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A few ideas: there are lots of summer jobs across the country working for state and federal parks that include room and board. While you wouldn't make a lot, you could get some money saved.
You could also work as a nanny pt or ft, or work as a companion--again with room and board. Or perhaps you could find someone that needs a pet sitter/house sitter for the summer.
Regarding cars, some older cars are dependable! Diesels have less complicated engines and last forever--and are cheap to maintain. I bought a 1990 MBZ 190e (not a diesel but a simple engine) in 05 for $1600 hoping it would last a year and it lasted until a year ago when it wouldn't pass smog and the state payed my $1000 to retire it. My son drive it cross country several times with no problems until it broke down one time (and he wasn't maintaining it properly.) Take one of your mechanic friends with you to go car shopping. Older people with luxury cars often keep them forever and have low mileage.
If you can get settled into the federal job, you should try and pick up a few side jobs like dog walking, pet sitting, babysitting on the weekend, running errands for older or disabled folks, etc.
IIRC from OP's old posts, she had $30K cash saved up when she moved to Maine. How much more prepared can she be?
I think it's Maine itself. It sucked up that $30K because there are just not enough opportunities for a person who needs a steady paycheck to survive. I wouldn't even bet on the cities there being much good either.
I know one single, non-retirement age woman who moved to a small town in Maine successfully. She previously had had a relatively high dollar job in NYC (not high dollar for NYC, but high dollar for Maine). She got on her company's long term disability (60% of income tax free) for life. She had guaranteed money coming in each month and could play at artist. If she needed to work to survive, forget it.
From what I've read about Maine and from some of the properties we've looked at, I wouldn't go out there without a newer vehicle and at least two years of what you'd need to live on in savings. To some people 30k is a lot of money, to others barely enough to survive a year. We looked at one property that would cost us 6k a year to heat I understand why it's hard for young people to make it there. Maine is a rich man's paradise and can be a nightmare existence without the proper income.
TWIS, when you get a working car, please get out of Maine and go to a state, city, area that has more positive opportunities for jobs, and ways to get to work, such as public transportation, walking, or biking and has better weather.
I met a woman working in a gift shop in Iowa (?Wall Drugs, on the way to Montana) one summer (1999). She told me she belonged to a group/company or such that sent her all over to work in tourist gift shops in state parks, etc. She was given room and board (don't remember if salary and meals were included, sorry, it's been a long time) and worked during the tourist season. She was a retired teacher and lived in Wisconsin in the winter with her parents, and traveled during the summer. I thought it was great at the time, and still do. Perfect for a single person with no ties, like alot of us in our 50's and up. I will try to find the website name (I hope I have saved it, I have replaced my computer since I looked up the site). I do remember the book "Cool Careers for Dummies" by Marty somebody. I found cooljobs.com while looking for the tourist job website.
From what I've read about Maine and from some of the properties we've looked at, I wouldn't go out there without a newer vehicle and at least two years of what you'd need to live on in savings. To some people 30k is a lot of money, to others barely enough to survive a year. We looked at one property that would cost us 6k a year to heat I understand why it's hard for young people to make it there. Maine is a rich man's paradise and can be a nightmare existence without the proper income.
$30K is enough to get started on in most places in the country for a single woman with no children who is planning to rent, not buy, and who plans to get a job right away, not sit around and live off the money and pretend she's a lady of leisure. But like you note above, Maine is different. I guess TWIS could not imagine that she would be severely underemployed for 2.5 years there and then the latest developments would happen to top it all off. I don't know much about Maine, but what I do know makes me not want to live there unless I could "bring my own guaranteed lifetime check" or break into fiction writing on a Stephen King level. I have tried to live in 2 depressed economies in my life (once in PA wanted to stay in area after college which was an area with no jobs where the candidates not the employers were paying the steep fees to employment agencies and once in FL). Never again would I willingly put myself though that. Where I live is expensive compared to a lot of areas but there is money to be made. Only had a bad layoff after 9/11 when company's downtown office was shut and had to wait 9 months until they could get enough space in midtown. Went through outsourcing to India, but was able to bounce back to another industry. In a place with a habitual crappy economy and/or a backwater I would have been through.
The issue is the dogs, the OP has dogs. Otherwise, put your stuff in storage, and get a job with National Park concessions, they are hiring now for the season, room, and board, and you don't need a car for work. My daughter is a housekeeper this year. Last year, she was a cook. Unskilled, and they need folks who can stay until October.
Speaking of dogs...the business that I was wanting to start, that I thought I could start off really small and eventually work my way up, (posted on another thread in this forum not too long ago), that has been met with either silence or scammers trying to "send" me their dog and give me a cashier's check for it, (seriously???!?), has actually got its first customer.
Isn't that neat?
Except I need a FRICKEN CAR to do this business. I've been working on this idea for awhile, decided to just start really small, have been waiting for even a bite all this time and not even a week after the car dies, NOW I get that first bite.
C'mon!!
I've even been debating in my mind whether I should rent a car every single day, instead of pay my rent for June, to get that one positive. Unfortunately, to be completely honest with myself, while I know I would lose money just trying to gain a positive and hoping the word would spread, I don't have enough to maintain it for more than a week.
This is just a proverbial slap in the face.
I have GOT to find a damn car or get mine fixed. I have asked for help, like I was told to just get over it and do. I have been applying for jobs left and right that I can do without a car...I had an interview today and...sigh, well, I didn't make it.
But I keep trying to find a way and I'm really not sure what the heck to do right now.
What I need is a lot, it's a lot for many people...but it seems like a drop in the bucket with all the money that is out there is swirling around. It's so frustrating.
In response to the person who told me to lie about my pets....this is how NOT good I am at lying...that never even occurred to me. That's how horrible I am at the whole lying thing.
Some days I wish I didn't have morals. Then I could lie about my pets, work people's heart strings and the money would have poured in. But I'm so incapable of making up a good lie, actually doing the lying part and being ok with it afterwards that it would never work for me.
"Be hard working.
Go to school.
Work harder.
Be honest.
If you do all of those things, you will do well in life."
Well...maybe not always.
Ask for help, I'm told. Ok...
Hey, guys, I need help. I need to come up with a good chunk of change to get me back in to it. I know I haven't yet lost everything and others in this world have, I still, (hopefully), have my health. My pets are not dying. My house didn't burn down. But, I still need help anyway. I just need my car to work. That's all. I just need my car to work. It would change everything.
Do you have internet connection? They don't pay a lot, but there are legit work at home jobs. Here's a recent thread with some links to companies that hire, forums and websites: https://www.city-data.com/forum/work-...me-jobs-3.html
Maybe something like that will help you get on your feet and keep your bills paid while you save for repairs or a new car.
How about just buy a very old beat up car that runs for less than $1,000? You might find it on craiglist or somewhere. I sold my old car that runs, but look bad inside and out, for $300 about 10 years ago.
Do you have internet connection? They don't pay a lot, but there are legit work at home jobs. Here's a recent thread with some links to companies that hire, forums and websites: https://www.city-data.com/forum/work-...me-jobs-3.html
Maybe something like that will help you get on your feet and keep your bills paid while you save for repairs or a new car.
This is what I've been doing. I have been up almost every single hour of the day for the past five days applying, taking assessment tests, finding more jobs to apply for, reading so many forums and sites that have real people telling the truth about companies, and any time I even see them mention a place in casual conversation, I look it up and apply there, too.
I had an interview for Alpine Access today. I didn't get it. What I've learned, however, is that they have hired way more people than they have work. A lot of people are being turned away or are being told they made it past the first interview, schedule a second one and they can never find an opening in the schedule. Many are frustrated but despite all of that, I still tried. Oh well.
I also got another call this afternoon and the lady really liked me. When I went to their website to apply for their work at home position, NO WHERE on the site did it say they only hire in FL because most of the job is...guess what?! Driving! LOL...I'm going to go insane. But you do a lot of driving, not just working from home so to me, that isn't really a "work at home" job. Of course, I didn't know this when I applied and she didn't tell me until we were almost done with everything.
But I keep trying.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Timing2012
How about just buy a very old beat up car that runs for less than $1,000? You might find it on craiglist or somewhere. I sold my old car that runs, but look bad inside and out, for $300 about 10 years ago.
The absolute cheapest thing I could find in my area that would not fall apart the second I drove it off the lot was $1500. That's a car with over 181,000 miles on it. However, before I would be able to get new tags, registration, inspection and insurance, (another chunk of change that comes with the purchase of a car), I would have to get a new windshield and replace all four tires because it only has studded tires on it. In fact, I would have to get four new tires for the car before I ever drove it off the lot.
Take that money and I could have an engine and some of the labor costs already covered for my car.
Buying a car from a lot as opposed to a private party will double your costs, btw. My mechanic will do a full prepurchase check for $50-60. You need to find a trustworthy mechanic! Perhaps you could offer to barter with a mechanic on CL on exchange for dog walking, pet sitting, etc.
Do you have a friend that would watch your animals over the summer? I understand the value of having pets, but if you end up homeless, you won't be able to care for them at that point either.
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I understand why it's hard for young people to make it there. Maine is a rich man's paradise and can be a nightmare existence without the proper income.
