My credit card debt is spread out over five cards and one consoldiation loan plus I did not mention that I have a car loan and rent on top of all of that to pay plus health insurance too since I am not employed which I am sure you are aware is not cheap these days. My spending habits are not out of control, I really do not live beyond my means. A good portion of the debt is from school. I am attending a private university and the first two years I could not borrow enough to cover tuition so I charged a big chunk of it plus all of my books. Yes, I have been looking outside of the K.C. job market and I agree that I will probably have to just give in and work at whatever I can find until that "dream" job comes along. Any other advice will be greatly appreciated and thanks for all that you have provided thus far. THANKS!!

My credit card debt is spread out over five cards and one consoldiation loan plus I did not mention that I have a car loan and rent on top of all of that to pay plus health insurance too since I am not employed which I am sure you are aware is not cheap these days.

I don't know what your situation is as far as needing medical insurance, but I don't have medical, because when I did have it, I hardly ever needed to use and and when I did need medical attention, it never covered anything I needed anyway (prescriptions, after hours doctor's visits, ER visit, etc.)

You are in the same situation I was about three years ago.

Things To Do

1. Get any dang job you can! I had two work 2 jobs for a while.

2. Call your credit card agencies and get them to lower your interest rates. Many time one phone call will do it.

3. Shop around and get lower credit card rates if at all possible an do a balnce transfer. Currently, I took a Citi with 0% for six months and transfered my 14.9% Chase Visa onto it. I really helps.

4. Try not to fund any activities with your cards. Period. Paragraph.

5. Health Insurace: Only if you really need it. Right now, keeping as much as you can earn is important, since your "dang job" may not bring in as much dough as your dream one.

5. See #1

milleniumfalcon
Who three years ago was unemployed with $17K worth of debt...
and will be free free free as oh June 30, 2002

milleniumfalcon
Who three years ago was unemployed with $17K worth of debt...
and will be free free free as oh June 30, 2002

YES!!!!!!

Can't wait for that Happy Dance!

Nancy

I graduated from college just a few weeks ago, and I'm still looking for a job. I completely understand where you are coming from. It is hard to explain to some people that are employed just how hard it is to find that first real job.

What I have been doing is scanning the internet. I look at all the popular job sites, like Monster, but I also look at my local paper's online classifieds. They contain so many more jobs than the print version. Also, find out what companies are in your area. Go to their websites. Its amazing how many companies only post open positions on their website. Scan your brain for any other past grads that you know from school or old coworkers. Call them up and see if they know of any open positions. NETWORK! I was told once that 90% of the jobs out there are not advertised in the local paper, so networking and going directly to companies could prove to be successful.

I have an interview next week for a job I discovered directly from the company's website that I could not find in the paper (online or otherwise).

Good Luck! And keep us posted!

laura

Thanks guys for all of the tips. Someone suggested moving back home with the parent's, while that is a great idea my family lives in a very small rural Missouri town that offers little hope for any kind of employment with a future. From reading all of the posts I guess I am not the first to get themselves into this situation and there is some comfort in that. I will keep on searching!!!! THANKS!!

Rodney

Rodney, it's been said before, but make those phone calls and get those interest rates lowered.

MBNA has been doing a 0% intro rate BT thing recently. If any of your cards are with them call and ask. Even if any of your cards aren't with them, call and ask. That should give you a little breathing room. (And if you get it, keep putting down some sort of payment every month.)

milleniumfalcon,

I COMPLETELY disagree with #5. I did just that and have paid dearly! I wish I had kept my insurance up at that time!! If rwoods is paying cobra it will cost more but, given the way rwood is stressing out if something should happen as a result of that rwood will have better coverage through group then with individual health insurance. BTW, I have a back injury. I missed many days of work when it first happened and a buddy of mine has $60,000 in medical bills due to a severe back injury and NO insurance. $11,000 of it the surgery.

cashcrop

Rodney,

Can you pick up any piece work such as tutoring or typing papers? What is the demographics of KC? Is there an elderly population? What kind of services are provided for them? Would you consider living with an elderly person and providing care in exchange for free R & B? How long do you anticipate being in this college town? You say your a senior meaning starting in fall or right now???

cashcrop

I, too, was in the same situation, about 6 years ago (and am finally seeing the light at the end of the debt tunnel). My numbers were spookily similar, too. 4+ years of not working, having to eat, buy books... they add up, even when you are trying to be careful.

I empathize with how hard it is to get that first job. It took me a while. Lots of resumes got dropped into a black hole.

What I did:
I moved back home for a year (not the most fun), and did some bartending. (Hint: having an evening job made it easier to conduct the job search during business hours).

When I moved back out, I found a place two blocks from my job. I was able to get by w/o a car, which saved me a *lot* of money.

And, I skipped the health insurance. I understand both sides of this (you are taking a risk, and if you have ongoing health concerns this may not even be an option). I was lucky, and did not need it.

As for the job search... talk to your friends. All of them. Find out what they are doing, how they are going about it. I took my first "real" job at very low paying association to get the experience. Six months later, I actually started getting responses to my resume when I went looking again...

I hope some of this helps.
-brad

I wish I had kept my insurance up at that time!!

I have to agree. I saw medical bills eat up some family members, and I went through a similar experience. I was fortunate that mine was only a few thousand dollars. I now pay a pretty penny for my coverage, but I consider it a necessity. I really don't think the risk of going without insurance is worth what you could save. One serious illness or accident, and you can literally be decades behind where you are now.

OLF

Alright, two thoughts on this thread:

First, as someone who works for a college, I have to ask: ARE YOU TAKING FULL ADVANTAGE OF YOUR SCHOOL'S PLACEMENT OFFICE? I'm frankly amazed by the percentage of students at *my* school who don't even know that the Career & Placement Services office even exists! Endear yourself to the folks there, who often know recruiters at top employers VERY well.

Second, I have to put my 2 cents in on health insurance. DH never had it until we married and I put him on my policy. He was in perfect health! Then, bam!, massive stroke out of nowhere last summer. Bills currently tracked at $186,000.00. Insurance has paid everything but a couple of thousand. Can't imagine life without it. Or him. :-)

Floatin
slip slidin' all over the river tonight (dang pleasure-boaters & their wakes)

Yes, Floatin Fool, I have been working very closely with my University's placement office but they have been unable to come up with anything as of yet. I have even been using the resouces of a consulting company that was provided for by Sprint when I got laid off and still nothing there. There are jobs out there but most are postings that want multiple years of experience and unfortunately I was only with Sprint two years so I was not able to gain as much experience as necessary. I am not limiting myself only to the telcom market either......I have been researching all avenues.

Thanks,
Rodney

Yes, Floatin Fool, I have been working very closely with my University's placement office but they have been unable to come up with anything as of yet.

Over the last couple of years, the average time it takes a new graduate to find work after graduating has been about 6 to 9 months. Since you worked for Sprint for a couple of years you'll probably do better than that.

Anyway, do the best you can and don't get discouraged, as you will find work eventually.

-- Mark

The first thing to do is obviously to stop sliding further down into debt.

Step one is obviously to stop using those credit cards.

Step two I would say stop using your your savings account to pay for your credit card payment minimums! You need that as your efund for things like any car problems or rent problems or other emergencies. Let's say you deplete your savings accounts paying off your minimums and you still don't have a new job. Then you might end up going into default on those cards AND you won't have any money for your actual daily needs or health insurance. One hospital stay could easily double your current debt.

Step three would be to scrimp and save and work hard. I know you know this already but let me tell you it is much better to be 23 and struggling to pay off debt than 30 and struggling to pay off debt.

Snerge