# Advice for the unemployed



## GroovyMike

I keep hearing about people who can’t find work. I know that it is more difficult to generate an income when the economy is sluggish but I have been blessed to find work pretty quickly when I needed it, so I thought I might offer some tips to anyone who is having a hard time making enough money to survive.

I am sure that there will be some replies that disagree with me so I am going to put my most controversial idea out front.

If you want to work, there is work to be had. This does not apply to you if you feel that you are too good to work for under $XX,000 per year or $XX per hour. My advice will do you no good if you are too lazy to WORK. 

Some will argue that they make more on unemployment than taking a minimum wage job. Shame on them. They are thieves stealing from you and me because they are taking aide when they don’t need it. They can get a job and just choose not to while we are forced to pay their bills. That is wrong.

My advice it to take the first job you can get and start supporting yourself with dignity, WHILE you look for a better job instead of taking welfare. Welfare is not intended to keep you at your comfy lifestyle. It is supposed to be a bare safety net to keep you from starvation, that’s it. 

If you are out of work, your FULL TIME job is finding a job.

Assuming that you WANT to work, I’ll proceed. If you disagree with what I said above, just stop reading now and go to another thread.

Ideally you can find work in your chosen field at a convenient location for the hours that you want and for more money than you earned in the past.

To reach that goal you need to be better than you were at the last job. Brush up your knowledge of the field and especially the employer(s) you hope to work for. Study for the interview even before you have one. 

Look for job postings in the printed classifieds and online. Ideally your future employer is so desperate for help that they are willing to advertise for strangers to come in and apply. But this is not always the case. If there is a company that you want to work for, ask everyone that you know connected with it if they are hiring. Express an interest. Ask who to talk to about any potential opening. 

If you don’t get any leads at all bring a copy of your resume and references to the work site and ask if you can leave it with their Human Resources department or other appropriate contact. Thank them for their time and ask them to call you if anything comes up. To the extent possible in the brief meeting, try to make friends with whoever you meet. If you do, they will call you when they have an opening.

Put out DOZENS of resumes. I figure 12 resumes might generate 1 interview. 12 interviews might generate 1 offer. So that’s 144 resumes to get an offer. It might take more. Don’t stop trying.

When you get an interview, show up 15 minutes early. Be clean. Wash and brush your hair. Consider getting a hair cut if needed. Wear clean clothes. Be honest. Don’t try to fake knowledge or experience that you don’t have. Never lie on your resume or in the interview. 

Bring a resume and written references plus a list of phone numbers to reach at least three references. Make sure that the phone numbers still work! Bring multiple copies – you may interview with 2 or 3 people in one sitting. Make sure that nothing is spelled wrong! I have had candidates bring in resumes with spelling errors. They are immediately out of the running. If you can’t be careful enough to have a resume spelled right, I don’t want you making mistakes with my equipment or books! Spelling errors on resumes and references sends the message that your work is sloppy and that you are lazy.

Ask your references ahead of time if the potential employer can call them. The best references are former supervisors. When I hire someone I want to hear that they are a hard worker, show up on time, and are pleasant to work with. Their last boss is the person I want to hear it from.

Be prepared to explain why you no longer have the job you are leaving. 

Thank the interviewer(s).


If you get offered a job, take it. Don’t try to leverage a better deal. Be grateful for the offer. You can work your way up the ladder from inside.

What if you are doing all of the above and still can’t find work? Enlarge the area. Be ready to commute a little farther and start again. Shut up, I’ve been commuting over 100 miles a day for 18 years. It’s worth it. If you can’t handle it, move closer to wherever you land the job.

What else can you do? Lower your expectations. If you can’t get that job you had last or the next promotion up from there try for the level one step down. If you can’t get work as a supervisor, hire on as a laborer. Seriously. Then work your butt off and get promoted within 6 months.

Ok what if you can’t find anything in your industry? And you just need income to put food on the table. Again – check the help wanted adds in the newspapers, online, and on bulletin boards at the unemployment office. Answer ALL OF THEM. Tell every restaurant within 50 miles that you’ll clean after hours, prep cook at 4 AM, or wash dishes during the day.

So you made $75k at your last gig. Big deal – go deliver pizza to put food on your table while you keep looking for the next big thing. Deliver newspapers at 4 AM to free your days up for looking for work.

If NO ONE is hiring, the help wanted ads are empty, and unemployment is 25%+ in your city – put up signs on every free bulletin board in town offering to SERVE your neighbors as a babysitter, dog walker, handyman, trash hauler, landscaper, errand runner, painter, etc. etc. 

Then knock on EVERY door on EVERY street and ask if you can mow their lawn, walk their dog, clean the garage, paint a fence, rake the leaves, bathe the cat – whatever they need done – for minimum wage or less. Offer to haul away junk / clean out garages and attics etc for FREE. Sell what you haul away as scrap metal or in classifieds to folks willing to buy it for half the retail value. One old book or plate of the right kind can sell for $100 if you connect it to the right buyer.

If you knock on 144 doors and offer to do yard work, painting, dog walking etc. (and don’t look like a thief trying to get in to rob the place) you WILL get work. If you do good work they will ask you back and refer you to their friends and neighbors. ALWAYS deliver more than promised. Come on time or early WHEN YOU SAY YOU WILL BE THERE, and charge less than expected. Be honest. If you do this, in a month you will have more work than you can handle.

If you need more money to keep the lights on, look for things to sell. Chances are good you have stuff someone will buy if the price is right. Put it on Ebay or Craigslist or both. On trash collection day look for big metal items on the curb for free that you could haul to the scrap metal buyer.

If a storm blows down a tree, offer to haul it away for free, then sell it as firewood. Heck if there’s a big trunk make a chainsaw sculpture and sell that!

Even if you are not in top physical condition, there are services that you can offer. Day care for kids is an issue for some folks. When I was a toddler my Mom cleaned businesses after hours and took care of elderly people and I went along. It can be done. 

I hope that I have offered a tip or two that helps you. If you try any of the above and it helps, let us know to encourage others who are still looking!
Good luck and thanks for reading 


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## lotsoflead

there are thousands out of work now who will not look for work long as Obama keeps extending unemployment benifits.


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## GroovyMike

lotsoflead said:


> there are thousands out of work now who will not look for work long as Obama keeps extending unemployment benifits.


I know. I have some in my own extended family. Drives me nuts. It's not that they can't find work. It is that they just prefer to have us pay for their extended vacation.


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## gypsysue

Yeah, too many people looking for that free ride along the easy road.

Great advice, GroovyMike. I wish more people had that kind of work ethic. 

lotsoflead, you're right about the unemployment benefits and the extensions. It's spreading the disease of hand-outs and "entitlement" mentality to an even wider group of people who may never again have the kind of work ethic they once had.


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## horseman09

lotsoflead said:


> there are thousands out of work now who will not look for work long as Obama keeps extending unemployment benifits.


You are absolutely right, lotso.

If you pay people to make babies, they will make babies.

If you pay people not to grow crops, they will not grow crops.

If you pay people (foodstamps) to not prepare food and instead buy prepared food, they will buy prepared food.

If you pay people not to work, they will not work.

We all know this instinctively, but the government has spent trillions of our dollars paying people to do the wrong things; but they still wonder why people do the wrong things.


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## lotsoflead

horseman09 said:


> You are absolutely right, lotso.
> 
> If you pay people to make babies, they will make babies.
> 
> If you pay people not to grow crops, they will not grow crops.
> 
> If you pay people (foodstamps) to not prepare food and instead buy prepared food, they will buy prepared food.
> 
> If you pay people not to work, they will not work.
> 
> We all know this instinctively, but the government has spent trillions of our dollars paying people to do the wrong things; but they still wonder why people do the wrong things.


 politicians way of buying votes with tax payer money


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## sailaway

lotsoflead said:


> politicians way of buying votes with tax payer money


I concur!


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## truthismyname33

*Should they go hungry?*

Tell that to a mother of three crying, hungry babies, who is out of work for whatever REASON, that can't feed her children. Every situation is different. All I'm suggesting here is, don't be so quick to judge someone because they now have to ASK for help, for assistance! Until you have walked a mile in Mr/Misses Jones shoes......


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## gypsysue

I think attitudes rub some people wrong. Yes, the food stamp program is a wonderful program, it's put food on the table of many families who really needed the assistance.

A lot of them are grateful for it, and have respect for those whose incomes have helped pay for the program.

But there's a growing number of "entitlement"-mentality people who demand these things and have no respect for the people who work hard and pay taxes (as if there's a choice!) to support these programs!

I was on food stamps for a few years when I was left alone to raise my children, and I taught my kids to be grateful we had that assistance. Then I was able to get a job, and then to remarry, and then we were the ones paying taxes into the system again. 

My children are grown and employed now, and paying into that same system, but who's to say they won't someday be in a position to need governement help.

But if they do, they'd better appreciate it, and be doing what they can to find employment/better employment, and showing respect for those out there working. 

I'm fed up with the whiners and the "entitlement"-mentality of a growing segment of society. That is not all-inclusive of people receiving assistance.


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## mosquitomountainman

truthismyname33 said:


> Tell that to a mother of three crying, hungry babies, who is out of work for whatever REASON, that can't feed her children. Every situation is different. All I'm suggesting here is, don't be so quick to judge someone because they now have to ASK for help, for assistance! Until you have walked a mile in Mr/Misses Jones shoes......


Please, show me the "mother of three crying, hungry babies, who is out of work for whatever REASON, that can't feed her children" and I'll show you ten others who are living with some guy and have all the cash they need to buy cigarettes and booze.

I have nothing against those who need help getting it but seriously, why should someone take a job that pays less than their unemployment? And if their unemployment never runs out, why should they work at all?

If the government wants to help maybe it should be a little more business friendly. We have a son who is self-employed and is working alone. First, he can't find anyone who actually wants to work. Second, by the time he pays all the stuff the government requires above and beyond what he pays his help he can't remain competitive.


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## nj_m715

I watched a show on PBS about why other people in other countries work/study much harder than us. It followed an Asian teenage girl working and going to school. The program mentioned something along the lines of: Why does she put in long hours at work and study so hard at school? Because if she didn't she would starve. There is no government hand outs, she has no choise. 
Just a little food for thought.


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## horseman09

mosquitomountainman said:


> Please, show me the "mother of three crying, hungry babies, who is out of work for whatever REASON, that can't feed her children" and I'll show you ten others who are living with some guy and have all the cash they need to buy cigarettes and booze.
> 
> I have nothing against those who need help getting it but seriously, why should someone take a job that pays less than their unemployment? And if their unemployment never runs out, why should they work at all?
> 
> If the government wants to help maybe it should be a little more business friendly. We have a son who is self-employed and is working alone. First, he can't find anyone who actually wants to work. Second, by the time he pays all the stuff the government requires above and beyond what he pays his help he can't remain competitive.


MMM. Very well stated. :congrat:


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## horseman09

nj_m715 said:


> I watched a show on PBS about why other people in other countries work/study much harder than us. It followed an Asian teenage girl working and going to school. The program mentioned something along the lines of: Why does she put in long hours at work and study so hard at school? Because if she didn't she would starve. There is no government hand outs, she has no choise.
> Just a little food for thought.


Good point, NJ. Those are the countries (think, Red China) that are gonna whoop our a$$es if we don't get our heads out of ours.


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## testhop

i was in a super market yesterday .
andb was offerd food stamps at 1 /2 price for cash.
i turned them down and reported them to the manger.
i dont think anything was done.


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## GroovyMike

truthismyname33 said:


> Tell that to a mother of three crying, hungry babies, who is out of work for whatever REASON, that can't feed her children. Every situation is different. All I'm suggesting here is, don't be so quick to judge someone because they now have to ASK for help, for assistance! Until you have walked a mile in Mr/Misses Jones shoes......


I just did.


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## sailaway

Due to my lifes experiences, I will never give anyone money but will gladly buy them food or a meal.


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## UncleJoe

mosquitomountainman said:


> We have a son who is self-employed and is working alone. First, he can't find anyone who actually wants to work. Second, by the time he pays all the stuff the government requires above and beyond what he pays his help he can't remain competitive.


I can relate! 
If "work" involves anything other than sitting in front of a computer screen, it's hard to find people that want to do it. I'm not even going to get into what is taken from the self-employed by the various taxing agency's.


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## vfourmax

sailaway said:


> Due to my lifes experiences, I will never give anyone money but will gladly buy them food or a meal.


Even that course of action is a crapshoot in todays times. I know of one female that will try to hit up those she knows for money and many will do exactly what you are talking about and buy her and her child something to eat rather than give her the cash.

Sad part she is on the government dole and receives foodstamps which she will take and trade those at a fraction of their value for prescription narcotics which she is addicted to rather than buy food with them to feed her child and herself.

Sad part is it her child that pays the price. Last year I felt sorry for her child and took her out and bought her school clothes, shoes and school supplies so she would not show up her first day of school not having what she needed.

I did not even hear a thank you from the child or the mother. Not sorry I did it but not even a thank you sort of left a sour taste in my mouth. I have known this person for 15 years or better and she has always been from one vice or addiction to the next, have finally figured she is just a lost cause.

I know that one year she got a free brand new window A/C unit in the box through some government program and did not even take it out the box before she sold it for cash.

For every one person that is trying to do better I agree there is 10 that considers the government teet a way of life and just continues to work the system for everything they can get.


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## Jeani

_Even in the Bible, God's welfare was 'working.'

God bless those who had fields,and they were to leave the four corners of the fields, for the poor to pick...

Entitlements is 'buying votes' today....

Our government is not our God....

Family 'used' to help families,but now, family helps families to draw welfare....

Heck, why should we blame them, when our government is 'encouraging' them to laid up to draw welfare....

Now it is true that 'some' in American society do need help...our truly disable....

They say our 'poorest in America' is consider the 'middle class' in most coutnries today...

We have 'homeless shelters' that help...

I can remember a time when I was younger that I just got divorce with a child,and there was no government help.

There was no one to help pay for 'child care' or 'food stamps' or 'housing' so I lived in my parent's housetrailer,and went to work to pay my child care, food,and rent...

It's during these 'hard times' that teaches a person how to become stronger because we are now a nation that will steal or rob when times gets hard..

America is in a very sad condition....

_


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## truthismyname33

We must learn to help, to love people, regardless of their situations. Regardless if they receive food stamps, housing, whatever from the government. I think we'll need the help of each other before too long....I have a feeling. Let God be JUDGE!


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## vfourmax

truthismyname33 said:


> We must learn to help, to love people, regardless of their situations. Regardless if they receive food stamps, housing, whatever from the government. I think we'll need the help of each other before too long....I have a feeling. Let God be JUDGE!


I do not think most people begrudge or mind trying to help those that try to help themselves. The problems lie in those that just think it is not their responsibility to take care of themselves but rather everybody else's responsibility.

Recieving foodstamps is one thing but recieving foodstamps and selling them for cash to feed your drug habit or drinking problem is another. Maybe that person can get their drug dealer to love them, support them and feed them!

Sort of like that fable about the ant and the grasshopper, you play you have to pay! I refuse to work and scrimp and save to give it to someone that lays around because they are to trifling to do for themselves.


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## BoyScoutSurvivor

You have some great tips in this post. My brother has been trying to find a part time job for the last year (he is 16) and has no luck finding employment. Instead of giving up he filled close to fifty applications. He is now working for my mom's boss doing lawn work and painting a barn for another person. He has been working sort term jobs for the last month for multiple people. His latest gig is working for the county fair. He also got another job interview this week for Sub-Way (its been almost a month since his last one). In the end the key is not to give up.


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## TotallyReady

I believe the real issue here is education for those who are really striving to get off of assistance. As a former Home Ec. teacher we fed this entitlement disease when we eliminated classes like cooking and sewing and budgeting, all the things I taught. I believe no one should receive food stamps or any assistance until they have completed classes which teach them how to shop, cook from scratch and budget. After that food stamps should only be good for use on ingredients not hamburger helper etc. With budget cuts everywhere why couldn't we require those who are physically capable to weed the parks and pick up trash, paint city and school properties and do other jobs that have been eliminated or had staffing reduced. I spent one summer on the grounds crew at a major university when I was a student. It was hard work and the guys were always trying to prove the girls couldn't handle it by giving us the worst jobs but I survived and now I can lay sod with the best! We should all be focused on teaching our own children and grandchildren those life skills while they are young. If things keep going the way they are those who have those skills will be the ones able to care for their families and trade skills for anything they desire.


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## GroovyMike

truthismyname33 said:


> We must learn to help, to love people, regardless of their situations. Regardless if they receive food stamps, housing, whatever from the government. I think we'll need the help of each other before too long....I have a feeling. Let God be JUDGE!


The question is what is help, and what is enabling....?


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## NaeKid

GroovyMike said:


> The question is what is help, and what is enabling....?


I believe that "help" is teaching someone to fish and giving them the means to keep catching the fish and "enabling" is giving them a fish and telling them its good to eat, but, never showin' them how to cook it.

Hmm ... maybe the Japanese have something right, add a little bit of wasabi and the fish is perfect, raw! Argh!!! Now we will need to give a little bit of wasabi with the fish. Give them more and more and ...

:gaah:


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## GatorDude

If you are a white collar professional or IT person, you've got to get out on the web with LinkedIn, join and participate in professional organizations, keep your skills up with free training webinars and trade magazines, and post your resume to all the major job search sites. Make sure that your skills include the buzzwords of your industry so that searchers can find you. Once you've got your resume out there, you've got to refresh it regularly so that it rises to the top with recruiters. Then you've got to actively search and relentlessly apply for opportunities. Be prepared for a phone screening with the following:

7 Vital Things You Need For A Job Interview Via Telephone

When I was unemployed the hardest thing was to keep faith in myself and my skills. I applied for 435 jobs before I found my current position.


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## Frugal_Farmers

lotsoflead said:


> there are thousands out of work now who will not look for work long as Obama keeps extending unemployment benifits.


OK so we all disagree with all of the freeloaders getting the extended unemployment benefits, but last time I checked Obama only agreed to extend the unemployment benefits after the republicans threated to sabotage the tax breaks unless the folks making more than $250K per year got their tax break as well. Whether we like Obama or not, I can't pin the extension of unemployment benefits on him this time.

Ok just to make sure everyone knows where I am coming from on the political note. EVERY one of our elected officials is corrupt in one form or another. This goes for both sides of the Aisle. Yes, Republican and Democrat alike. Sure most of them are practicing legal forms of corruption, but nonetheless they have all forgotten about "We the People". This includes the incoming Freshman class as well.

Let's see where the next two years gets us.

Sorry, just couldn't let that one go unchecked.


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## Concerned_ Citizen

I got out of the military in Feb of 08.....I was fairly uneducated on the state of our country due to being in a overseas location for four years......came home....used our savings to catch my parents mortgage up and fix damages done to their rental property (BAD tenets) and to pay all bills including rent 6 months ahead...I fig with unemployment that would give me 3 months to "decompress" and 3 months to find a job (still unaware of the upcoming events)........well i started looking for work at my 3 month mark and finally landed one after 6 months of serious hardcore looking....see OP...

if the economic situation had got much worse, my family and I would have been a statistic......I thank my higher power constantly for allowing me to experience this as it was what led me to where i am at today with the push for self reliance / prepping etc.....I truly believe shit is about to go down and I may now have a fighting chance to save my family....and help the country re-build....

The job I got was not great and yes, i was actually making MORE on unemployment.....But, i did not want to be dependent on Govt money and we were, although BARELY, making by.

I realized that "making by" was not good enough and knew i needed more if i where going to position ourselves to where we could persevere through what i believe is coming soon.....I had to do what was right for my immediate family (wife and daughter) and started looking for work EVERYWHERE......well, i found a job. That required us to uproot from my hometown and all other family in Ohio and trek 800 miles south to middle GA where we had NO family, NO friends, and NO idea what laid ahead......we did what we knew we had to do, step out of our comfort zone.......It was a risk that is proving to be way better then i could have imagined......Its been 6 years since we have had a TV in our house. 6 years since we have had a cell phone.........I dont know where i was going with that.....lol

Anyway, IT DOES NOT TAKE 3 ****ING YEARS for an able bodied person to find work.........GET A JOB! move if you have to...ride a bike to the store to save gas...get a smaller apt. cancel your damn cable. throw your IPHONE out the window....Quit eating at friggen McDonalds.......put the joint down for 30 days so you can pass a drug test......quit with the excuses......when this all comes crumbling down and that chk quits coming, i dont want to see your ass on my doorstep....

We are extremely generous people if you are willing to help yourself....but im not going to bend over backwards for someone who looks at cable as a necessity............

sorry if my profanity offends anyone, im just highly annoyed on how ridiculous people can be, and how blind.......

at this point i am done arguing and debating about politics, social programs etc....its not going to matter very much longer anyhow.......

again, i thank whomever is out there looking out for my family and I and we where able to "come to the light" on the situation we have in this world.....

its going to be nasty i think.........all i can do is hopefully ride it out safely....see yall on the other side!


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## vn6869

Concerned_ Citizen said:


> I got out of the military in Feb of 08.....The job I got was not great and yes, i was actually making MORE on unemployment.....But, i did not want to be dependent on Govt money and we were, although BARELY, making by.
> 
> I realized that "making by" was not good enough and knew i needed more if i where going to position ourselves to where we could persevere through what i believe is coming soon.....I had to do what was right for my immediate family (wife and daughter) and started looking for work EVERYWHERE......well, i found a job. That required us to uproot from my hometown and all other family in Ohio and trek 800 miles south to middle GA where we had NO family, NO friends, and NO idea what laid ahead......we did what we knew we had to do, step out of our comfort zone.......It was a risk that is proving to be way better then i could have imagined......Its been 6 years since we have had a TV in our house. 6 years since we have had a cell phone.........I dont know where i was going with that.....lol
> 
> Anyway, IT DOES NOT TAKE 3 ****ING YEARS for an able bodied person to find work.........GET A JOB! move if you have to...ride a bike to the store to save gas...get a smaller apt. cancel your damn cable. throw your IPHONE out the window....Quit eating at friggen McDonalds.......put the joint down for 30 days so you can pass a drug test......quit with the excuses......when this all comes crumbling down and that chk quits coming, i dont want to see your ass on my doorstep....
> 
> We are extremely generous people if you are willing to help yourself....but im not going to bend over backwards for someone who looks at cable as a necessity............
> 
> sorry if my profanity offends anyone, im just highly annoyed on how ridiculous people can be, and how blind.......
> 
> at this point i am done arguing and debating about politics, social programs etc....its not going to matter very much longer anyhow.......
> 
> again, i thank whomever is out there looking out for my family and I and we where able to "come to the light" on the situation we have in this world.....
> 
> its going to be nasty i think.........all i can do is hopefully ride it out safely....see yall on the other side!


First thing Concerned, thank you for your service. :thankyou:

It seems to me you have the right attitude, no things are breaking well for you, BUT you aren't giving up and letting someone else carry you - that is great IMHO.

You are also spot on "it is going to get nasty." As I see it the problem is compounded - not by the people that are layed off and need work, but by those that have been living off the system for years. We have way too many people on food stamps, free cell phones, free medical, etc. etc. (still haven't fiqured out why their cell phones are free.) for way to long.
These programs were designed (or so I understand) to help people through rough times, not provide for their care and comfort indefinitely. :gaah:


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## vn6869

horseman09 said:


> You are absolutely right, lotso.
> 
> If you pay people to make babies, they will make babies.
> 
> If you pay people not to grow crops, they will not grow crops.
> 
> If you pay people (foodstamps) to not prepare food and instead buy prepared food, they will buy prepared food.
> 
> If you pay people not to work, they will not work.
> 
> We all know this instinctively, but the government has spent trillions of our dollars paying people to do the wrong things; but they still wonder why people do the wrong things.


Horseman pretty well says it. It appears to me the politicians have been catering to the welfare class for so long, and it has gotten sooo HUGE, that now that we need the system for people wanting to work, it isn't there.

One politician in Texas I believe suggested giving people beans and rice and powdered milk instead of food stamps. I think that is extreme, but after so many years maybee that is what needs to be done. Like a person can only stay on unemployment so long now then they are cut off. Well I would suggest if after so long on food stamps the stamps are cut off and they go on beans. Just me ranting.

:rantoff:


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## GroovyMike

boyscoutsurvivor said:


> you have some great tips in this post. My brother has been trying to find a part time job for the last year (he is 16) and has no luck finding employment. Instead of giving up he filled close to fifty applications. He is now working for my mom's boss doing lawn work and painting a barn for another person. He has been working sort term jobs for the last month for multiple people. His latest gig is working for the county fair. He also got another job interview this week for sub-way (its been almost a month since his last one). In the end the key is not to give up.


good for him!


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## PamsPride

ITA GroovyMike! 
My DH was laid off from Cellular One after a bigger company came in and bought them out and cut half the work force. My DH made it his full time job looking for a job. LOL! Actually I made his life miserable everyday he was not up and out of the house by 9AM beating the pavement! 
He was hired at another company 20 days after his final paycheck with Cell One. He took a 50% pay cut when he took this job...that was just on the W2 and did not include all of the perks we lost! :gaah: At least he had a J-O-B!! 
His company he works for now has hired a few more people since he was hired. He also likes this job a lot more than his old one....to bad the pay is not as good though.
As a side note I also found out I was pregnant with our 6th child the day AFTER he got his lay off notice! He worked for Cell One for 13 years and worked his way up the company. 

My Mom was able to find a nice part time job in November. She is hoping to get in full time just for the benefits and pay increase. Right now she is nearly working full time hours and her place of employment is still taking apps and hiring. 
There are jobs out there, you just have to be willing to WORK!

I see so many outrageous abuses of the welfare system in my own family that it sickens me! I know of three people personally! Two of them (separate people) live in public housing, get over $700 a month in food stamps, get disability for a child that is ADD (translation= they are just brats and the parents can't handle them disrupting there TV time), and get child support. One of them is even trying to get disability for themselves. Once they do that they will be making more than my DH!! 

I did the see if you qualify thing online and it says I could qualify for $526 a month in food stamps. I just can't bring myself to have the gov't all up in my business and someone else telling me what I can and can't do with the rest of my money. 
The one person, that is trying to get disability, was bragging about how easy it is to get food stamps while we were recently together (mourning the death of my dad). I guess now you only have to do one face to face visit to qualify and then it is a once a year phone interview after that to continue receiving food stamps! 5 minutes worth of work for $8K a year in benefits!! What incentive do they have to go get a REAL JOB?????


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## BadgeBunny

Gosh this thread brings back memories.

I was a single mom with 2 kids and pregnant when my job laid me off and my first husband packed up and left me when I went to the hospital to have surgery during the 2nd trimester of my third pregnancy. Loving fella that he was he also maxed out the credit cards and emptied out the bank accounts before he left. Oh and he called his mom and they took both the cars too.

You haven't lived until you have job hunted while you were pregnant (and showing). 

I wound up on AFDC and food stamps in a single wide trailer in the back of a pasture that most of you wouldn't have thought was fit for a chicken coop (and damned proud to have it I might add).

To make matters worse I had to have two more surgeries within the next 8 months. When I finally found a job I made $37 too much to qualify for assistance with my daycare bill, which at that time was $175.00 a week for 3 kids.

Honestly, there were times it was so bad that I really would have been better off financially to just not work and stay on welfare. After I started back to work I worked two and three jobs the entire time I raised my children because I never got a penny of child support.

Not complaining mind you, just pointing out that there are people out there with a real need and the government makes it really hard for you to get off the wagon train once you are on it. I can see how some would find it easier to just not try. 

But that has not ever been my way. I don't like being beholding to anyone ...

So, while I can understand feeling so overwhelmed that it is easier to not try than try and fail, I simply cannot understand someone choosing NOT to work ANY job ... I had plenty of jobs I hated, but they were MY jobs and I always had the option to find another. I was never a day without work after I became healthy again until I married the husband I have now ... and he likes having a Stepford wife ... and I like being a Stepford wife ... win, win for us both! LOL


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## horseman09

BadgeBunny said:


> Gosh this thread brings back memories.
> 
> I was a single mom with 2 kids and pregnant when my job laid me off and my first husband packed up and left me when I went to the hospital to have surgery during the 2nd trimester of my third pregnancy. Loving fella that he was he also maxed out the credit cards and emptied out the bank accounts before he left. Oh and he called his mom and they took both the cars too.
> 
> You haven't lived until you have job hunted while you were pregnant (and showing).
> 
> I wound up on AFDC and food stamps in a single wide trailer in the back of a pasture that most of you wouldn't have thought was fit for a chicken coop (and damned proud to have it I might add).
> 
> To make matters worse I had to have two more surgeries within the next 8 months. When I finally found a job I made $37 too much to qualify for assistance with my daycare bill, which at that time was $175.00 a week for 3 kids.
> 
> Honestly, there were times it was so bad that I really would have been better off financially to just not work and stay on welfare. After I started back to work I worked two and three jobs the entire time I raised my children because I never got a penny of child support.
> 
> Not complaining mind you, just pointing out that there are people out there with a real need and the government makes it really hard for you to get off the wagon train once you are on it. I can see how some would find it easier to just not try.
> 
> But that has not ever been my way. I don't like being beholding to anyone ...
> 
> So, while I can understand feeling so overwhelmed that it is easier to not try than try and fail, I simply cannot understand someone choosing NOT to work ANY job ... I had plenty of jobs I hated, but they were MY jobs and I always had the option to find another. I was never a day without work after I became healthy again until I married the husband I have now ... and he likes having a Stepford wife ... and I like being a Stepford wife ... win, win for us both! LOL


BadgeBunny, I admire your grit, I salute your work ethic, and I wish you, your husband and all your kids  the very best. You deserve it.


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## The_Blob

after reading this thread I went & looked at the application page & the second thing is this:



> ■Along with your application for assistance, we would like to provide you with an opportunity to register to vote. Click here for the Voter Registration Application and bring it with you to the local JFS offices. If you need assistance with this application, please bring it to you when you submit your application to the County JFS and they can assist you.


naaaaaaaaaaaaaw, they're not buying votes at all...


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## goshengirl

The_Blob said:


> after reading this thread I went & looked at the application page & the second thing is this:
> 
> naaaaaaaaaaaaaw, they're not buying votes at all...


Holy sh*t!!! Me no likey.


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## BadgeBunny

horseman09 said:


> BadgeBunny, I admire your grit, I salute your work ethic, and I wish you, your husband and all your kids  the very best. You deserve it.


Oh thanks. I wish I could tell you I am that "good" a person ... Truth of the matter is I am just insanely stubborn. :flower:

Just go ahead and tell me I can't do something ...  Works every time!!


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## gypsysue

I might as well throw MY story out here too. In early winter '95 I was diagnosed with cancer. Surgery at that point would have taken care of it. My husband-at-the-time decided it was more than he wanted to deal with. He brooded for a while and told me it was God's judgement on me and that I wasn't to have the surgery. A month later he ran off with another woman and left me with 5 kids ages 2 to 9. We lived on 2 acres outside a small town in NW Missouri, and it was January '96. It was cold and there was snow on the ground, and he left us with only enough firewood for a few days. I tried to get the chainsaw started, but couldn't. There was no one I could ask for help. We'd only lived there a year and my husband had kept up pretty isolated, and we homeschooled, so there wasn't involvement there. 

I used a small bowsaw to cut limbs off of hardwood trees, but I had a hard time finding anything "dead" that would burn good. I started digging through our barn and outbuildings looking for anything I could burn in the woodstove. I found old boxes of books and burned them, though I had to tear them apart and keep feeding them into the woodstove. The kids and I spent most of the time all huddled together in blankets in my bed. 

I had a friend in Kentucky who called around this time, to tell us about an amazing snow storm they had, unusual in SE Kentucky. (2' of snow!) I ended up telling her what was going on. She said to come to Kentucky and cry on her shoulder. So I packed up the kids and as much as I could take, and we went. When we got there, her cousin said he had a house he didn't need since he'd just gotten married, and if we wanted to live in it, just for maintaining it, we could. A few weeks later I went back to Missouri and loaded up all I could in our pick-up truck and went back to Kentucky. 

The house was way up at the end of a dirt road, the "head of the holler", as they said. I loved the quiet time to heal, with just my kids around, but I needed to find some work. I managed to line up a few house-cleaning jobs for elderly people in the area. I could take my kids along, and they even helped when they could. We made as much as $60 a week! We bought rice and beans and stuff like that, and tried to grow a garden in the small amount of topsoil over the rocky ledges of the Appalachians. 

The cancer thing was still hanging over my head, and one day I broke down and cried and told a friend. She lined me up with a doctor and even drove me 150 miles each way to Lexington for appointments and then for surgery. It had been almost a year since I was diagnosed, and it had become a Stage 2 cancer, not yet spread but about to. I was SO fortunate! 

I had to apply for medicaid to pay for the surgery and they asked why I hadn't applied for food stamps, so we did that too. When I started getting them, after a year of almost starving, we were so overwhelmed...and scared they wouldn't keep coming. I swear I tried to buy a year's supply of food each month! They suggested I file for divorce, since it was clear my husband wasn't coming back, and a little over two years after he left it was final, and he was ordered to pay $400/month in child support.

After we'd been in Kentucky 4 years I decided we needed a better life. I moved us to a small house on the edge of town and got a job at the grocery store. We scraped and saved money for 2 years, then I loaded up my kids in a uhaul truck (Feb. 2002) and moved us across the country, back to Montana, where we had lived before we moved to Missouri. I had a hard time convincing anyone to rent to a single Mom with 5 kids and no job, but I was persistent and we got a place. Then I got a job as a dispatcher at the Sheriff's department. The kids were between 8 and 15 now, and making friends, actively invovled in a good homeschool group, and I saw their lives were becoming more independent of mine. I decided I needed to make a life of my own so I wouldn't cling to them as they reached adulthood.

I had avoided men all those years because I didn't believe a man could really accept and love children that weren't their own. I didn't want to be in the middle between my kids and a man; and I didn't want my kids to have to go through a string of "mom's boyfriends". But now, I decided to put out an ad on yahoo personals and see what happened. For days I got the creepiest replies, and one day I came home from work and I was going to delete my ad. There was a new one on there and I decided to read it; and after reading it, I knew it was "the one". 

One thing led to another, and I've been married to that guy for 8 1/2 years now. His wife had died from cancer, and he had two children. I never would have believed the bond that formed and made us one big family that now numbers 7 kids, 5 SIL and DIL, and 7 grandchildren! 

That guy is mosquitomountainman. 

The food stamps we had for those few years not only helped us be able to eat an adequate diet, they also gave us the hope and strength to reach for a better life. Thank you, taxpayers. I hope the taxes we've paid before and after that time, have helped bring not only food, but hope, to others in hard times.


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## JayJay

gypsysue said:


> I might as well throw MY story out here too. In early winter '95 I was diagnosed with cancer. Surgery at that point would have taken care of it. My husband-at-the-time decided it was more than he wanted to deal with. He brooded for a while and told me it was God's judgement on me and that I wasn't to have the surgery. A month later he ran off with another woman and left me with 5 kids ages 2 to 9. We lived on 2 acres outside a small town in NW Missouri, and it was January '96. It was cold and there was snow on the ground, and he left us with only enough firewood for a few days. I tried to get the chainsaw started, but couldn't. There was no one I could ask for help. We'd only lived there a year and my husband had kept up pretty isolated, and we homeschooled, so there wasn't involvement there.
> 
> I used a small bowsaw to cut limbs off of hardwood trees, but I had a hard time finding anything "dead" that would burn good. I started digging through our barn and outbuildings looking for anything I could burn in the woodstove. I found old boxes of books and burned them, though I had to tear them apart and keep feeding them into the woodstove. The kids and I spent most of the time all huddled together in blankets in my bed.
> 
> I had a friend in Kentucky who called around this time, to tell us about an amazing snow storm they had, unusual in SE Kentucky. (2' of snow!) I ended up telling her what was going on. She said to come to Kentucky and cry on her shoulder. So I packed up the kids and as much as I could take, and we went. When we got there, her cousin said he had a house he didn't need since he'd just gotten married, and if we wanted to live in it, just for maintaining it, we could. A few weeks later I went back to Missouri and loaded up all I could in our pick-up truck and went back to Kentucky.
> 
> The house was way up at the end of a dirt road, the "head of the holler", as they said. I loved the quiet time to heal, with just my kids around, but I needed to find some work. I managed to line up a few house-cleaning jobs for elderly people in the area. I could take my kids along, and they even helped when they could. We made as much as $60 a week! We bought rice and beans and stuff like that, and tried to grow a garden in the small amount of topsoil over the rocky ledges of the Appalachians.
> 
> The cancer thing was still hanging over my head, and one day I broke down and cried and told a friend. She lined me up with a doctor and even drove me 150 miles each way to Lexington for appointments and then for surgery. It had been almost a year since I was diagnosed, and it had become a Stage 2 cancer, not yet spread but about to. I was SO fortunate!
> 
> I had to apply for medicaid to pay for the surgery and they asked why I hadn't applied for food stamps, so we did that too. When I started getting them, after a year of almost starving, we were so overwhelmed...and scared they wouldn't keep coming. I swear I tried to buy a year's supply of food each month! They suggested I file for divorce, since it was clear my husband wasn't coming back, and a little over two years after he left it was final, and he was ordered to pay $400/month in child support.
> 
> After we'd been in Kentucky 4 years I decided we needed a better life. I moved us to a small house on the edge of town and got a job at the grocery store. We scraped and saved money for 2 years, then I loaded up my kids in a uhaul truck (Feb. 2002) and moved us across the country, back to Montana, where we had lived before we moved to Missouri. I had a hard time convincing anyone to rent to a single Mom with 5 kids and no job, but I was persistent and we got a place. Then I got a job as a dispatcher at the Sheriff's department. The kids were between 8 and 15 now, and making friends, actively invovled in a good homeschool group, and I saw their lives were becoming more independent of mine. I decided I needed to make a life of my own so I wouldn't cling to them as they reached adulthood.
> 
> I had avoided men all those years because I didn't believe a man could really accept and love children that weren't their own. I didn't want to be in the middle between my kids and a man; and I didn't want my kids to have to go through a string of "mom's boyfriends". But now, I decided to put out an ad on yahoo personals and see what happened. For days I got the creepiest replies, and one day I came home from work and I was going to delete my ad. There was a new one on there and I decided to read it; and after reading it, I knew it was "the one".
> 
> One thing led to another, and I've been married to that guy for 8 1/2 years now. His wife had died from cancer, and he had two children. I never would have believed the bond that formed and made us one big family that now numbers 7 kids, 5 SIL and DIL, and 7 grandchildren!
> 
> That guy is mosquitomountainman.
> 
> The food stamps we had for those few years not only helped us be able to eat an adequate diet, they also gave us the hope and strength to reach for a better life. Thank you, taxpayers. I hope the taxes we've paid before and after that time, have helped bring not only food, but hope, to others in hard times.


God bless you...what an inspiring story...


----------



## JayJay

gypsysue said:


> I might as well throw MY story out here too. In early winter '95 I was diagnosed with cancer. Surgery at that point would have taken care of it. My husband-at-the-time decided it was more than he wanted to deal with. He brooded for a while and told me it was God's judgement on me and that I wasn't to have the surgery. A month later he ran off with another woman and left me with 5 kids ages 2 to 9. We lived on 2 acres outside a small town in NW Missouri, and it was January '96. It was cold and there was snow on the ground, and he left us with only enough firewood for a few days. I tried to get the chainsaw started, but couldn't. There was no one I could ask for help. We'd only lived there a year and my husband had kept up pretty isolated, and we homeschooled, so there wasn't involvement there.
> 
> I used a small bowsaw to cut limbs off of hardwood trees, but I had a hard time finding anything "dead" that would burn good. I started digging through our barn and outbuildings looking for anything I could burn in the woodstove. I found old boxes of books and burned them, though I had to tear them apart and keep feeding them into the woodstove. The kids and I spent most of the time all huddled together in blankets in my bed.
> 
> I had a friend in Kentucky who called around this time, to tell us about an amazing snow storm they had, unusual in SE Kentucky. (2' of snow!) I ended up telling her what was going on. She said to come to Kentucky and cry on her shoulder. So I packed up the kids and as much as I could take, and we went. When we got there, her cousin said he had a house he didn't need since he'd just gotten married, and if we wanted to live in it, just for maintaining it, we could. A few weeks later I went back to Missouri and loaded up all I could in our pick-up truck and went back to Kentucky.
> 
> The house was way up at the end of a dirt road, the "head of the holler", as they said. I loved the quiet time to heal, with just my kids around, but I needed to find some work. I managed to line up a few house-cleaning jobs for elderly people in the area. I could take my kids along, and they even helped when they could. We made as much as $60 a week! We bought rice and beans and stuff like that, and tried to grow a garden in the small amount of topsoil over the rocky ledges of the Appalachians.
> 
> The cancer thing was still hanging over my head, and one day I broke down and cried and told a friend. She lined me up with a doctor and even drove me 150 miles each way to Lexington for appointments and then for surgery. It had been almost a year since I was diagnosed, and it had become a Stage 2 cancer, not yet spread but about to. I was SO fortunate!
> 
> I had to apply for medicaid to pay for the surgery and they asked why I hadn't applied for food stamps, so we did that too. When I started getting them, after a year of almost starving, we were so overwhelmed...and scared they wouldn't keep coming. I swear I tried to buy a year's supply of food each month! They suggested I file for divorce, since it was clear my husband wasn't coming back, and a little over two years after he left it was final, and he was ordered to pay $400/month in child support.
> 
> After we'd been in Kentucky 4 years I decided we needed a better life. I moved us to a small house on the edge of town and got a job at the grocery store. We scraped and saved money for 2 years, then I loaded up my kids in a uhaul truck (Feb. 2002) and moved us across the country, back to Montana, where we had lived before we moved to Missouri. I had a hard time convincing anyone to rent to a single Mom with 5 kids and no job, but I was persistent and we got a place. Then I got a job as a dispatcher at the Sheriff's department. The kids were between 8 and 15 now, and making friends, actively invovled in a good homeschool group, and I saw their lives were becoming more independent of mine. I decided I needed to make a life of my own so I wouldn't cling to them as they reached adulthood.
> 
> I had avoided men all those years because I didn't believe a man could really accept and love children that weren't their own. I didn't want to be in the middle between my kids and a man; and I didn't want my kids to have to go through a string of "mom's boyfriends". But now, I decided to put out an ad on yahoo personals and see what happened. For days I got the creepiest replies, and one day I came home from work and I was going to delete my ad. There was a new one on there and I decided to read it; and after reading it, I knew it was "the one".
> 
> One thing led to another, and I've been married to that guy for 8 1/2 years now. His wife had died from cancer, and he had two children. I never would have believed the bond that formed and made us one big family that now numbers 7 kids, 5 SIL and DIL, and 7 grandchildren!
> 
> That guy is mosquitomountainman.
> 
> The food stamps we had for those few years not only helped us be able to eat an adequate diet, they also gave us the hope and strength to reach for a better life. Thank you, taxpayers. I hope the taxes we've paid before and after that time, have helped bring not only food, but hope, to others in hard times.


God bless you...what an inspiring story...


----------

