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[ua_guy]

I'm confused about the internet comments. Satellite internet (available through Dish/DirecTV, HughesNet) provides high speed internet. As does DSL, over a phone/landline, if you can get 3Mbps, that's classifed as broadband. Cable companies also offer broadband internet; if you can get cable service at your farm. Cellular companies also offer broadband at 4G and LTE speeds. It seems to me, this is not an unsolvable problem, and it would do you well to research and understand how all of this works.

I'd be curious if you might do well with a work-from-home customer service job through Amazon or something like XM/Sirius. They have 100% remote agents. There's also a lot of health insurers that utilize remote agents for claims customer service. Knowledge requirements are minimal.

Everyone that I know that went a long time without being able to find a job, eventually found a job. It was frustrating and the "take-rate" on their resumes/apps were similar to yours, hundreds and hundreds sent out; with only a handful of calls/interviews in return. It's kind of like mining for gold.

Beyond that; I might recommend contacting a firm to help you write a resume. I read somewhere about including personal photos; in my line of work, that's pretty much an automatic round-file. HR doesn't want to be anywhere near that for fear that someone could make a case that they were basing hiring decisions on appearance and get them in trouble with EEOC.

[mom-from-missouri]

Have you thought about doing a CSA? You have a farm and you already grow for yourselves. With community supported agriculture, you get the money up front from the people who join, so your outlay doesn't cost to plant all the vegetables and you still make a profit. People in the city seem to be very anxious to join CSA's. It might be enough to bring you the income you need and still be able to stay home.

We did think of this. However, our county zoning prohibits it. Several fought it in court, spent big money fighting it, and lost.

[mom-from-missouri]

I'm confused about the internet comments. Satellite internet (available through Dish/DirecTV, HughesNet) provides high speed internet. As does DSL, over a phone/landline, if you can get 3Mbps, that's classifed as broadband. Cable companies also offer broadband internet; if you can get cable service at your farm. Cellular companies also offer broadband at 4G and LTE speeds. It seems to me, this is not an unsolvable problem, and it would do you well to research and understand how all of this works.

I'd be curious if you might do well with a work-from-home customer service job through Amazon or something like XM/Sirius. They have 100% remote agents. There's also a lot of health insurers that utilize remote agents for claims customer service. Knowledge requirements are minimal.

Everyone that I know that went a long time without being able to find a job, eventually found a job. It was frustrating and the "take-rate" on their resumes/apps were similar to yours, hundreds and hundreds sent out; with only a handful of calls/interviews in return. It's kind of like mining for gold.

Beyond that; I might recommend contacting a firm to help you write a resume. I read somewhere about including personal photos; in my line of work, that's pretty much an automatic round-file. HR doesn't want to be anywhere near that for fear that someone could make a case that they were basing hiring decisions on appearance and get them in trouble with EEOC.

I don't think you understand we are in a very rural area. High Speed internet is NOT offered here, except by one wireless company. Cell phones don't even work out here except half the time. We don't even have 4G out here. I have interviewed with 3 companies to work at home. I have the fastest internet speed offered here, and borrowed a it guys laptop. We still failed the speed test. You can not get landline high speed when you live over 8 miles from town, and 12 miles from the telephone office central office. Work from home companies will not accept any highspeed internet that does not come thru a landline, and our phone company does not offer it.

The only tv company in the area is dish, and dish does not offer internet here.

[mom-from-missouri]

Think about every skill you have and how it could be used to earn income. Self employment can help since you would take a tax deduction for part of rent/mortgage, phone and internet. You have a truck which might lead to self employment opportunities transporting furniture, appliances or building goods. Make sure everyone you know is aware you need employment. Most jobs are accessed by referral. Someone recommends you as a potential candidate.

Spend time learning new skills. Can you paint walls? It's a skill you can learn from demos on You Tube if you take time and are careful with detailed work. People are tearing out carpet and installing hardwood or hardwood looking laminate. Tearing out carpet needs careful attention to baseboard/quarter round but manpower is the main function. Can you do small fixes?

Can you do move-out clean ups? Clean office bldgs. after hrs. in a nearby city? Are there seniors living in their homes who need help with landscaping, cutting grass, planting a garden?

just another .02 cents

first off, I can't move furniture and such. I am female and have MS. Our truck is a pickup truck, and since this is a farm town, everyone has a pick up truck. Around here, people move each other for free. This is also a very low income area, most people are retired farmers, they rent the farm house and move to what used to be there rental house in town when they retire from farming.

We don't have fast food anywhere in the county. (2 restaurants is it)

Nearest city is just over an hour away. Cleaners make min wage. It would not pay for me to drive there. They also require the cleaners provide their own supplies. I checked in to that, a friend and I were thinking of doing it together. Again, zoning and such wanted us to be background checked first (at our expense) then bonded with a $1000 bond each. Then city permits and business licenses. So, just to clean, we would be out several thousand dollars each for start up fees. And, most businesses pay cleaners $8 to $9 an hour-so if we cleaned together, we may only earn half of that.

I do have other skills. I am an EMT (not hiring around here), have my certificate for daycare director (again, not hiring and in our area most get free childcare due to low income at the school), I also teach, but the school has been laying off due to a bond issue not passing, not hiring or only has openings in what I can't teach-such as foreign language, industrial arts, football coach....

I do teach cpr classes on the side, but my renewal for that is coming up and we don't have the $300 for me to get renewed.

7 businesses in this town, and I have been to each, also to the other small towns around here. they all have my name and number, and our local face book swap shops I have ads on as well.

Several suggest we move to the city. What good would that do? Where is the money coming from for first and last months rent? And utilities? We would also then be paying for food, and here we grow our own. Here we only make a $225 a month land payment. We can't live in the city for less than that. And, the farm would not sell-the fact that others have been on the market for years proves that. Walking away from the farm doesn't stop the land payment or the taxes on it from being due, and hopefully by the time we are in our 70's, one of the kids will be old enough to buy it from us so it can be in the family another generation. Or, by then the market will turn and it will sell to be an addition to our retirement.

[creditcardfree]

Hypothetically, if you moved to the city, you would both have jobs making significantly more money than you have now. Yes your expenses would go up, rent, utilities, food and so forth, but those expenses could easily be less than your income. You have been on these forums for years, so you know how to watch your pennies. You could keep the farm if the payment is only $225 a month. It would be like your vacation home.

Just a thought! I do realize this suggestion requires moving your kids to a new school and that is tough too.

[disneysteve]

Several suggest we move to the city. What good would that do? Where is the money coming from for first and last months rent?

Hypothetically, if you moved to the city, you would both have jobs making significantly more money than you have now. Yes your expenses would go up, rent, utilities, food and so forth, but those expenses could easily be less than your income.

I think OPs point is that they can't afford to move. Moving costs money - security deposit, moving expenses, etc. If you're flat broke, or living paycheck to paycheck, how do you come up with the money to start over somewhere new? If you can get a job in the city first, you could save up enough to move, but that still comes back to the original problem - she needs a job.

[mom-from-missouri]

Hypothetically, if you moved to the city, you would both have jobs making significantly more money than you have now. Yes your expenses would go up, rent, utilities, food and so forth, but those expenses could easily be less than your income. You have been on these forums for years, so you know how to watch your pennies. You could keep the farm if the payment is only $225 a month. It would be like your vacation home.

Just a thought! I do realize this suggestion requires moving your kids to a new school and that is tough too.

IF we could find jobs that paid that well. Neither of us have a college degree, and are in our 50's. Companies want to start people like us at min wage. Even our local school district requires their custodians to have a college degree.

We have a neighbor in the same boat. 57 years old, he husband recently passed away, and she needs an income because his retirement wont start until he would have been 65. They married straight out of high school and she has always been a stay at home mom. All she can find are min wage jobs.

I've been tracking, and since last April, between my husband and i, we have put in for almost 800 jobs. We have professional resumes--his company did that when they laid him off. We also interview well. We have had jobs offered, but they won't pay enough to even get us to and from work and to cover the price of work uniforms. Their are no "chain companies" here, so most only have 3-5 employees, so they have no benefits or insurance.

I have subbed at the local public school district some. Here is how it works here...First, you apply (each year you go thru this process). Then you have to pay them for the background check ($120), then if you pass that, you then have to drive to the city and have your fingerprints done, again at your own expense (another $68). Then you are not even guaranteed that they will call you to sub. IF they do call you to sub, they pay $60 a day. So, you are out $180 plus gas and expenses before you even start. If you do get called at 60 a day, you have to sub for 3 days to even break even the expenses (still not your gas). The last 2 years I only got called twice. This is why they want the custodians to have a 4 year degree. If they need a sub, they pull the custodians in to the classroom first, since they are already getting paid and there. Most of the school teachers here who have children are also on WIC or food stamps as they pay that poorly.

Farmers around here don't want industry and fight to keep it out. They even vote down the library tax, so that we don't have a library in the 3 county area......BUT, we need a big factory or something to come in to provide jobs and to improve the economy in this area. City people just don't realize how backwards some of the rural areas still are. We have no fast food, no movie theater, no doctor office that is open daily (just on days the dr is in town), no mechanics, no dealerships, no library, no bookstores...

We have 1 grocery store, Dollar General, the gas station, newspaper office, real estate office, feed store, many antique stores, ambulance and fire department (volunteer) and 4 banks. Interesting to many, is that the newspaper, real estate, feed store and antique stores as well as one of the banks are in old buildings that date pre civil war, and the business owners live upstairs from their businesses. These are businesses that have been in their families for generations. When Dollar General came in and bought a lot where a building had burned down, it created such a ruckus that "outsiders" where taking over.

These small towns are dying because they won't allow outsiders in or pay wages for them. The very ones that vote these issues down on the ballot are the loudest to complain that young families leave and don't come back.

[disneysteve]

since last April, between my husband and i, we have put in for almost 800 jobs.

You've already figured this out but you don't get a job by sending in a resume. You get a job through personal connections - friends, family, fellow congregants at church, former employers, people you've had business dealings with, customers, your kids' teachers, your barber, your doctor, the cashier at the grocery store, etc. If you haven't already, you need to shift your focus to networking. Make sure every single person you know, every single person you come in contact with, knows that you are looking for work. Print up a batch of business cards with your name and all contact info (address, home phone, cell phone, email, facebook, linked in, twitter, etc.) and hand them out everywhere you go. Post to all of those online social media sites to get the word out that you are looking for work. Especially living in an area where jobs are scarce, you need to work extra hard to get your name out there and make those connections.

[disneysteve]

Even our local school district requires their custodians to have a college degree.

Why would anyone go to college to become a custodian? Why would anyone with a college degree take a job as a custodian? That makes no sense at all.

Reminds me of the classic Honeymooners show. Ed Norton worked in the sewers and would tell people he was a "subterranean engineer".

[AnotherReader]

People with degrees take the custodian jobs because there are no better jobs in the area.

The OP and her husband need to face reality and move to where the jobs are. Since she can substitute teach, she should be able to at least pick that up until they are on their feet. A bigger school district is going to have more substitute teaching jobs. Maybe her husband can do something similar until he finds a job. Could the farm land possibly be rented for now to cover some or all of the $225 a month land payment? Is the house rentable? Do you have a relative or friend that you could stay with until you accumulate enough cash to rent an inexpensive apartment? You need to focus on moving now, not on trying to make things work where you are.

[JoeP]

Tough situation, we have a few rural areas around here, but nothing like what you're talking about. Looking at trends, it is only going to get worse there as far as options go. Is there any way one of you could move out to a location that offers more opportunity? This would require some money, but maybe someone at your church, or a family member, or friend can help with accommodations and contacts. At least that person could start the process of getting some income, and share some with whomever stays back home.

Long shot, but sometimes working around the system to get a slight advantage is the option.

[disneysteve]

People with degrees take the custodian jobs because there are no better jobs in the area.

Sorry, I realize that. Didn't mean to offend anyone who took a lesser job because it's all they could find. I just don't understand requiring custodians to have a degree. Nobody goes to college to become a custodian.

[creditcardfree]

I think OPs point is that they can't afford to move. Moving costs money - security deposit, moving expenses, etc. If you're flat broke, or living paycheck to paycheck, how do you come up with the money to start over somewhere new? If you can get a job in the city first, you could save up enough to move, but that still comes back to the original problem - she needs a job.

I believe I read on another thread OP has 401K money she is considering dipping into if they can't find jobs, thus this person is not flat broke. I'd rather they take money out of 401K to move and earn more money while they are healthy and able, then to start using that money now.

I do understand this is a real problem for many people.

[Green43]

Not to argue, but dish network internet should be available to anyone for satellite internet with clear view of the southern sky..(my parents use this also in our little small town).
one niche' we have around here that is open for a person to work from home is ebay (or other for sale site) consignment. Alot of people around here have tons of stuff for sale and use the facebook local page to try selling all there stuff but the communities are so small and spread out there usually isnt much movement unless you are going to GIVE it away. Most consignment places sell for roughly 48%-50% of sales. People get SOMETHING for their stuff, you get paid for selling it, it is self driving, the more you sell the more you make, the more the word gets out, the more product you have to sell. It doesnt work for everyone, you have to be very motivated, but you get to be your own boss, set your own hours, and no gas or wear and tear on the car. Just an idea. Good luck.

[Russell]

I put myself in your shoes and thought of a couple of things I would consider doing leveraging what you already have:

1. Offer 'life on a farm' type of vacation or tour packages. You may not realize it but a lot of city folk are looking to reconnect to the simpler ways of living, many dream of retiring on a small farm. I myself have taken my family on horseback riding tours away from the cities, we go camping many times throughout the year to escape the big cities and the adventure/self-reliance component is great. I'm always interested in opportunities to experience the true farm-life for just for a weekend or a week. To start with the customers/clients could bring their own RV/trailers or if you can, provide a small separate 1bd cabin. If you ever did this, please send me the invitation and I'll come (from SoCal no less )

2. A fast computer connection will be a great asset, what exactly is available there today, DSL? Cable? or still 56k dialup? However, not all companies/work requires a very fast computer connection though, for example a BPO company like VXI, Alorica and West etc hire work-at-home customer service agents. You'll need to access their system through Citrix etc but that doesn't require a very fast connection as long as it's stable.

3. Have you thought about writing Kindle books? Your teaching, writing and farming experience can be a great combination in my mind. Another option is doing taxes...online.

Most of these suggestions lean towards starting a small business with a small capital only because there aren't enough mega-corps. So what does the town need that you can offer as a service? You don't have to be the one to render that service yourself but perhaps you can employ folks and helps others in the process too. Another thing that crosses my mind is what will your kids (and other kinds in town) do when they finish school? where and what types of jobs will they need?