I'm pretty sure alot of us are facing this problem with the ever increasing financial crisis of the world. It seems that every day, in order to survive in life (because I wouldn't call a life where you have to be scraping on a regular basis living) you have to cut back on everything and even then, the essentials for living (food, water, shelter) are ridiculously high especially since most jobs don't even make enough for living. You have to have an equivalent to 1 1/2 to 2 full jobs or share expenses with someone else in order to get by. Even then, its really hard.

I want to be able to get out and have a place of my own someday but the future looks pretty bleak. I only make an average of $150 a week, sometimes even less and I have to divide that between gas, food, bills, everyday expenses, etc. And with more and more frequency Im being unable to even get by the week. Not finding another job isn't really helping and asking for more hours has proven useless (been almost 2 years asking for a full time position and I've yet to see any results). How can I pretend im going to get anywhere like this?

Yes, it is hideous out there. I think we'll see everyone shacking up together more and more as time goes on. Families won't split off unless someone gets married. Kids will stay with parents for longer. Every couple I know out there isn't a couple because they care about each other as much as they need the other person's income to have a little breathing room in the doldrums between paychecks. I see all kinds of people who have great work ethic, show up every day and work their asses off only to be brutalized by the ponzi scheme that is our economy. Many on this forum are those kinds of people.

I don't really have a good answer for you here Crystal. I'm in the same spot. I have about $7 left over every month. We're all trapped and that's just how it is at the moment.

You could always retrain to do something more profitable?

AZ

I don't know if retraining would make much difference. I have considered studying another field but paying for classes is excruciatingly hard when your a student with no debts, I can't imagine how I would get by with the little money I make and the bills on my back.

Apart from that companies always look for some cheap excuse for not giving you a job or raising the salary. I've covered a full education with a high GPA, years of experience (not trying to sound arrogant) in different fields from office work, customer service in retail stores, summer camps and yet I can't even manage to land a decent job. I apply for everything I can find in which I can manage pretty decently, say that I'm willing to take any shift, be it early morning or even late and graveyard shifts and I don't get even a phone call.

What I meant by retraining is picking something you can do for relatively cheap and learn it. I'm starting to learn about VMWare so I can get into that at some point. I chose it because they offer free classes from the company themselves. Stuff like that.

There's just a surplus of workers and employers can be as picky as they want. That also involves treating their workers like shit like they seem to be doing to you at your place of employment.

I understand about the debt. School is outrageously expensive. That river of federal grant and loan money has made them fat and arrogant. Part of me wishes the whole thing will collapse so they can't turn people into debt slaves any more. But I digress.

It's tough out there right now. I'm right there with you.

AZ

Crystal, what jobs have you been working recently? Knowing that would help me know what kind of advice to give.

Right now I'm working at a retail store. Its been that aside from summer camp and office job before.

I just read an article about this yesterday. It said your happiness should be your top priority and that if you put obligations to others above your happiness, then you're failing. But if you have little money and put your happiness above obligations to other people, you're a success.

So I'm not understanding why you feel obligated to pay for your parents and brother.

Also have you considered government supplementary income based on your disability?

I suppose I'm still being stupid and thinking that its my responsibility to take care of my family. I don't have the means to live on my own so I'm stuck here. The government here rarely helps anyone but themselves. If you have an income, you are automatically disqualified for any help.

Well why do you feel obligated to take care of your family? You could be saving money to move out.

Crystal, I appreciate you sharing your situation. I feel as if I am in the same boat and had a talk with my mom about it tonight.

Have you tried consulting with your local employment authority? They have a variety of free resources that help you including tips on preparing your resume and job leads. You even get a dedicated employment counselor sometimes. This could help you get some insight into your job search.

As for retraining, AZ offers good advice. I have a job right now that also doesn't pay enough to meet my expenses. So instead of going back to college, I've decided to learn another skill. There is currently a shortage of software developers (starting salaries of 50-100K) and I've been training to be a developer. It will take a few years perhaps, but eventually I'll get there.

Thanks to the public library and all kinds of MOOCs (massive open online courses, basically free courses online a la companies like coursera, udemy and udacity, etc.) you can get the skills you need without going back to school. There are a lot of startups out there that are willing to hire someone with initiative and skill and not necessarily a college degree.

Don't mean to sound all ice cream and cake here, because that's not true. It is hard. In the past few weeks between commuting and trying to find an affordable place near my job I've been unable to work on coding in over a month. Sometimes it just seems like there aren't enough hours in a day to get out of this rut.

Keep fighting Crystal and I hope you will get financial and personal freedom soon not just to pay your bills but to enjoy yourself and do the things that you'd like.