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These are indeed lean times, when there's not a drop of froth left in household budgets.
Traditionally, debt counselors could find expenditures -- like the infamous $4 latte -- that consumers could eliminate to better meet their monthly bills.
Now, because of a perfect storm of high mortgage payments,
gas prices and credit card bills, more consumers have already budgeted
to the bone before seeking out debt counseling, says Chuck Stanley,
senior vice president at Money Management International, a national
nonprofit counseling firm.
They want to keep their homes and preserve their credit records, so these consumers have been living lean -- and still coming up short.
Second job?
"To balance a budget, you either decrease expenses or increase income. And taking a second job is the immediate way to increase income," explains Gail Cunningham, spokeswoman for the National Foundation for Credit Counseling.
But while more income can balance an out-of-whack
financial life, a second job isn't always feasible in real life.
"I would estimate that about 80 percent of the time we are putting (a second job) in front of the consumer as an option," says Chris Viale, president of Cambridge Credit Counseling Corp., a nationwide debt counseling firm.
The $800 question
With only 24 hours in a day, some people, like single parents, can't devote any more of them to work.
And when the monthly income shortfall is too great
-- more than about $800 -- part-time wages won't fill the gap, says
Stanley.
Advocating avocations
Consumers, beleaguered by overwhelming debt, may not take well to
the simple command: "Get another job."
"Instead, we first ask about what people's hobbies and interests are," says Stanley. "We explore whether that can lead to job opportunities." He's seen sports enthusiasts, for example, serving as referees and umpires for park district games, at about $25 to $30 a game. And one woman, an avid cook, secured permission from her employer to sell breakfast items to morning workers at her company.
Passions and skills can be routes to flexible
income-earning opportunities, says Helen LaVan, a DePaul University
management professor and career counselor. Lately she's seen people
pick up everything from part-time bookkeeping to freelance writing,
sometimes creating their own opportunities but also finding jobs
on Web sites like indeed.com
and craigslist.org.
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