I never said you shouldn’t. Adjust your lifestyle all you want.
Holy shit! Unemployment is over 9%! I knew that ignoring newspapers for the last two years was a bad idea. Man, I have to rethink what I wrote above. :rolleyes:
Just read my response to purplehorseshoe who asked me the same thing above.
I know there are people struggling to earn more money and that they haven’t had much luck. That doesn’t mean that trying to earn more isn’t an option for the OP. Do you even know how much time they spend looking for work? Do you know they are in the same situation you are in, where it might be impossible to find extra work?
You don’t because no one bothered to ask. That’s why I thought it would be a good idea to do so. It’s not so obvious to me they are making good job searching decisions as it is to you and purplehorseshoe.
I’d have to agree with astro - good job search decisions would be the apex of the decision making skills from the descriptions to date. But addiction isn’t exactly a disease known for its decision making abilities.
Here is the thing, digging out of the hole will take work and sacrifice. They are healthy enough to hold jobs, but not healthy enough to take a few hours a week working the cash register at Target? You can slash a grocery budget, but its going to take effort in terms of replacing convenience foods with home cooked foods. The bills aren’t going to go away with hope - my sister just finished with her bankruptcy judge - and even that took a lot of WORK in terms of identifying her liabilities and assets. And it wasn’t cheap either.
There is another option - a fundraiser of some sort to get them back on their feet. If - indeed - she has made progress on her addiction, the family could pitch in to get rid of just one bill coming into the house - the truck loan or one credit card - freeing up that amount to go towards the other debt. Its unlikely to work more than once, but it can work once. If there are health issues, an addiction being overcome, and a string of just bad luck, friends and relatives might have enough sympathy to throw $20 or $50 at the problem, and that may buy them breathing room.
It’s not a matter of “want”, it’s a matter of “need”.
One of the biggest mistakes people make is trying to maintain a lifestyle they can no longer afford, or keeping up appearances. I had two choices: cut back drastically, or go into horrible debt. That’s also the choice faced by the OP.
Actually, the official or U3 unemployment numbers are higher than that in some areas - in Illinois, for example, it’s been in the double digits for a couple years now. Also, I, like the OP example, are not UNemployed but arguably UNDERemployed, That is reflected in the U6 number, which adds in the underemployed to the underemployed. That number as of September is 17%, or about 1 in 6 Americans is either unemployed OR underemployed.
In an economy like that getting a “better” job is more difficult than it was, say, in December of 2000 when the U6 was a mere 6%, or lower than the current “unemployed” number alone.
The government has a vested interest in downplaying the magnitude of the fiscal problems of the US. Hence, they publicize the U3 because “an average of 9%” sounds so much better than 17%.
No - however, that situation is common across the US at the moment. It’s not universal, but with 1 in 6 either underemployed or without a job a realistic viewpoint is that while looking for better work is a worthwhile hunt success is not guaranteed in today’s economy. Any financial plan for these people needs to take into account the possibility they can’t find higher paying work no matter how diligently they hunt for work and have a contingency plan for that.
I know a lot of people working in Chicago that commute from NW Indiana. They can usually get to downtown faster than I could when I was in the Rogers Park neighborhood IN CHICAGO.
Well, yes, I know - I used to live in Rogers Park and I also commuted from NW Indiana to the Loop for 12 years. I am well aware of all that. The problem is that since 2007 when I was laid off from a nice, corporate job in the Loop I have been applying and applying and applying for jobs and no one has hired me. I have, in three years, managed to get only three interviews at a Loop company. That’s a dismal “hit” rate. I can not help but think ageism is a factor, but also that some of what I used to do is outsourced and another slice of it has been rendered obsolete by technology. And now, 3 years out of corporate America, corporate America is even less inclined to hire me.
Well, I saw the writing on the wall a long time ago. While I continue to apply, I am also investigating other ways to get ahead. However, all of them will take time to even have a chance of success.
So… never mind 30 years of working, with never more than 2 weeks out of work during all that time, a college degree, etc. - I am having a very hard time finding work and getting by. And arguably, I am making better decisions than the couple in the OP.
Thus… any realistic plan for them must factor in that they might NOT be able to increase their income. I’d be happy to be wrong on that, but it would be foolish NOT to consider that as a real possibility. If that means the best course for them is either chapter 7 or 13 they should pursue that - but I can’t determine that for them, they need to speak to someone with real knowledge in that area. If they need to cut everything to the bone for awhile, visit food pantries, etc. so be it. If they need to ask their friends/family to have a charity fund raiser so be it.
You know, Broomstick, my last bout of unemployment has been strange for me in that I didn’t get a job as quickly as I usually do (I usually work temp assignments), and it had me wondering about whether my age is starting to play into the mix now, too (I’m almost 44). It’s completely foolish, of course, because (in my opinion) no one performs on the job like older people, but maybe it’s just an appearances thing - older people aren’t as attractive as young people.
Broomstick, I think we are in agreement here. We both think they should try and adjust both their lifestyle and income. I don’t know why you think I’m against making lifestyle adjustments.
The fact that it’s too hard to get a job should be irrelevant. They should still be making daily efforts to search for new ways to make money. And while they’re doing that they should try and cut back on spending.
By the time I made my post there were 80 replies and almost none of those were suggestions on how to earn more income. Its as if that wasn’t even an option for them. There’s no reason to assume they’re making a good faith effort to look for work and that they don’t need help in that department.
