Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with broke

How broke is broke?

JuiceBoxHero — Wed, 13 May 2009 10:45:01 -0800

When people say they're broke, do they literally have no money? With or without the current recession, do people who rack up credit card debt, default on their mortgages and miss payments on loans really not have any money? As in, are all of their bank accounts actually at zero?

It seems that if I were in a position where I was up to my eyeballs in debt and/or were about to foreclose on my home, I'd tap into my 401k, IRA, investments, savings accounts or whatever else I had to continue to provide for my family. So when people choose default or bankruptcy, have they already exhausted these resources (assuming they existed to begin with) or do they just not have the current inflow of cash to support their lifestyle, but hold on to any other resources they have?

How do I thank someone who saved my very broke butt from public humiliation?

naoko — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 21:32:30 -0800

How should I thank a stranger who got me out of a small but embarrassing money jam? Backstory: last month I ran out of money. Completely out, all bank accounts in the negative, not fun, and it totally blindsided me. Lots of lessons were learned (like balance my checkbook from time to time, spend more responsibly, etc.) - not the point of the question.

Anyway, I discovered that I was totally and utterly broke while in the cafeteria line at work - went to ring up my lunch (something like $6.70) and my debit card is declined. So I'm standing there counting change down to the pennies (and knowing I was going to be a few bucks short), and the line behind me is building up, and the food was like a hot pasta dish or something that I couldn't just put back, and the cashier is rolling her eyes at me, and just as I'm wishing a hole would open up in the floor and let me disappear, a girl leans over and swipes her card. She tries to run away but I said, "Wait, what's your name, I have to pay you back!" and she says, "No, don't worry about it" and scampers off.

But she didn't take her receipt. So I took it, and now I have her name, and from there it's easy to find out where in my office complex she works. So, what should I do now? Send her a note and 7 bucks? Should I sign it or leave it anonymous? What should I say that will express my extreme gratitude but not sound totally weird?

Quick cash

blithely — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 18:13:52 -0800

How can my friend make some extra cash if she only has about a month to do so? What employment opportunities are available if you're only available for a short period? I'm asking this question for a friend.

My friend will be completing her courses around mid-June and will then be leaving for Zambia (to work/study abroad) July 18th. She's wondering if she could find some way to make some extra cash as she's a bit strapped at the moment (the trip will be quite expensive).

So any ideas, suggestions you guys have as to how she can earn some money during that short amount of time would be greatly appreciated!

I'm just a silly little girl with grownup problems.

big open mouth — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 14:16:59 -0800

Okay. I've been dating my boyfriend for 7 months, and living with him for 3. We've been having some problems, and I'm seriously considering moving out, so... what do I do? He's considerably older than me (I'm 21, he's 37), and it's causing problems in the bedroom. I moved in with him in part for convenience, but neither of us thought we'd live together forever. Here's where it gets complicated.

He's great about absolutely everything except the fact that we don't click sexually. I try not to make a big deal about it, but if I even say anything it turns into a gigantic fight. It's been getting to me and I'm starting to feel as if I'm too young to be living with anyone. I've talked to him about it once before when I told him that my friend and I wanted to move in together and he commenced trying to convince me to stay. He told me I've got such a great situation because I don't have to pay rent, etc. and was very convincing.

I work two part time jobs but I'm also a fulltime student. If I move out now I'll barely make ends meet, but I think I have to bite the bullet eventually.

Here's my problem... I am so scared! And I don't know why. I think it may be that I'm scared because he wants me to be afraid to leave... as in, he wants me to stay and he's encouraging my nervousness about moving out. I lived on my own before I moved in with my boyfriend and I have two friends who want to move in together, but I'm so nervous! Why is that? I've been trying to wait until the summer, but I'm not sure I can make it that long.

As you can see, I am totally confused. Does anyone have any advice or opinions or... anything? He treats me like I'm a pet moreso than a girlfriend-- he turns me down for sex regularly and actually wants me to gain weight so I'll be more snuggly... It's all so damn confusing!

A quick slip of the clutch...

phredgreen — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 03:56:02 -0800

I was driving down the highway and needed to pass a vehicle. I punched down on the gas and the engine revved but didn't engage. Yep. Slipping clutch. The catch? This happened 3 years ago and I haven't been able to fix it yet. So what am I doing to my car?

I'm driving a 2002 Hyundai Elantra that is up to 65k miles. It was my first standard in a while, so the first year or two were less than ideal (jackrabbit starts, aggressive driving, all those other stupid-kid driving habits), but I have mellowed into a normal, sensible driver. It seems I was a little late in my transition.

It started out with occasional high-speed slippage, and slowly, over the last few years, devolved to where I have to baby the clutch to get it moving and remember not to press the gas too hard when shifting into higher gears. It seems to have plateaued at this point, driving the same for the last 6ish months without getting much worse. The car still gets around town, but I'm hesitant to go further than work and back with occasional runs to the store or bank.

The thing is, $700(USD) is alot of money for me, and that's the lowest quote I've received thus far. I just rolled over 60k a while ago, changed all the belts (including timing) and brakes, and that really kicked my behind, financially.

My (fallible, I admit) logic is that if I can still get from A to B, it can't be that bad. In the meantime, I can't imagine that driving on a bad clutch is good, but I don't know what I'm actually doing to my car. My hopes are that it's nothing more than just dooming myself to buying a new flywheel when the time actually comes, but I want people who know more about this stuff to help me understand what happens every time my engine revs high and slippage occurs before finally engaging and sending the power to the wheels.

Know that I don't need chiding for being irresponsible, I already have to deal with the "will it get me there and back" question every time I drive. I just need hard facts on what I'll be facing when I can finally get the car into the shop or what will happen if I don't.

What's my best option for finding a cheap-as-dirt computer in the Dallas area?

Item — Thu, 22 May 2008 12:43:01 -0800

What's my best option for finding a cheap-as-dirt computer in the Dallas area? I recently received a promotion at my much-loved job that requires me to do some basic (i.e. Excel, email, internet browsing) work from home. Trouble is, my ancient Thinkpad finally coughed out its dying breath a couple of days ago and I don't think it'll be revived in any easy manner.

I've got various peripherals lying around and I don't need anything other than the computer itself - I don't need a laptop, either. I'm not the world's most tech-savvy fellow, otherwise I'd just pick up something off of Craigslist. I can't afford to buy something that'll conk out on me in a month. I'm broke, dead dead broke for at least the next few months, so I can't really spend more that a few hundred bucks - even $300 will be stretching my budget in an uncomfortable fashion.

Any suggestions as to my best means of computering myself as cheaply, semi-reliably, and quickly as possible will be greatly appreciated.

Not an easy task.

laughinglikemad — Thu, 27 Dec 2007 13:39:35 -0800

How do I help my brilliant - but broke - friend go to school? After her first day of kindergarten, her parents saw how excited she was about school, and knew they had to nip her future dreams in the bud. So they sat her down and said, "When you get older, you might hear about this thing called 'college.' You're not going." Her future has born that out.

She wants to go to school for psychology, and I'm looking for things like scholarships, programs, and paid internships that can help her get there. As is, she works as a cocktail waitress - which was a big step up from call centers before that - but she's lucky if she get enough sleep, let alone pay rent. Whenever anyone mentions school, she just gets depressed, because she sees it as totally unachievable. But she's also proud, which means that I can't chip in to a fund or anything from my meager savings.

She has a GED, having dropped out at the age of 16: she's taken a few community college courses back when she lived with her father, but she's on her own now. Her mother is mad - schizophrenic, and a horribly abusive person to boot - but has never been diagnosed. Her little brother is severely disabled, both mentally and physically - hunchback, bad heart, autistic - and my friend might one day have to care for him full-time (he's a minor, and living with his mad mother). She lives in Seattle, and has always lived in Washington.

I know that I can't solve her problems, but I still wanted to ask: a lot of opportunity comes from just knowing what's out there. Given those details, does she quality for any assistance - scholarships for children of crazy people, or family members of the disabled? Anyone out there who has overcome similar obstacles, to achieve similar goals?

Me so hungry. Me program for you long time!

Anonymous — Sun, 02 Dec 2007 15:30:43 -0800

I'm a broke but quite talented programmer. How do I earn a steady income working from a remote location for a company, and programming? I'm tired of freelance gigs, I need something stable (like a 6 month contract with monthly payments, deadlines and remote checking in of code?) I'm working on my startup, and I'm starting to realise that perhaps this startup idea is equivalent to the writer who has been writing his novel for the past 4 years and still works at McDonalds. I'm tired of being poor and hoping on the big payout when my project is done. I need some stable money. How do I go about doing this, but still have enough time left over for my masters degree as well as to continue working on my dreams?

I've done the Rent A Coder thing, and I easily land $2000+ jobs because I'm quite skilled at some specific areas. However, it's time consuming finding the right projects and often the work involved is massive, and the deadlines are extremely tight. This takes away from my study time as well as the time I need to work on my own project. So I don't want to do the freelancing thing anymore.

I'm not a bad programmer because:

1. I do pretty complicated stuff in C++ and the people I've freelanced for are always satisfied.
2. I've been improving myself, and I now know quite a bit of Django+Python+SQL, in addition to my 5 years of C++ and 8 years of VB6. So I do good web based as well as desktop stuff.

I could find a job in a real physical dev shop job easily, but that requires fixed hours, and I just don't have the time. My workday at the moment already runs at around 10 hours.

I love programming, and there is really nothing I'd rather do. But I have my dreams and my project, and I don't want to give this up for money, but reality is kicking in. I need some cash badly.

Where do I find such a steady income job with a perhaps 5 hour daily work load that will not demand impossible deadlines or exploit me?

Should I foreclose on my house?

simpleperson — Mon, 25 Jun 2007 09:26:46 -0800

I have a crappy house that is falling apart and keeping me from moving on with my life. Should I foreclose on my house? I am in a bad position in life, and would appreciate any input from the MeFi crowd.

2 and a half years ago, when I was 25, I purchased a house on an FHA loan. At the time, I thought buying a house was the right thing to do, and I thought I was getting the right house. I thought wrong.

As it turns out, the house has been a maintenance nightmare. It was gut rehabbed by the previous owner, poorly. (In fact, by buying it I think I got scammed a little.)

Plumbing problems, leaky roof(s), faulty gutters, broken windows, and a dilapidated garage seem to never stop. We tore out a bathroom and discovered unrealized structural damage (a previous infestation of termites). And, I've been robbed.

The house is in an urban neighborhood that I thought was safe and quiet but seems to be getting worse. The housing market here has plateaued, and my house has suffered since I bought it, making me think it is probably worth less than when I bought it.

And, I have realized, even if it was all fixed up, it would still be a crappy house. It has a poor floor-plan and is not the most "livable".

I bought it for $79k, I owe $76k.

Now I just want out. This thing is sucking the life and energy out of me and I want to move on with my life. I am 28 and have opportunities that this is holding me back from.

To sell it, I need to fix it up - or at least the egregious issues. I estimate I would need $3000 - $5000 for this. I don't have any savings, basically.

Even if I put that money into it, I still have to sell the place to someone. When I bought it, it was on the market for over 4 months. It costs about $800/month to keep. So this is potentially another $3000+ to pump into it.

But if I could just get rid of it - foreclosure? I know my credit would be screwed up but I could move on with my life. I could take that $3-5k and invest it, and maybe by the time I was 35 I would have some savings and good credit again.

Should I consider foreclosing? I had a bankruptcy before and got past it, I think I can do it again.

But I do want to go to graduate school (would need student loans), and to get a car loan at some point.

(Note: I have moved out of the house, have free rent at my parents. Just trying to get rid of it at this point. But I do need to get out of Mom's _sometime_.)

Any advice for someone who bought a lemon?

thanks Mefi!!!

Making quick cash while waiting to hear back for a job

Kwirq — Sat, 19 May 2007 16:06:03 -0800

How can I make some quick money for groceries & bills while I'm waiting for my job interviews to pan out? Hi folks. My first and only job (six years, programming for the university) terminated in March, forcing me to look for work in the Real World. Days after I put my resume online, a recruiting agency had me in and started getting me interviews with programming companies, which seemed pretty promising.

Problem is, these companies (really just one that I'm interested in) are taking forever, and my Sweetie's paycheque isn't carrying us very far. I can see that I should have had many more irons in the fire and I would have been employed by now, but what can I do in the meanwhile to make some extra cash to keep us going?

What I've thought of:

• Temping: Can someone tell me their experiences with this? Is it a day-by-day thing or per-week or what? Do you need a car to get around? When do you get paid? The only experience I have is .Net/Web development and flipping burgers in high school.

• Selling my junk on ebay: Having taken stock of the apartment, everything falls into pretty much two categories: Stuff we want to keep, or stuff no one would buy.

• Freelancing: Is there such a thing as micro-freelancing? As in, do a few=n hours coding, make n*$20 (or whatever) that day? Or other e-labour? (The Mechanical Turk would be cool, if it paid better, and more quickly.)

Any help with the above, or other ideas, or links to relevant past AskMes that I missed, would be greatly appreciated, thanks.

It's all about the benjamins. Hell, a Lincoln or two would help, even.

pieoverdone — Thu, 02 Mar 2006 15:06:48 -0800

So I bought this rockin house last month. The mortgage and the title are in my name. It was pretty sweet. Domestic bliss and all. Then my manfriend left me saturday. He's not coming back. He's staying somewhere else temporarily until he finds a place with a friend of his. His stuff is still here.

Because I'm on call for my sysadmin job every other week, getting a second job at say, Target or Starbucks for the weekends and evenings is out of the question. I've already started eliminating extraneous expenses. Is there any sort of legitimate part time work from home I could do that isn't stuffing envelopes or MLM like Mary Kay? An extra 75-150/week would help. Greatly.

Help us not be bored.

pieoverdone — Wed, 17 Aug 2005 17:14:12 -0800

The beloved and I are at this point where neither of us has any real disposable income and it's going to be like this for the next 2-3 months. We collectively have Netflix, boardgames, gym membership, game consoles and a library card, but we need more ideas for FREE things to do so we aren't bored to death. We're in St. Louis if anyone has something location specific. (we already went to the zoo yesterday) Alternately, if you know of any plasma donation centers in the area and how much they pay, we'd appreciate that, too.

My life sucks

BitterOldPunk — Fri, 23 Apr 2004 19:18:23 -0800

My life sucks. But the one good thing about being broke and unemployed is that you can do it anywhere. Assuming I were debt free with no commitments, where's a nice new place to go to scratch out a subsistence living as either a plumber, a waiter, or a dishwasher? Anywhere on the planet, English- or French-speaking (or anything easier than Russian or Chinese -- I'll have a few months to learn a new language as I pay my way toward escape), must have at least paved roads and indoor plumbing, and if the population hates Americans, I'd prefer that they do so abstractly rather than overtly. Canada, Iceland, and Belize seem kinda promising....