HMB Budget

I’ve been out of work for a while, and a contract-to-hire job turned into just a contract, and now that my rent is going up by 35% (new property managers), I can’t keep my apartment. Everything I’m doing is listed below, but right now? I can’t keep up. I need help, and it kills me to ask for help, but I am. Please read through so you can see what I’m doing to avoid this, but I’m about to empty out my account for my current bills, and after that? Well, I don’t want to lose my car and I want to keep eating, so here’s my situation. Anything you’re able to do to help is truly appreciated.

Thanks for reading. (Sorry, it's kind of long) I appreciate it.

My situation:

Here’s what I came up with as a bare-bones budget. This includes what I owe for the current month - electric is behind.

I have a friend who’s taking me in and asked me to help pitch in toward utilities. Another friend is paying for storage so I can move my stuff there through February.

Rent 355 - prorated through Oct 15

Car 350

Car Ins 115

Rent Ins 20

Gas 75

Cell 100

Electric 258

Food 400

Internet 70

Electric 75

Misc 100

Total: 1918

Not included: Student loans, credit card payments, as they’re almost maxed out. I’ve discontinued almost all my subscriptions, so no streaming services, etc, just what I need to keep my author website and marketing tools active, which total approximately $60/month.

What I've been trying/doing:

I’ve been working contract jobs, but they’re not reliable. I had a job interview yesterday for an administrative job at a transportation company, so fingers crossed. And I am posting for more logistics, transportation, customer service jobs, etc, every day. I’m still checking in regularly with my recruiting agencies, who have helped with interviews and temp jobs. Every little bit helps, right?

My experience lies in international logistics and transportation. I have a bachelor’s degree from Indiana University and an MLHR from Fisher College of Business at The Ohio State University. I speak French, Bulgarian, and Spanish to varying degrees of fluency.

I’ve checked into student teaching, but I don’t have a teaching certificate, despite having a few years (overseas) of ESL teaching experience. I’m happy to tutor and have taught ESL and SAT Prep classes here in the US.

I’ve applied to the unclaimed funds here in Ohio and found nearly $1700, but am waiting for it to be processed / approved. I did that in August, and the processing time is approximately 120 days.

I work a part-time retail job - just a little bit to add a couple of hundred bucks per month, so it’s not much. I also teach knitting classes on Saturdays, which also pulls in a few hundred bucks per month, provided I have students. I get paid per student.

Book sales aren’t enough to live on, but they provide about a tank or two’s worth of gas money each month. I’ll include a post later on where to buy my books so I get the highest percentage of royalties, that way it wouldn’t be a handout.

I’m working on setting up my Fiverr page for beta reading, proofreading (See above about my teaching and training experience), Audiobook preparation for voice artists, and line-editing. I have a decent amount of experience in most of those (Still working on the audiobook prep and am using my own books as practice), but I haven’t yet charged for any of those services. I’d much rather earn my money than ask for a handout, but goodness, I’m in a tough state right now, so I’m not ruling anything out, pride be damned.

I’ve sold books back to Half-Price Books, but it was just enough to buy a few groceries, so it helped. My bank account has enough to cover my next car payment, gas, and food, but after that? I’m a little unsure about how I’ll make do.

Last spring, while I was working, I finished pre-paying for my hockey season tickets, so they’re paid for. But, because I only have one ticket per game, it’s hard to sell my tickets. I can’t find any takers, and at least it provides an escape. I know it sounds like a luxury, and yes - it is - but it’s been paid for, for a while now. When I originally paid for them and signed up, I had the income to support it. I’ve lost that income now, but I wanted to be up front for anyone following me on social media who sees me post pictures of an NHL game. That and I also won a bunch of free tickets, so there’s that.

Any help is appreciated. I’m doing all I think I can, but I’m open to ideas.
If you’ve made it this far, thank you so much. I really appreciate you! I hate that I’m at this stage, but I don’t know what else to do. I’m still trying, though.

Please just don’t give up on me.
Thank you,

Heather