I'm totally screwed right?

I am struggling to save some money. It’s not a lot right now but it’s the best I can do until something else comes along. So far I got a grand in my savings. Things got tough since Wal-Mart cut everyone’s hours down to nothing. I don’t pay rent but I do pay phone and cable bill. Then I help out from time to time with buying some groceries for the house. I been helping my pops the best I can when things get a little too tight here at home. I am not investing in anything because that is all the savings I have with no back up income in case I blow my last and only savings. I do want to get into real estate investing but between paying off my debts and pitching in financially to help at home is rough for me at the moment. I don’t know much of about real estate, which is why I came here to learn from the experts in the real estate investing trade. I have never been to an auction before nor do I know what to do when I get there. Tax leins are something I am still doing research on and how it works. I am doing something other than pushing carts but nothing came up yet. I am having a hard time saving money because of my school loans. And yes I have already consolidated my school loans. I been deferring and forebearing them as much as I can. I may be in bad shape this year because the deadline to start making payments on the consolidated loan is this year. There is something I am about to take a shot it to make some extra money. I am going to start my own accounting business from home. I have the equipment already in place to start. I can do all the bookkeeping for small local business around my area. I have the degree plus some additional bookkeeping courses I took and passed last year. I haven’t seen those posts for the broken cell phone and computers. Sounds like a good business to have. There is one more thing I forgot to mention about that degree. I sorta got that from an online school. I been getting some bad feedback about getting an online degree vs a traditional 4 year degree. That may be one of the setbacks on my resume. Thanks for everyones effort to help.

Talk to a bankruptcy trustee if you can wipe out that student loan. Donald Trump filed for his third bankruptcy in Nov. and he’s still a real estate billionaire.

Keep networking with your accounting dept. and HR dept. if they are doing internal hires and to keep you in mind. I got a job as a security guard well over a decade ago and within a month they advanced me to office manager. It was an internal hire from an entry level position. Walmart is a huge organization. You’ve gotta let them know that you want to advance to a position of greater responsibility. People find better jobs elsewhere and leave the accounting dept. or get fired. That’s your opportunity.

I been told different stories about bankruptcy and student loans. From what I been hearing is that student loans cannot be rid of through bankruptcy. I don’t know if that is true or not, but that’s what I heard. I have been looking for accounting positions at Wal-mart but they have nothing available then again it wouldn’t make a difference seeing how everyone’s shift is reduced. I need something stable and full-time.

I don’t think your “screwed” sounds to me like your in a good motivational position to try something new. Put effort into something you can succeed at that’s not to complicated. Bird dogging in real estate is a good one, and there are other ways to make money from home, like the program my website explains.
I know what it’s like to feel like your at rock bottom with 20feet of water over your head, it was the best time for me to conquer my fears! Even though it seemed like I still had more to lose I didn’t even know what it was. It was just fear of a positive change. It was fear of putting all my effort into something and have it turn out worse for me, that’s what held me back, but then I thought if I DO NOT make a change things are not going to get any better. So I had to make a change for progress there by getting me out of that hole. It really is true that the fear of success can hold one back. I hope you find something that sets you free soon! :smile

When opportunity knocks open there door, drag it inside and duct tape it to a chair in the basement.

Where your at is GOOD. I refer to this position as “on the grind.” You have nowhere to go but up.

I have made $200K + per year, I know live in a rental, have no truck, share my wifes, and am typing on a laptop from Rent-a-Center.

It snowed here bad this weekend, cha-ching, $1000 in my pocket cash.

I would look for a property get it under contract and give it away cheap. Make some money and start a relationship. Look around and find opportunities and make the most of it. If you still have problems then email me and I’ll help plant seeds for ya.

As I tell the guys that work for me “stop standing around and do something even if it’s wrong!”

You can always check to see if pizza/food delivery position is open. They are usually part time and you can make ok money depending on tips. The nice part is you can usually set your schedule around your other job.

Also, look at payday loan style places. They usually have high turn over and would probably like somebody with an accounting/service background.

After you get your resume up to snuff dress up and just go meet some people and tell them about yourself. Right now you time is virtually worthless so go out and spend it finding another/better job so your time will start being worth something. That’s the quickest way somebody in your position can get a high ROI. Also, you should look up an local, state, and fed jobs.

Oh oh oh I almost forgot. With it being tax season you need to see if the IRS is still taking seasonal tax preparers in your area. Go to usajobs.com or maybe .gov and do a search. They pay anywhere from 11-16 an hour depending on the position and where you are in the country. That could eventually lead to a full time position.

I definitely have to try something new. It’s a must do for me at this moment. It gets me more depressed because I am not getting any younger and I don’t want to keep working jobs I hate just for the sake of keeping a check til I’m old. I am posting ads right now looking for someone to bird dog for. I am glad someone understand what I am going through. It is an awful feeling to be at rock bottom. I have the same fears you describe, which is what got me stuck in the rat race working any kind of 9 to 5 I can find. I would rather take my chances at being my own boss opposed to not stepping out there and take a chance at something new, which could completely change my life.

Just think of these as your character building years. I think of myself as piece of iron. I’m gonna have the sh*t pounded out of me for a few years but carbon is being worked into me and as I take shape I’m hardened into fine steel. After that I’m gonna cut it up and this tool is gonna start working overtime for only itself. He/She that laughs last laughs the loudest. I’m going to laugh last and it’s going to last for a long long long time.

You should be hustling so hard that you need a sleep aid to help your mind settle down and fall asleep at night. Then after you’ve been hustling for a while you’ll just go to bed one night, fall instantly asleep, snore like a bear, and have vivid dreams. Then you’ll wake up and realize you are finally doing things right. You have to keep hustling but you’re on autopilot and not having to tear your hair out anymore. I’m finally at this point. I know I have a long way to go but things are clicking. I know I’m making right decisions and those decisions are going to start compounding in a major way. I’m tired and excited…it feels great.

It sounds like you’re set on doing something in real estate, but here are a few non-real estate options that haven’t been mentioned:

  1. Depending on whether your town/city has them, get your resume out to as many recruiters as possible. A lot of people don’t like recruiters because, quite frankly, some of them are very poor at what they do, but the bottom line is that a good one will bust their butt looking for employment for you, and he/she will have access to jobs that don’t show up in the classifieds. The last job I had was through a recruiter and I made roughly 40% more per hour at that job than I’ve made anywhere else. Granted, it was only a short-term contract job, but it helped me wipe out the debt I had and gave me valuable experience.

  2. Again, this kind of depends on the size of the city you live in, but there are usually paid survey jobs on Craigslist. I just did a search the other day for the city I’m in and there were 4 or 5 that paid $50 or more, and one of them was something like $150. You’re essentially getting paid for your time (usually an hour or two) – it doesn’t get much simpler than that.

  3. Companies like Leapforce and Lionbridge offer work-from-home jobs for people to analyze Google search results. I know, I know, most work-from-home jobs are a scam, but these two aren’t. I’ve actually been working for Leapforce for over a year now. The pay isn’t great at all, but you can work part-time and make another $1K a month (that’s if you work roughly 4 hours a day, 5 days a week).

Lastly, I understand being frustrated that you aren’t finding work in your field, but getting a degree is never a waste, IMO. People forget that the extra work/studying that goes into a degree helps you a become more well-rounded, articulate person, and it also strengthens your verbal and written communication skills. Furthermore, it makes you eligible for jobs that require a degree in ANY discipline, which separates you from high school grads who can’t apply for those positions.

Good luck…

Not in my part of town but in the metro area outside my city limits where I live have recruiters. The last time I signed up for paid survey they had me jumping through hoops. I have never heard of leapforce or lionbridge. How did you even find these sites? My folks brainwashed me with all the negative talk telling me not to waste my time and money getting a degree. After hearing that a few times and not seeing any progress with getting a job, I began to believe that was true. I am going to take a huge risk and take your word that these two websites are not scams? Work from home jobs are famous for scams.

Do employers even look at people anymore if all they have is a HS diploma?

I found out about those companies because a little over a year ago I was out of work and was looking at every work option out there. I basically just stumbled upon them on Craigslist. They both have websites (just use the .com at the end) you can go to. I totally understand you being apprehensive because most work-from-home jobs ARE scams. If I were you I would just take a look at the sites and if you don’t want to do it, no biggie.

One way to tell for sure if a work-from-home job is a scam is they will usually ask you to buy something. These sites don’t do that. The other thing is, you have to pass a VERY long test to get the job for Leapforce. They want to make sure you will be good at the job, so you have to pass the test to be accepted. I’ll tell you right now, it’s pretty long – I think it took me like 5 hours to complete. I don’t know if there are tests with Lionbridge, but I’ve heard their application is pretty lengthy as well. And I didn’t mean to give the impression that you can just sign up and automatically get a job. Not everyone passes the Leapforce test, so it’s not a “gimme.” I just thought I would throw those companies out there as options.

I understand what you mean about your parents not being supportive about getting a degree. My parents never actually told me not to do it, but I don’t think they really saw the value in it since neither of them went to college. Statistically speaking, people who have a degree typically make a lot more money than people who don’t. There are obviously exceptions to that rule and you don’t HAVE to have a college degree to make good money, but if you have a college degree you will have more options than someone who doesn’t, IMO.

Why does leapforce require me to list a business name as part of the application process? Everyone doesn’t have a business. Please tell me you are kidding with the 5 hour exam. Are you serious? If I start now, I will be stuck at this computer til almost midnight. What is on the test anyway and hard is this LONG exam?

Like I said, if you don’t want to do it you don’t have to. The reason the test is so long is because they want to make sure you understand the work. Since they don’t interview you in person or on the phone, they have to have some other way to make sure you will work out. The test is composed of the same type of work you would be doing for them if you were to be hired. For the most part, it’s evaluating the relevancy of search engine results. If you’re not a big Internet person, you probably wouldn’t like it.

As for the business name, I’m not sure why they do that. I think I just put my personal name in that field, and the checks they send me are definitely in my name, not a business. If for some reason your personal name doesn’t work you can always just email them and ask.

I would do it. It just caught me off guard with the lengthy test that’s all. I am big on surfing the internet everyday, which his pretty much it.

Yeah, the test is definitely long. I think a lot of people are surprised by the length of it (myself included). Just an FYI, though, you don’t have to sit down and take the whole test all at once. I think they give you something like two weeks to complete it, so you can do it in bits and pieces.

Also, I should add that I really took my time when I did it because I wanted to make sure I didn’t make any dumb mistakes. I’m sure a lot of people completed it quicker than I did.

That’s much better because I was beginning to think it was like all the other tests I took online, which were timed tests. I panic with those and just rush through them.