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TWIS, Sit down and go through every option you can to solve this. You have come a long way, And deserve this new Job opportunity. We are all rooting for you!
I think that there are two solutions... get another car (or fix the current one) or move closer to work. Like, really close, even if it's not a fantastic area/fantastic place. Get enough money saved up with the gas/commute reduction, healthier too, then move to a better place with saved money.
On a serious note, though, I hope OP has considered all alternatives before throwing the towel. You wouldnt even have unemployment to help compensate, so I'd advice to pursue all alternatives fast and furious. Even if that means moving, or getting a line-of-credit to replace/repair your car.
TWIS, when you say the car died, do you mean it needs a few repairs or did it have 130,000 miles on it and you pushed it to it's limits?
You also rent in Maine, why not move much closer to the job rather than do that horrific commute.
You wanted this job that you're currently at and really pursued it(a few times), and the salary was decent. If you need a new car than get a used one with a warranty. You can put down a deposit and make payments.
Also you might want to remind yourself of your old posts when it was getting down to bare bones for you and your two dogs, you're a tough cookie, don't let this car situation create more problems.
Look at used cars if your car is not be able to repaired, the car dealer will even give you something towards your old car and with a down payment you can make payments on the used car.
I mean over the course of two months, I put in almost 2 grand getting everything fixed, (this includes cost of rental car that I could get the one time). I had plans to move closer but with all the car repairs I was getting done, I basically was working just to pay for gas and fix my car to keep getting to work.
I don't know what is up with the car right now. It's being looked at and I've heard nothing so far. I have been extremely successful in working myself up by reading crap all over the internet, however.
As for all this money I'm supposed to have, it doesn't exist. I spent a crap load of money getting this car fixed, trying to keep it maintained in addition to the five hundred in gas I am spending every month. I have no money. I was hoping to finally get ahead but...well, I've already lost the job. The new boss in town is not lenient at all especially for those of us on probation, (six months probation), and missing another day is not acceptable. The job is gone.
With no job, there is no way I will get a loan for another car. If the engine seized, (there's plenty of oil in it), or the transmission belt broke and screwed up a lot of stuff, like people are telling me, I'm really, really, really up spit creek.
OMG! People, I didn't "GIVE UP THE JOB", I LOST the job.
I've been dealing with car repairs in Jan and Feb. Thought that was all behind me. I got a warning about missing those days because I was on probation. Then this &*#@! happened. Car doesn't get me to work.
WHAT FRICKEN MONEY?!
Don't you think if I had the money to rent a damn car I would have?!
I moved here, had a good chunk of savings. Over the course of two years, despite working whatever job I could, I couldn't seem to land a full time job. Savings dwindled. Finally depleted. I finally found a full time job in November. I started November 13th. I was two weeks away from losing everything when I started this job. I mean....EVERY. THING.
Our first paycheck was only for a couple of days, not enough to pay rent and I needed that money for the gas to keep going to work. I contacted my landlord and told her the situation in advance. Thankfully, the landlord really likes me. She accepted I would have to pay rent late this one time. (NEVER had to do this before.)
With the check I got in the middle of December, I paid the rent. What was left, I used for gas to keep getting to work. The first check I got in January, I had to pay rent. What was left I used for gas to keep getting to work.
Thought I would have relief by second check in January and THAT is when the first of the car problems started. I spent a lot of money trying to find out what the damn problem was. I DID rent a car at that time, cost me quite a bit of money because it was not just for one day.
Thought we had the problem fixed, it was not. Car kept having issues. Terrible issues. I had to take it back in but had no money right away because first Feb check had to go to rent. Kept driving anyway because, I don't have the money to keep renting a car for two weeks. Eventually there was a burning smell. I was told by the mechanic that I was not ALLOWED to drive the car because it was a safety issue now. IF I continued to drive it, if the engine didn't seize, it could catch on fire. Those were HIS words. I was not allowed to drive my car. I missed days until I had the money to get it fixed. If I had the means to rent a car at that time, I WOULD have.
Get check in mid Feb. IT ALL WENT TO CAR REPAIRS!
First check in March, pay rent.
Second check in March, pay all late bills that have not been paid for months! (No credit card bills, I have no credit cards), and keep in mind, every single month, it was five hundred dollars for gas.
First check in April, goes to rent.
Second check in April, continue catching up as not being able to pay for things for three months takes a toll. THOUGHT car problems were behind me. AND four brand new tires were added because the other tires were so worn it was ridiculous and unsafe.
First check in May...goes to rent!
Car died WHILE. I. WAS. DRIVING. IT.
Don't have money to rent a car. None. I simply do not have it. There is no family here. My friends all work, they can't drive me 130 miles.
Of course if I had money to rent a car, OF COURSE I would have. OF COURSE!!
The new job, I just got, meaning, I just got offered the job, requires.....driving. If my car is seized up, like some have been telling me it sounds like it is, it requires maybe a new engine. That is, minimal, $1200. I don't HAVE that money. That means, I have no car. That means, I can't do a job that requires driving. That means, I can't take the damn job I was just offered.
I cannot, for the life of me, figure out why anyone would think I just said, 'Oh well, can't get to work today, I'll just quit". That is not how I work. But if I have NO WAY of getting there and I've already received a warning for missing days because in the past I had to wait until pay day to get the car fixed, guess what missing another day, due to car issues, does?
You get told you are terminated.
Of course I have tried every option. I have BEGGED to borrow cars. I have begged for a discount at the car rental places. (I did get one because of working for the state but it was still expensive.) I do not beg for money. I'm not going to hit up my friends for money. They know what is going on. They can offer it or not, but I am not going to beg my friends for money, that is not how I treat my friends. Family is not an option.
I'm doing this on my own. Some of you have safety nets or family that will help, some of us have to do things on our own. And doing things on our own is not always easy. And sometimes you lose.
Last edited by Three Wolves In Snow; 05-18-2013 at 02:42 PM..
You've lost that one job, that was too far and you hated it anyways. Furthermore, you have an offer on hand for the new job - did they give you a start date? Usually they give you two weeks before you have to start, that'll buy you some time at least. So what you need to do now is to figure out a way to get your old car running again, such as getting it fixed on credit, or procuring another vehicle, for however cheap you can get one for. You say you don't have any money, but what about valuables? Distestful as it may be, it might be time to visit the pawn shop and see what you can scrape together. If you don't have a credit card that you can use, I'd get a new one, pronto. Also, there's the friends and family to maybe get some relief - people are quite understanding when it comes to situations like the one you're in.
Just read your new post. First thing I'd do is to find out when you start the new job. THEN I'd go to used car dealers with the info about the new job (or heck, just bring in your paystubs from your last job, they don't have to know you've been canned...lol) - and get them to accept your old car as a downpayment and get financing for a car that runs, do your best to get some sort of warrenty if you can, so you'll have some security in your new job. You say you don't have a credit card - I'd open one up online, like immediately - it's amazing how quickly you can get unsecured credit these days, even with a fairly low credit score. And while pawn shops do suck, it can be a quick way to raise some cash.
Once a car starts having multiple issues you have to look into whether or not it is worth to repair it. You also have to start limiting your trips.
I guess I don't understand why you kept doing that commute? You started in mid November, by January that would have been enough time to know whether it was a fit or not(I realize you don't like the job, but it is a state govt. job which gets your foot in the door) and moved closer.
You said your landlady likes you and if she let you pay the rent late should understand that commuting 130 miles a day is insane, even if she said I am keeping your security deposit, in the long run you would have come out ahead when you're spending $500 a month in gas.
Not trying to be tough on you but logical, if you a have a car that is starting to give you lots of problems the last thing you apply for is a job that involves driving.
You don't say how old the car is or how many miles it has. I had a car that over 100,000 miles and after a few costly repairs I limited the use of the car to just driving locally and started taking the commuter train to work. I didn't it trust to go too far from home.
I figuered if it died on me again(and it did) it wasn't going to be so far from home that I was stranded.
I know you're in Maine you don't have mass transit, but it sounds like this car got pushed to its limits.
You could have started this new job and a few days into the car would have died on you. That pretty much would have raised the antenna of the employer with major concerns. This new position which required driving also required a reliable car.
I am sorry for your troubles, and I know you can't go back in time. But when a car starts having several issues you have to start looking for a replacement car and limiting the trips. And I would have gotten much closer to the job.
Just read your new post. First thing I'd do is to find out when you start the new job. THEN I'd go to used car dealers with the info about the new job (or heck, just bring in your paystubs from your last job, they don't have to know you've been canned...lol) - and get them to accept your old car as a downpayment and get financing for a car that runs, do your best to get some sort of warrenty if you can, so you'll have some security in your new job. You say you don't have a credit card - I'd open one up online, like immediately - it's amazing how quickly you can get unsecured credit these days, even with a fairly low credit score. And while pawn shops do suck, it can be a quick way to raise some cash.
There's always options out there.
I have nothing of value. It's not that I'm not even trying to think of anything, I, literally, have nothing of value.
I suppose I could go and see what I can do for a new car, (not meaning brand new), I just figured that wasn't an option because, if I lose a job, and haven't started the new job, I can't show that I have long term employment. Down payment...I don't have it. When I get paid for whatever is left over, I'll have enough for June rent, maybe a little bit extra, few hundred, but not enough for a down payment.
I'm freaking the hell out right now and can't think clearly because if this car is dead in the water, I'm so fricken screwed. You can't work around here without a car. The bus system, as someone pointed out, is horrible and when I did check to see where it could get me, it goes along one street and turns around. Seriously? And...I think I've seen the bus a total of two times in the entire two years I've lived here. It's not like other cities where there's a bus always running somewhere.
As for the new job, I have to turn in a whole bunch of hand signed paperwork, (which, I can put on a USB and go to a UPS store or Kinkos and print it out, sign it, scan it back on to my little flash drive), but that requires driving. The UPS store is closed tomorrow so that is out. I have been trying to find a Kinkos in this area but I can only find FedEx drop off points...no indication of any printer/scanner/computer areas.
I have to have this stuff turned in by tomorrow! If I can somehow manage to find out how to get that done, (a friend WILL drive me there I just have to find something that is open...oh and checked the public library here, they don't have a set up where I can use my flash drive, print, scan and put back on my flash drive....ugh!!!!), I take online training for 40 + hours. THAT I can do at home and buys me time. But I have to find a place to get this stuff printed out and rescanned first. If I don't get it in by tomorrow, I'm going to lose this.
I want this other job. And I can hopefully get the paperwork thing figured out enough to buy me that forty or so hours of training...but if the car really is dead in the water...omg, I don't even know what the hell to do. I mean, I really don't know what the hell to do.
I'm in denial right now that my engine is seized or the timing belt broke and destroyed everything. But, at the same time, I found a video on YouTube from a mechanic that shows you what the car sounds like when the engine seized and it sounds just like mine. I know, I know, I should put the damn internet away. It's not helping my anxiety right now.
God, even if someone had a car I could borrow until I could get my sh** together, that would be huge. I just don't know enough people here.
I'm not trying to have an attitude here on this thread, I just am totally freaking the hell out right now.
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