Can't afford to work (Charlotte: 2009, apartment, insurance)

[bu2008]

I think you should get a job if there is opportunity to take one, to me that is morally wrong sitting at home taking in government money when it is not absolutely needed. The other thing about how will you pay your rent and bills is wrong, in my opinion of course, as you can find a cheaper rent and lower your bills by changing your lifestyle to fit what you can afford. That is a bad excuse. I speak from experience and have gone through the same thing. Bite the bullet and do what is right.
In my opinion this is like someone not selling their house because it is now worth less than what they paid for it. The more you wait and hold out the worse it is going to bite you in the future. Take the hit now, you will recover.
Good luck.

[sophialee]

I think I heard you say before that you don't have a college degree? What knid of training/skills do you possess that makes you worth more than $15 per hour? Just out of curiosity.

Can you bartend? That definitely pays more than $8/9 per/hr if you find a good place.

[SunnyKayak]

rESRAINT [quote=NCnut;10166239] Get off your butt and look for some work; even if it only pays $9/hour and is part time. It pisses me off that people like you don't even TRY to look for work because "alot of the work is paying just 8-9 an hour". That is your excuse?? Contribute to the local economy instead of just sitting there basically taking welfare. This is part of why NC's unemployment is so damn high...[/quote

[NCnut]

Originally Posted by bu2008

I think you should get a job if there is opportunity to take one, to me that is morally wrong sitting at home taking in government money when it is not absolutely needed. The other thing about how will you pay your rent and bills is wrong, in my opinion of course, as you can find a cheaper rent and lower your bills by changing your lifestyle to fit what you can afford. That is a bad excuse. I speak from experience and have gone through the same thing. Bite the bullet and do what is right.
In my opinion this is like someone not selling their house because it is now worth less than what they paid for it. The more you wait and hold out the worse it is going to bite you in the future. Take the hit now, you will recover.
Good luck.

You pretty much summed up what I was gonna shoot back to CharlotteCharlotte.

[Damemeow]

Originally Posted by CharlotteCharlotte

Also I am collecting unemployment from the state of California so even if I do find a job here and get laid off after say a few months I may not even be eligible for unemployment and plus the UC benefits here may pay much less than what I am currently receiving.

At all the rest of you... the lady didn't post for criticism, she posted here looking for help and answers. It's not fair or kind to judge without offering alternatives.

CharlotteCharlotte,

You are in a tight spot many have found themselves in. Talk to your unemployment dept. If you had a job previously that paid you a $15.00 salary and that was what your unemployment compensation is based on, if you take a job for significantly less you may qualify for "underemployment" benefits where you receive a portion of the benefits prorated against your current salary.

Also, you really need to transfer your state benefits from CA to NC. Most states are reciprocal, and it would be better to be on the up and up.

Hope this helps.

[Catrick]

Originally Posted by bu2008

I think you should get a job if there is opportunity to take one, to me that is morally wrong sitting at home taking in government money when it is not absolutely needed. The other thing about how will you pay your rent and bills is wrong, in my opinion of course, as you can find a cheaper rent and lower your bills by changing your lifestyle to fit what you can afford. That is a bad excuse. I speak from experience and have gone through the same thing. Bite the bullet and do what is right.
In my opinion this is like someone not selling their house because it is now worth less than what they paid for it. The more you wait and hold out the worse it is going to bite you in the future. Take the hit now, you will recover.
Good luck.

How is trying to get by day by day like not selling your house? This is real life. So she is suppose to move and find cheaper rent? How to you even rent without a job? Believe it or not some people are not sitting home living off the government. They are looking and trying to find jobs. They didn't ask for their jobs to be taken away. They didn't make the economy what it is. Talk to the banks, Wall Street and the oil companies and vent on them. You can't get water from an empty well.

It must be nice for the "haves" to sit in judgment on the "have nots".

Jeez people. Show some compassion and understanding.

[ZnGuy]

Originally Posted by Catrick

How is trying to get by day by day like not selling your house? This is real life. So she is suppose to move and find cheaper rent? How to you even rent without a job? Believe it or not some people are not sitting home living off the government. They are looking and trying to find jobs. They didn't ask for their jobs to be taken away. They didn't make the economy what it is. Talk to the banks, Wall Street and the oil companies and vent on them. You can't get water from an empty well.

It must be nice for the "haves" to sit in judgment on the "have not".

Jeez people. Show some compassion and understanding.

My interpretation of OP is not that they can't find a job, it's that the OP doesn't want to take a $15/hr job. I know people (including family members) that have taken job for fairly low pay (entry level) with realization that promotion and better job opportunity would happen down the line. Too many people feel they are 'owed' a high paying job and yes there are too many free loaders living off my tax dollar. Just today the Unemployment report was manipulated, err I mean 'adjusted' by the Labor Department by taking 800,000 people out of the 'looking for work' category as these people had 'given up looking for a job. Hence, the unemployment rate went DOWN for July. Hmm, time for a press conference. Look for the next report to be adjusted back up.

[CRock]

Milk Cali for every penny...they got it to spare! Once the cash cow runs dry start pounding the pavement and look for a job. But...................
If it is this bad now just wait till this fall! It will be soo much worse. You should just hunker down do not spend any more money that you have to. Save every penny..................maybe even short the market. I hear the bottom is going to drop out around the end of the month, so play your cards right you could be sittin pertty.






Tounge firmly in cheek ; )

[Catrick]

Originally Posted by ZnGuy

My interpretation of OP is not that they can't find a job, it's that the OP doesn't want to take a $15/hr job. I know people (including family members) that have taken job for fairly low pay (entry level) with realization that promotion and better job opportunity would happen down the line. Too many people feel they are 'owed' a high paying job and yes there are too many free loaders living off my tax dollar. Just today the Unemployment report was manipulated, err I mean 'adjusted' by the Labor Department by taking 800,000 people out of the 'looking for work' category as these people had 'given up looking for a job. Hence, the unemployment rate went DOWN for July. Hmm, time for a press conference. Look for the next report to be adjusted back up.

Actually I went back and reread the first post. She wants a job for $15 an hour because apparently that is what she can get by on. The only jobs out there are in the $8/$9 dollar range and that doesn't work for her.

I understand what you are saying. I am one of those people who took a job in the $8 range and my husband in the $7 range. We are doing what we have to to make it. It's not easy but we are doing it because we are able to although I don't remember what a savings account is anymore. Maybe the OP can't get by but I do not know her situation.

I was responding to the other poster who seemed a little harsh in their assessment of the situation without knowing all the facts.

And as I also posted my niece and her husband are in the same situation. She has taken a night job so he can job hunt and go on interviews during the day. No way can they afford day care. Even though he makes more money on unemployment he is out there every day going for any job that might be available. But so are many other people and the odds don't look good.

Hey, maybe the unemployment stats are true and things are getting better. And I might have a shot getting a date with Mel Gibson.

[todd00]

do you think looking for a job is easy? i dont know what kind of skills and experience this person has, but sending resumes, making calls, following up leads do take time and are much more stressful than the average job. i would say keep looking, try and make some contacts, that story of its a who ya know world still applies. review your resume, change it..make it unique. the employer may have a huge stack on his or her desk, yours has to stand out. i use to make mine using a card stock type paper, folded and printed on each inside folded page, it looked like a book when opened up, it caught peoples attention. take this time to analyze your resume and skills. work to improve how well you interview, all these things take time. if you take a lesser job now, where you do not intend to stay, you are losing money you are entitled to, and you are losing time to aggressively market yourself for a better position.

its easy to say to someone, get off your butt, after all you dont have to try and make ends meet, youre not walking in her shoes now. oh yes, you may have had it rough at one time, so have i, still neither you or i are in her particular shoes or know all the details that can make things far more complicated. your comment is kind of like the person that tells someone to just get over it, just move to a place thats cheaper, she may have a lease ever think of that? and moving to a new place involves putting down a deposit, etc, more money out right? does that seem very smart? you also have no idea how frugally she is living now. while constructive criticism can be helpful, uninformated criticism is useless for the both the op and subsequent readers. i wont estimate her current rent, grocery bills etc, because i have no concrete data to do so. think about it.

back to reality, unemployment benefits are there for pple to use, she qualified for them, so she has a right to use them with out being labeled lazy. i dont agree with pple abusing the system, but that doesnt seem to be the case as i see it here. if you want to complain about waste, look at section 8 housing fraud amounting to an estimated 2 billion a year in this country. or to state and local governments, that continue to spend like they have madonna's credit card, while laying off pple in the bottom income jobs. many other sources out there to angry about. someone using temporary benefits they jumped through all the hoops to get has the right to them, use em. end of story.

znguy, she was saying she wanted to find a job that paid 15/hr. thats what she can get by on. how is that a feeling she is owed any special high paying job? a truer example of that are the ones that work/worked for the big 3 in motown. perhaps thats just what she has made in the past, or that her obligations are that great that she needs to make that much to meet them.