call for emergency help

[EllieNeo]

i may get in trouble for posting this... may even have my account deleted or something, but i have to risk it, because i have run out of ideas.

our family is in desperate need of financial help. we have tried absolutely everything we can think of. no friends owe us favors, no one will give us loans. the money we have we have to use in order to live. to buy food and pay bills. but if we don't come up with $800 by the 7th of february, we are going to be sued by a lawyer for non-payment. we cannot afford to be sued. the story is much much longer than that, involving towed cars, deaths in the family... but the bottom line is, we are going to be in huge huge trouble if we can't get this money. if ANYONE can help... with ANY money at all... please message me on here... i can give you my email for a paypal transfer....

or, if i am going to have my account deleted for even posting this, it was nice knowing you all and i will miss you all and hope you have good lives.

-ellie

[Phalon]

Ellie, I'm not quite sure how to respond to this...

I'm sorry for your troubles but with all the spam, scams, and whatnot across the Internet, I think it'd be doubtful that someone would send money to someone they don't know. I could be wrong, of course, but I don't see it happening.

Quick money = pawn shops? Your Kindle, computer, any other electronic games, or technology equipment should bring in some instant cash. Jewelry too, of course.

Wish you luck.

[EllieNeo]

yes, phalon, i realize it is a long shot... but i had run out of ideas...

[Phalon]

I hope it works out.

Happy Birthday to both you and Gabrielle.

[Mini Mia]

Well, Ellie, if you had posted this the same day you were accepted as a member, I most likely would have deleted both this thread and your account. But you've been a member for a while now and you're asking outright ... you're not trying to 'pull the wool' over anyone's eyes or scam them. I'm assuming you haven't pestered anyone by sending all the active members PMs. And no one has reported the thread to have it removed. So you're safe for the moment.

I see websites all the time with donation buttons on them, so I guess this is sort of that type of thing. You could try that route, 'putting a donate button on a blog or some-such,' but I don't know how many web surfers really donate to them. I hear you can make some money through ads on your blogs/websites too. (Like with Amazon.) And even uploading homemade videos on YouTube can bring in money. You can also sell items you made yourself, or possessions you want to get rid of, on sites listed on threads on this forum too. Wanna Sell Your Works? Find & Share Sites Here

I suppose a quick way to make money is by having a yard sale, or as Phalon said, the pawn shop. I'm guessing eBay and the sites I have listed on the thread linked above would take too long for when you need the money.

Good luck.

[Mini Mia]

hmm ... Have you tried working out a payment plan? I've seen that Suze Orman person on shows saying that you can usually work something out, if you show you're trying to pay the debt off.

Can you pay it off with a credit card? Or transfer the charge from one credit card to another. That might buy you some time until you can save up the full amount.

[EllieNeo]

yeah, i know better than to pester people with PMs.. that would just be dumb.
got some of it together... it has taken a lot of stress off of us... but this next couple weeks will be rough.
all the things you guys mentioned, pawn shops, selling stuff, are all things we are trying. may even sell a laptop. don't have any jewelery worth selling, because most pawn shops only buy gold and the rings and jewelery we have are either silver or stainless steel. as for the videos thing... i had a youtube account for quite awhile and uploaded over 100 vids... never got any money from them. and my youtube account has been deleted because someone called me on a copyright thing... third copyright strike, i don't even remember what song it was now.
as for a payment plan... this was the payment plan... and this is the last payment. but so much stuff has come up lately that all the money we had saved up for this last payment is just gone. deaths in the family and towed cars can really sap finances.
still looking into other things. friends are looking into other things, and so is the family. even sent emails to emergency help places... no answers yet... but i will keep you guys updated. i want to thank you for not deleting my account... and for all the ideas. i wish some of them were helpful. if anyone thinks of anything else, i'll keep checking this regularly between now and the 15th... that's the absolute MUST PAY day.
k well i'm outta here for now, still looking into other ways to get the money. later guys.

p.s. thanks for the happy bday wish, phalon.

[Mini Mia]

I don't have a YouTube account, but I would assume you have to 'opt' for having ads placed on your videos in order to make money. (They'd want/need your address/phone number/tax id, etc. in order to list you as a paid YouTube user.) Plus, the videos have to be entirely of your own creation, void of anything copyrighted by someone else. I've wondered if reading a 'public domain' book/story would be an okay thing to do to make money. Or even reading one's own works. Do demonstrations on 'how to' techniques on various hobbies one may have. Funny videos of the critters you live with.

Alas, I don't know anything about creating videos, so I've not dipped my toe into those waters yet. And I don't have a video recorder either, so no taping the critters around here for uploading. Maybe one day.

[stepper]

Since Phalon mentioned pawn shops already - about the only other thing I can think of at the moment is to check with your local church to see if they have an emergency charitable fund. Or maybe the minister/pastor/priest/whatever belongs to a local ministeral alliance - they often have funds for emergencies. The Red Cross has been known to make loans, although the purpose is usually to help a family with emergency needs because the house burnt down, someone died, etc. Sorry ellie - unless you or your mom qualify for welfare assistance I can't think of anything else to do to pay off the debt. IF, and only if, you are certain that you can pay it back, there are second mortages on homes. Or perhaps you could use the house or vehicle as part of a promissory note but again I caution you not to go that far unless you are sure you can pay it back because you risk losing what ever you put up if you don't pay back the debt associated with the note on time. Good luck.

[vox]

Ellie, so sorry to hear of your troubles! I can't even imagine what you are going through. MG and myself send our best wishes across the water to you and your family and hope that you can find a way out of your current dilemma.

[Phalon]

The church assistance that Stepper mentioned is a good idea; one of my friends' goes to a church that has an emergency relief fund set up for its congregation members.

Joxie mentioned paying it off with a credit card....you can also get a cash advance on most credit cards, I think, although the advance has a higher interest rate.

Getting a second mortgage would take too long, probably....and may get you into more trouble if you can't make the payments. Check if you can borrow against life insurance policies, or a 401K. The life insurance policy my parents started for each of us kids when we were born, for example, has been paid off since we were 18; I can cash out the accrued interest (with a penalty, of course, but without affecting the amount of the original policy). Hubs' 401k is set up in such a way that he can borrow against it at a very low interest rate.

A cash advance from your employer to be paid off in an "easy payment plan" by taking a little from your check each week?

[Siren]

I'm sorry you and your family are having a hard time, Ellie. I've been there. I hope the tide turns soon for you. My best ~T

[stepper]

Joxie mentioned paying it off with a credit card....you can also get a cash advance on most credit cards, I think, although the advance has a higher interest rate.

That may be the best idea yet. The rate would be higher, the pay back rate would be much lower (meaning the monthly payments would be substantially lower than the borrowed amount) - and it would take longer to pay off - but there's no rule against paying extra on the balance to pay it off more quickly.

.....Check if you can borrow against life insurance policies, or a 401K. The life insurance policy my parents started for each of us kids when we were born, for example, has been paid off since we were 18; I can cash out the accrued interest (with a penalty, of course, but without affecting the amount of the original policy). Hubs' 401k is set up in such a way that he can borrow against it at a very low interest rate

Another good idea - borrowing against or cashing out insurance. Both of my brothers cashed in the life insurance policies my parents took out on them and used the $$ for college.

There's quite a few choices - we wish you luck with what ever road you choose.

[EllieNeo]

thanks for all the great ideas, everyone. and for wishing us the best. we are still trying different things. the church thing is one thing we have tried but have not yet heard back from that pastor. as it is now, with the money we have gotten together, we'll be alright, after a rough couple of weeks coming up. we'll have to spend very little on food and other things and save up as much as we can. still thinking of selling a laptop.
thanks again everyone, i'll keep you posted!

[Paladin]

I see you said you have it covered and it is probably best to stick with your plan. Besides, I'm late in coming on with a suggestion. After all those good ideas the only thing I can suggest is a signature loan from your local credit union or bank. Since you are talking about less than a thousand dollars it is entirely possible to join a credit union or other financial institution and immediately qualify for a small loan. Someone has already more or less said this, but what ever you do, use caution when you transfer a debt in stead of paying it off because you are still obliged to pay back the debt and you don't want to make a difficult situation worse. The idea is that if you can reduce the payment to smaller payments this might make it easier on your budget. Good luck.

[EllieNeo]

back into trouble because our washing machine leaked... a stupid mistake on my part... we still need $300... anyone have any more suggestions?

[stepper]

One - but only as an absolute last resort because it's overly expensive. Get a payday loan from one of those places where you can take out a loan against your next paycheck - or two. Interest is exorbitant and payments may be prohibitively expensive depending on how you managed the rest of the money. Some of them will let you borrow against your vehicle if you have the title. As with the other suggestions, use caution and think about what you are doing since you are risking existing property/vehicles. It’s like gamboling – if you can’t afford to lose it, don’t risk it.

[Mini Mia]

Honey-Do (temporary) Jobs. Know of any widow women or single moms that need some things done around the home/yard?

Panhandle j/k Sorry, was watching Dr. Phil and he had a guest that would sit close by a gas station with a sign, "Single Mom needs gas to get home." She managed to fill her tank that way.

[EllieNeo]

dunno what else to add here, except to say we are still in trouble... haven't come up with that $300 and no one seems able to loan it to us. *sigh*
might actually consider panhandling... if it were legal here, which it isn't. you're caught holding a sign that begs for food or money, and they throw you in jail. which, for some of the panhandlers, i guess, would be good, cuz that's, as my mom always says, "three hots and a cot." but... *shakes head* since i'm not homeless, and don't need three hots and a cot, that's a go-no.

[Phalon]

I don't know what else to suggest, Ellie, other than what's been mentioned here already.

Except maybe to ask a dozen people you know to loan you $25; friends may be more apt to give you the smaller amount.

[Paladin]

Pawn some stuff.

[Scrappy Amazon]

You could sell blood......the four of you might be able to come up with some cash that way.

[EllieNeo]

figured it out, everyone. sold my guitar on amazon for $500. since amazon takes commission, that's closer to $450 i'll see, but it means we're out of trouble. hopefully by may we can be totally out of debt. i'm also doing freelance writing, which will slowly give some money. anyone need anything written, i have a profile on oDesk.com and my screen name on there is HopeDB. right now the stuff i'm writing is boring, but i hope to start being able to do some creative freelance writing, or at least writing articles about subjects i care about. xD
thanks again for all the great suggestions!

[Mini Mia]

So glad it all worked out. I never heard of 'oDesk.com' though.