whats the best way for a single mom of 3 to get out of debt? any tips would be great the bills are from 2007-2009 (college and an accident, so loans, cell phone, and medical). i currently dont work and have been looking dfor work for a year almost. most places around here are cutting everyones hours back so job hunting is really hard with the employee hour cuts i here about. my ex works full time at walmart and they have cut him back to only 20 hours a week and a lot of workers their are getting 4 days a week, giving an idea on how hard jobs here are to find. i need any ideas as i really dont want to fill for any type of bankruptcy but its killing my credit and i am at a loss as to what to do right now.
debt?
- Thread starter hdowden
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Nonesuch Farm
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First things first... you have to have a job. Until you have income, repayment is impossible. Sometimes it's baby steps.
FarmerChick
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yea, truly unless there is something coming in you can not repay.
your area sounds very hard pressed for jobs. that stinks obviously.
anything you can sell? look around and see if ANY item you own is not being used? Or you can do without?
it is horrible out there. truly it is taking down families left and right and it is hard to stay afloat. hang in there and best of luck in job hunting!
your area sounds very hard pressed for jobs. that stinks obviously.
anything you can sell? look around and see if ANY item you own is not being used? Or you can do without?
it is horrible out there. truly it is taking down families left and right and it is hard to stay afloat. hang in there and best of luck in job hunting!
Check around (on this site, or others; also see if your library has "The Tightwad Gazette" by Amy Dacyzyn) for methods to save more of the money that you do have. It may not be enough to pay down your debt, but it quite well may be the way to avoid getting any more. And frugality is a good thing, even if you have a good income.
so lucky
Almost Self-Reliant
Maybe you could create your own job. Start a service like house/office cleaning, babysitting, dog sitting/walking, painting and wall papering....what do you do well? Just about any town/community has some people who are rich and have the money to pay for certain services. I saw a bit on TV about a guy in California who makes about $42,000 a year scooping dog poo. It's his second job. He has a list of clients who pay him $20 a week to come to their house to clean up the dog poo from their yard. I know that's not for everyone, but there are lots of things people will pay someone else to do, all legal 
Once you get some steady income, start paying off high-interest bills first. They are costing you a lot. Go to the library and get Suze Orman's books, or other financial advisors. (Who's that one guy on the radio?)
Once you get some steady income, start paying off high-interest bills first. They are costing you a lot. Go to the library and get Suze Orman's books, or other financial advisors. (Who's that one guy on the radio?)
Like everyone who has posted before me has said, hard work, tight budget and creativity will get you out of your predicament.
You might look at selling things online. If your area is depressed perhaps you can pick stuff up cheap and resell it on Ebay? If you can't find a job you need to create your own job like SoLucky said -her examples are great. You can still look for a regular job but at least if you create your own job you'll be bringing in something rather than nothing.
And think about getting trained in a field where there are jobs.
Dave Ramsey-visit Daveramsey.com, he has a program that anyone can follow to get out of debt but like NoneSuch Farm says you first need income!
You might look at selling things online. If your area is depressed perhaps you can pick stuff up cheap and resell it on Ebay? If you can't find a job you need to create your own job like SoLucky said -her examples are great. You can still look for a regular job but at least if you create your own job you'll be bringing in something rather than nothing.
And think about getting trained in a field where there are jobs.
the funny farm6
Super Self-Sufficient
I know this would be extra-extra hard, but have you thought about moving where there are better jobs? I know we thought about it several years ago when the factories started shutting down. But in the end he found work and we didn't have to. But just a thought.
chickenjoe
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If you can't find anything around the house to sell also check the free section on Craigslist or Freecycle there also something onthose site that someone is give for free that you can make money on. Just research what it is before you go get it.
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Call the companies you owe money to and renegotiate what you owe and the terms of payment. They can't get the original sum from you if you are unemployed, so they may settle for a lesser amount that you can afford to pay off. I haven't done this, but I have heard of others doing it successfully. Doesn't hurt to try.
