Doobie iz Dumb.

[Doobie]

I fucked up. As usual, I've made a huge mistake (Gob voice). I am happy, I'm not depressed. I'll start off on that note with broken sentences. This isn't a thread about love, drugs, exes, other peoples girlfriends, fatness, or self loathing.

Plain and simple, I made a mistake that I'm sure some of us have made before. I couldn't handle my job anymore, so I just quit. It's not the kind of job I can get back considering it was in a factory and I was just a comodity. I've grown increasingly frustrated with my lack of a social life in pennsylvannia, and the loneliness does get to me. This was giving me a headache just being so far away from my family and friends. I moved her to get away from my mom and the hard life she was giving me, I didn't know that my life would get harder here. My dad took advantage of me coming here and is making me pay bills that are more expensive then my life back home in NJ. Anyways..

- I made the mistake of quitting my job with no other source of income. HUGE mistake. Now I have a very limited amount of money to do everything I need to do to move back to New Jersey and pay bills. I honestly couldn't handle it anymore and I just snapped. I walked out the door and burst into tears, and trust me when I say I hardly cry.

- I should've waited to get laid off to atleast collect unemployment.

- I now need to look desperately for a job in New Jersey before I go back, I really didn't think what I did through.

So basically my situation is this, I'm 2,000$ in debt, I have about 500$ in monthly expenses to pay, and I have about 600$ in my bank account with 500$ being due to some bills and overdue expenses next week. That leaves me with 100$, and whatever I get from my income tax return, which I'm estimating to be 700-1,000$. I need about 300$ of that to do all the paperwork/car stuff in order to move back to Jersey. But that is money I won't have until late March. I am tempted to ask my grandmother for 500$ since i need it and it'll speed up the process, but my grandfather is currently in the hospital and that'll be insensitive of me. Simple question, what would you guys do in this situation?

[Andrew]

It seems the timing isn't great to ask your family for a loan, but if it comes down to that then maybe you'll have to go down that road. Just be respectful, approach the situation tactfully and don't push the point if the answer is no.

Are there any jobs at all going? It doesn't matter how menial, if you can get something that you can work at for a little while to make some money and pay those bills, then it might be an idea to take it.

Failing that, are there any luxury items you can sell? If there's something you can do without, at least until you're making some more money and can afford it, you might want to try putting it up for sale.

[Doobie]

The only items I can possibly sell are my laptop and xbox 360, but I won't get much for those two things, might have that as a last resort option.

As for jobs, I told a friend of mine to talk to my old boss to see if I can get my old job back, the job I had at a BJ's Wholesale Clube before I left New Jersey. It's a pretty decent job and should be able to get me around through my college years. I have a friend who works at a Toy's R Us, but that job might not even be worth it, considering it is about 15 miles away from my house, and pays minimum wage with only about 15-20 hours guaranteed a week. I think I might end up paying more for gas and car insurance then what I will be making there.

I started applying to a couple places over in New Jersey while I finish getting my stuff together over here. Yet I'm so confused about what my next step is even though it seems pretty clear.

[Patr1ck]

Other than the debt, you should call the companies you owe expenses to and ask for an extension. They should be able to do that for you. Some companies even offer temporary discounts which is something you would have to ask for. Say money is tight, and that you are trying to get back on your feet. Try not to concentrate so much on the money, but what you need to do. You can't sell your car and just take the bus to Jersey? Spend all day with a paper and a train/bus pass looking for job?. The easiest place to find a job is in a place with a lot of people. The traffic means business, and that means jobs. If you can find something better than retail/service, by all means do it. But, no matter how bad the economy is, there is always a job available. Asking your friend about your old job is a good idea. Call any people you know in Jersey and ask them if they know anybody hiring more than minimum wage.

How did you get this job at the factory?

http://cnj.craigslist.org/ret/2245973041.html
http://cnj.craigslist.org/csr/2245868988.html
http://cnj.craigslist.org/fbh/2245446978.html
http://cnj.craigslist.org/sls/2245807992.html
http://cnj.craigslist.org/mnu/2245719051.html - speak spanish, too? starts at $11/h
http://cnj.craigslist.org/bus/2245569386.html

Go back to Jersey and play the guilt trip on your Mom if she asks you for money.

[Doobie]

I am going to do the first thing on Monday, call the companies and ask for an extension. Thank god my phone is pre-paid, and I am freezing my netflix account. All those jobs are about an hour away from my house in Jersey, thanks for the help I really appreciate it. My friend sent me a link of about 12 jobs from careerbuilder.com that I am going to check out.

[el badman]

I've been inclined to do the same thing for a long time now, but the increasingly smaller part of my brain that's still reasonable has been keeping me from doing so. I'd have nothing to fall back to at this time, and I certainly have more bills to pay than you Doobie. It's not like I don't feel like telling my employers to go fuck themselves, but I guess it's different when you're married and older...Been stuck in a dead end job for 3.5 years now, and I can't seem to find an exit towards something better, which is very depressing, but I guess it's somewhat comforting to think that I'm doing this for the right reasons, aka a roof above our head, food in the fridge, paying our debts, etc.

[Doobie]

Yeah as I've been told when you have a family and a home, everything changes. I know some guy who is working 3 minimum wage jobs to support his family. He told me he only goes home to sleep. My brain just collapsed for about an hour, which is when I walked out. Trust me I have my share of bills to pay to, obviously nothing like yours but cell phone and netflix are just 2 things that I can easily do without. My parents are trying to teach me the hard way to be a man, when at this age I honestly feel like I need a shoulder to lean on, not someone trying to PUSH me into becoming a man. Good luck with your situation el badman.

[el badman]

My parents are trying to teach me the hard way to be a man, when at this age I honestly feel like I need a shoulder to lean on, not someone trying to PUSH me into becoming a man. Good luck with your situation el badman.

I know what you mean. Even at my age, the last thing I needed was a pep talk on how to take it like a man and stop whining, because then it feels like that person doesn't really know what you're going through, otherwise he/she would not give you such a speech.
You'll be fine Doobie, keep your chin up.

[Jackal]

You'll be fine Doobie, keep your chins up.

Fixed.

I keed, I keed. I don't really agree with the whole walking out thing when you know that's your sole income, but yeah everyone is different. I hope things get better soon and I hope you find a job asap to be able to move back to NJ. Good luck & stay strong.