Deep hole i've gotten myself into

[fdjaudinesjr]

I just want to ask advice on what would you do if you were dead broke, bills near due date, house rent payment, need money for daily living expenses, currently no job offer, no relatives to go to, and had to support 3 kids. It's a deep hole i've gotten myself into and I accept the fact that i made it happen.

What would you do if the financial problem is already in your face?

How can i make this turn around?

[CoolBee]

What I would do is (and you've probably done some of these).
(1) Quantify exact current position - add up all savings, accounts, cash, everything.
(2) Are there any kind of social security payments you can apply for whether for all of you or just the kids? If so apply.
(3) Communicate with ALL the people you will owe money to BEFORE rather than AFTER the bills are issued - keep copies of ALL correspondence with them - put it in writing as well. Basically say you may have problems and please can they allow you extra time.
(4) Are you in any church or other religious group where you may be able to get assistance? If so, ask.
(5) Take any casual daily labour, no matter what, if I am physically capable of doing it and it will pay money.
(6) What skills do you have that are in short supply? Are you a good handyperson? Can you drive? Maybe put an ad in local shops to say you can put up a shelf or drive an old lady to the shops or something (you might need to check out whether you can just do this or whether you need some kind of 'clearance' with police or insurers depending on your country's requirements).

[jasonwisdom]

I've been there.
I got to the point where all I had left was $22 in change to buy a 1-way Greyhound ticket back to my mother's place.
Over-limit on all credit cards, no savings, no investments, no anything.
This happened to me not once, not twice, but three times.

All three times, "something" came along that offered me a source of income. Always in the very last possible week.

And again, in all three times, the only thing I could do was slowly crawl myself out of the enormous hole I had dug (the third time, over $30,000 in credit card/car/school loan debt). Even if I was only making a $100/month dent.

Finally one day I said "this is never going to happen again."
It was actually a gradual declaration, over the course of about a year.
I got and used a copy of Quicken software, read The Richest Man in Babylon, and spent my spare time looking at my bank balances instead of playing online chess.

I started focusing on ways to make more and more money than I had been making - and this stunt worked!!

Less than 3 years after I first started using Quicken, I paid off the very last of my debt.
I still rank this as one of my life's top accomplishments.

I have been debt free ever since (except for the occasional 1-2 month carryover on a credit card, when a client is late paying me...).
It feels great - AND if I could do it then you can too.

[jasonwisdom]

Slight clarification - I've been there, with one major difference: I had no children to support.

My only advice would be to go all-out. If this is your last hurrah, you're going to go down in a blaze of glory, letting nothing stop you from finding at least a holdover position to lift your income/spirits.

[run_fly]

I have been there 3 times in the past year.

I know what your going through.

Its not fun but you I did sure learn about myself during the times when I was completely broke.

I think its important to take baby steps to get out of being broke.

My heart goes out to you.

[tony hartleydenton]

I've got 3 kids as well. I really feel for you and your situation but don't let the fear immobilize you. I don't want to belittle your situation but this has the potential to be your finest hour.

I've been well down on my luck as well but you at all costs must not loose hope.

Like the other suggested a check and balance is probably the best thing to do. Piece of paper with assets on one side and liabilities on the other is the best start. You need to know exactly where you are down to the penny.

The you need a plan to chip away at your liabilities, penny by penny. Doesn't matter if you start small at least your starting.

Finally you've got to fill your head with good stuff. Positive thinking isn't enough you need to protect whats going in. So no news or radio for you until this i sorted.

Above all no TV at all. You need those hours for generating the plan and the income to get you out of this situation.

hope this helps mate