 to 30 is for stopping the bleeding: open a separate current account, move the redundancy payment in, do not invest the lump. Day 31 to 60 is for getting the runway: claim New Style Jobseekers Allowance (£719.80 a week for over-25s in 2026/27 if your NI record is strong enough), Universal Credit, Council Tax Reduction. Day 61 to 90 is for getting the next role or income: five applications, three networking calls, one direct message a week. The redundancy becomes a 90-day project with a deliverable.
Yes, for almost every reader. The single most expensive mistake people make after redundancy is to pause the pension contribution because cash is tight. Workplace pension matching is the only money the employer has ever offered that is a 50% return on day one and locked in for the next twenty-five years of compounding. The compounding does not know the difference between a redundancy year and any other year. If cash is tight, the right adjustment is to pause the ISA contribution, pause the mortgage overpayment, or pause the holiday budget. The pension contribution stays.
Statutory redundancy pay is a one-off payment, calculated as a multiple of weekly pay based on age and length of service, with a 20-year cap. It is not a weekly or monthly payment. The other parts of a redundancy package (statutory notice pay or payment in lieu of notice, accrued holiday pay) are paid alongside the redundancy payment on the final payslip, and are taxed as ordinary income through PAYE. New Style Jobseekers Allowance is a separate weekly payment, payable for up to 182 days if the National Insurance record is strong enough.