You are 45 to 50 years old and, through unforeseen circumstances, you are homeless, jobless and flat broke.
How do you get back to where you were before this happened?
Do I have the friends and family I have now?
Stripping?
Czarcasm–please tell me this is hypothetical.
This is hard to answer. Are we assuming I can not get a job in the field I am in currently? If so, I’d never make it back to where I am now. I’d get a service industry job, save up enough to get an apartment, get another second job and save. I’ve done receptionist type work before, if I couldn’t work in the engineering field, I’d try to find a decent office job and I’d research other fields that might require some more education. If I could get something engineering related but not as an engineer, I’d go into CAD work.
With no home and no phone number, how exactly are you getting these jobs?
At one time in the past, it wasn’t. I’m alright now.
This pretty much happened to my father. He lost his job as a stock broker and was borderline homeless at one point as well as had a substance abuse problem. Some family members gave him a little money here and there and he lived on couches for a while. The only reason he came back from that was probably the fact that he had a trade. Hes a journeyman lineman so he went back to doing that and he makes quite good money working for a union in New York. He had a lot of hurdles to go through though, he had no car, no tools, and no license with two dui’s on his record, he had a pretty tough go of it for a year or two.
Hole up with my parents for four months until I find a job in Saint Louis.
She’d come straight to my office, where we’d put her to work immediately, of course!
And so, if it happens to me, tremorviolet will know that I’m hitchiking my way to her office.
Seriously, as long as I haven’t lost my license I could go to work for MDOT in a heartbeat. They always have a shortage of engineers. I’d stay at the homeless place downtown until I built up enough for an apartment. I’d just keep going up from there.
Got family? Your mom’s always glad to see you. Seriously, you’ll at least have a bed, food, & a phone.
Can you tell that I’ve two adult children (in this recession)?
Love, Phil
Heck, I’ve started over 3 times already. The difference is that I was never homeless. To deal with that, assuming my husband’s and daughter’s resources were not available (which IRL they would be), I’d ask my sister for help. If my sister for some reason was unable or unwilling to help, I have a few very close friends that I know would do what they can since we have all helped each other out of nasty circumstances before.
Then I’d look for work either teaching (I have a teaching certificate and college degree), subbing if necessary, or call a temp agency and get some sort of work. The first time I did this, I got a job doing data entry, which eventually turned into a programming job. My current job I started as a receptionist 2 years ago and now I have a window office with my name on the door.
Turn to my sister for shelter; save my SS checks until I could pay cash for a car and then deliver newspapers or some such. There is more money in newspaper delivery than one might think.
As others have said, I’d turn to family until I could get back on my feet. And have done so in the past when it was necessary. (Bless them.)
Stay in a homeless shelter and/or abandoned builing, doing absolute scutwork until I can save up enough to get a place and a phone, and go from there. Could take a while.
Voice of experience, babies. 
Burger King or another fast food place will hire you on the spot without a phone number, I’ve been hired like that before. I’ve also worked three jobs at a time. Being articulate, conscientious, and clean makes me a good hire. Sleep at a shelter (or, last resort, a hidden spot and wash in the library restroom) 'til you can find a room for cheap; I’m not a user or a drunk so I could probably find a roommate situation pretty fast. Use the first paycheck to get a prepaid cell phone.
I’m not going to argue that it wouldn’t be very hard, but being well-educated and knowing how to save money and not get trapped in a debt cycle will take me a long way. I know not get sucked into a payday loan and that I’m better off going hungry for a day to save enough for a loaf of bread and peanut butter than to blow it on a fast food meal.
But, if I had to completely start over, I’d never be as financially secure, with my own house, a well-funded 401k and enough left over to be pretty comfortable, as I am now; I’d always be scrambling to catch up.
I’m seeing a bit of fudging with some of these answers, so let me clear up the question just a mite.
How would you get back on your feet if you were 45 to 50 years old, homeless(without access to a home to live in), and broke(without access to monetary support), and jobless?
Is it possible to get a job at places such as Burger King, tremorviolent, without putting down a place of residence and a phone number?
I was in this situation but had family to fall back on. If I did not have this option, I’d go to social services. They will provide you with an address (at least some will) and I would start the slow walk back to self-sufficiency.
THat is, if I wasn’t addicted, which adds another whole set of problems to homelessness. Your will to thrive tends to be a bit unfocused.
My thought is that you find a poor part of town, and find an old person living alone in a dilapidated house. Tell them your story, and say you’ll pay them $300 a month for rent – only you’ll have to owe it to them because you haven’t found a job yet.
Eventually, you’ll find someone whose judgment is sufficiently impaired by senility to say “yes.”
Print business cards advertising your skills, buy a prepaid cell phone, visit the public library to code a web page.
Hand your business card to anyone who so much as says, “Hello”.
Between jobs continue working on your web site until it come up on the first page of a Google search for your skills.