Yeah, plasma donation seems terrifying until you think about the $40 in your hand and how much [del]beer[/del] groceries it can be.
I’ve donated blood to the Red Cross for free on many occasions. Kinda humdrum, in my experience, except the forms got a whole lot longer after AIDS happened.
If you’re going to donate plasma, you’ll really want to get foodstamps first, because it can be very hard on your body and deplete your iron and protein. Eating just oatmeal isn’t going to cut it. You can qualify for emergency foodstamps if you have very few assets and little cash on hand. I hope that you do this. I want you to eat.
I actually made pretty fair money doing this but I lucked into a regular route delivering prescription medications to nursing homes. I’d still be doing it if I wasn’t physically disabled.
I have to say that I did exactly this for a while and regard it as the very worst job I’ve ever had. It can be physically demanding and the hours worked often gave me only a couple of hours between the end of one job and the start of another. Even so, it did provide an income but a poor one.
In Virginia at least, I think you do get benefits if you are fired for poor performance. You lose benefits if you are fired for misconduct. In a sense it does make sense - If they wanted to lay you off but didn’t want to have their unemployment insurance rate jacked they could just set you up to fail by increasing the expectations and lowering their tolerance for errors or delays. With a misconduct firing, it’s a bit easier to prove objectively.
Which is more objective and easier to prove:
- You were fired because your supervisor said that he wasn’t happy with the quality of your TPS reports. You allege that you haven’t made any significant changes to your TPS report practices and you are being scapegoated because you reported sexual harassment in the workplace.
- You were fired because you raped the secretary.
Well that escalated quickly.
IME in Virginia you can pretty much get unemployment even if you are fired for cause-say, for example, threatening to beat up your boss in front of witnesses. Not that I’m bitter that I’ll be paying triple the unemployment insurance for seven years because of one claim.
Also, while I definitely support the OP getting any job she can, I think that it’s easy to underestimate the true costs of a minimum wage job. I used to think that if you took anything you could, then you could at least break even, but my opinion changed after reading Barbara Ehrenreich’s book “Nickel and Dimed”. She basically sets out to try to live on a minimum wage job starting with minimal cash and finds that you end up paying more for things like food and housing when you don’t have an initial stake to get set up to do things cheaply. It’s definitely worth reading even though it predates the current recession.
I, myself, am in a rut as well. A lot of the info on this thread will benefit others in similar situations. I was only going on Craigslist for job hunting for a while, but now I’m opening up my search to other websites. Have you tried any type of barter for rent ad? I put one up and received a lot of responses from elderly people wanting help with stuff like buying groceries, cooking, etc…in exchange for an extra room. The problem with me is that I don’t have a license and many of these people wanted someone who could drive them places. You have a license, so maybe it’s something worth looking into. If you’re interested, I can email a copy of my ad to you. You can edit it and repost it. If you’re interested, please screen everyone on Craigslist very well. There are some serious freaks on that website lol Good luck!
Not everyone can. I tried it, was politely turned down for having too-small veins in my arms.
Holy crap I’m gonna do that. I have Madonna veins $$$ caching :eek: Thanks.
-Brokeashell
I disagree with you, the book is about trying to maintain her previous lifestyle working minimum wage. she wanted a nice apratment, nice car, nice clothes and did not make any compromises in her life style. she never looked for a roommate, a second job or several other things people who have little money try to do to live. She had an agenda to prove and that is as far as it went. Minimum wage jobs are about a start not a lifestyle. She worked as a waitress and waitresses can make more than minimum wage pretty easily. I know this becasue I worked as a waitress in a diner and If I can do it (being clumsy, not especislly attractieve, etc) others can as well. I have also worked as a pizza delivery driver for little more than tips and supported myself for quite a while until I got a secure job that was going to last.
That’s not true. She did take a second job during one of her stints. She also had a roommate in the form of a bird she promised to look after in return for lower rent. Her agenda was mostly about pointing out the true costs of cheap labor. A valid point when many Americans have barely seen their wages rise while corporate profits have soared.
I have the book in my house. I can point out page numbers where she mentions the second job and the bird if you like.
Sorry to go off track, but it’s not worth starting a whole new thread, I don’t think. I’m in a dire financial situation, myself, and have a question for those who’ve donated plasma: Are there a lot of qualifying factors? I take a fair amount of prescription medications, is what I’m wondering about, specifically.
Google plasma centers and there’s a list of medications etc. that would keep you from donating. Also, the amount of money you get varies with location.
A friend who frequently donated plasma wound up with horribly scarred veins (like a heroin addict). He was so ashamed of the scars that he always wore long-sleeved shirts.
. . . Just something to consider for anyone considering plasma donation as a job.
OK, I am in Australia, and blood and plasma donation here is not paid. Well, you might get a cup of blechcoffee and a biscuit, but no money.
Here, if you donate plasma, the red cells are separated out and returned into your veins.
I used to donate blood, then was asked to donate plasma as I had a high antibody titre against the tetanus toxin. (Yes, I was a horse substitute 
) The blood bank returned the red cells as they wanted the plasma donors to donate much more frequently.
The cannula was left in the vein during the separation process, and the cells returned were kept cold during the process to stop them lysing, and it was the strangest, most visceral discomfort without actually being a pain. However, the process certainly did leave distinctive scars, and all the regular plasma donors had inner elbows that looked like junkies’. Still have the scars and it has been years.
Mame - In the US, much blood and plasma is donated through the Red Cross. However, the private, for-pay collection of plasma is done because those blood products are turned into for-profit drugs used by hemophiliac patients, pregnant women (with a negative Rh factor) and patients with Von Willebrand’s disease. The drug companies collect the plasma and refine it in a process that takes almost a year. Some companies have a regular “stable” of donors and some have collection centers.
StG
Yeah, you’re absolutely right that it’s not an experience that’s worth repeating often; but if you’re brokety-broke and have little other option for eating or paying your bills that day or the next…
Another thing the OP could do is buy a pantry staple in bulk size/cost that they know others who live nearby use and splitting it w/ them; it costs less for both parties, the OP gets something they can use and gets cash back when reimbursed.
And adhemar, I don’t know what Ehrenreich book you read but that’s not how it went in Nickel and Dimed. Remember the part where she’s working at 2 different restaurants at the same time?
If someone is willing to consider the plasma route - they also might want to consider doing Medical experiments. It’s been a while since I’ve done the, but I’ve gotten between $100 to $1800 doing them. For $1800 I had to spend two weekends there - and come back for blood draws about 15 times. I’ve done vaccine ones that paid I think around $400. You also usually get a free physical - which is nice when you are poor.
Probably depends on the area a lot - I live in a place where there is a bunch of medical research. Back when I did them there were a ton of ads in the “City Paper” - I’m sure they are all online now.