I owe everyone

[aardvark]

I have been unemployed for over two years.
I owe credit card/collection agencies, back taxes etc.
What can I do? Where do I start?
I am working odd jobs just to get by.
Barely able to pay rent.

[debtisbad]

And Mr. Bush says our economy is so wonderful! NOT!!!! Get yourself to a couple of atty's and see what your options are. Do not do what I did--I used 401k monies to pay down debt and in the end filed BK anyway. Do not ever do that!!!!!!!!!!!!! What is your field? Can you relocate to get a better job? Some parts of the country seem to be holding up better than others depending on what the field is.

[FilingOnMyOwn]

Yeah it sucks, I went through it too. If you live in an area that has a high unemployment rate and thats why you can't find a job, you will need to move to an area that has low unemployment if you want to find work. Heres an interactive map that you can explore different parts of the country to see what the unemployment rates are everywhere. A few % makes a huge difference in the availability of jobs. http://data.bls.gov/map/servlet/map....ate&seasonal=u

You can file bk if you need to, but you will have to raise money just to do it. If you ended up moving out of state to find a job, you would have to wait 90 days to file anyways, so that would give you 3 months to get the money. Filing fees run about $300 if you go pro-se. If you hire an attorney, you're looking at at least another grand on top of the filing fees.

[tradewiz50]

I have been unemployed for over two years.
I owe credit card/collection agencies, back taxes etc.
What can I do? Where do I start?
I am working odd jobs just to get by.
Barely able to pay rent.

I'd say if your out of work more than 2 years. It may be time to really start looking for another field of work or relocate. Unemployment only pays for 6 months in most states. That's even if you were eligible to collect it.

[AMISLANDER]

The unemployment map was cool....

...but ....

i.e. Florida...3.6 unemployment rate...low...but the salaries are WAY LOW here...that's why we're all broke...

i.e. AZ....3.6 unemployment rate....lower c.o.a., higher wages, better move...

I don't think you can just go by unemployment rate...we have a million restaurant jobs @ 2.50/hour....good luck on tips...

Ya think?

[poorme]

aardvark, where do you live and what kind of work do you do (last rj)? What's your preferred field?