Struggling with finances... Don't know what to do anymore

[Anonymous]

Did you say how many kids you have OP? If I were you, I'd advertise as a nanny esp if you only have 1 child. It might take some searching but someone will hire you. Good luck. I am currently underemployed and single with 1 child. It sucks but I'm doing the best I can.

[Anonymous]

OP, I once knew a pediatrician who was unemployed for a while as she waited to take some kind of exam. She worked as a nanny, but did not tell the family that she worked for that she was a doctor, since she thought she would not get the job. My sense is that some families might be turned off. Maybe you could say that you just completed grad school, and not go on about law and so on.

[Anonymous]

Check idealist.com -- lots of non-profits need people with legal backgrounds.

[Anonymous]

If you passed the bar, you should go into practice for youself. A first year attorney in practice with no real experience can charge $150/hr and should have no problem billing at least 10-20 hrs per week. You can literally go to the courthouse and hang out at traffic court. Plenty of people would pay $100 to represent them. A few of those a day is real money (drastically more than everything else suggested on here).

There are also court appointed cases for probate and other fields. They pay mediocre for lawyers but 5-10 times what any of the other jobs you are looking at pay. You may even find that you are a good lawyer (just a bad student).

I went into practice myself right after lawschool and 10 years later make more than anyone else I know, even those are large firms. For the record I graduated in the bottom half of my class.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you passed the bar, you should go into practice for youself. A first year attorney in practice with no real experience can charge $150/hr and should have no problem billing at least 10-20 hrs per week. You can literally go to the courthouse and hang out at traffic court. Plenty of people would pay $100 to represent them. A few of those a day is real money (drastically more than everything else suggested on here).

There are also court appointed cases for probate and other fields. They pay mediocre for lawyers but 5-10 times what any of the other jobs you are looking at pay. You may even find that you are a good lawyer (just a bad student).

I went into practice myself right after lawschool and 10 years later make more than anyone else I know, even those are large firms. For the record I graduated in the bottom half of my class.

This plus evening/ afternoon child care.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you passed the bar, you should go into practice for youself. A first year attorney in practice with no real experience can charge $150/hr and should have no problem billing at least 10-20 hrs per week. You can literally go to the courthouse and hang out at traffic court. Plenty of people would pay $100 to represent them. A few of those a day is real money (drastically more than everything else suggested on here).

There are also court appointed cases for probate and other fields. They pay mediocre for lawyers but 5-10 times what any of the other jobs you are looking at pay. You may even find that you are a good lawyer (just a bad student).

I went into practice myself right after lawschool and 10 years later make more than anyone else I know, even those are large firms. For the record I graduated in the bottom half of my class.

While this could work for some, I'm not so sure it would work for OP. Starting a business is hard work, and it takes capital but mostly lots of time- both of which OP doesn't have. And, iss this still the case- $150/hr for traffic cases, and "easy" to bill at least 10-20 hrs a week??? if so, wouldn't more unemployed law students be doing this??

[Anonymous]

OP, is there an email address I can reach you at? My husband and I sound so much like you. I'm also in late 20's and we owe six figures in student loans (more than half in private loans). We are also struggling to pay bills and get by. I'd love to share ideas and just talk. You're not alone. Please let me know how to contact you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you passed the bar, you should go into practice for youself. A first year attorney in practice with no real experience can charge $150/hr and should have no problem billing at least 10-20 hrs per week. You can literally go to the courthouse and hang out at traffic court. Plenty of people would pay $100 to represent them. A few of those a day is real money (drastically more than everything else suggested on here).

There are also court appointed cases for probate and other fields. They pay mediocre for lawyers but 5-10 times what any of the other jobs you are looking at pay. You may even find that you are a good lawyer (just a bad student).

I went into practice myself right after lawschool and 10 years later make more than anyone else I know, even those are large firms. For the record I graduated in the bottom half of my class.

While this could work for some, I'm not so sure it would work for OP. Starting a business is hard work, and it takes capital but mostly lots of time- both of which OP doesn't have. And, iss this still the case- $150/hr for traffic cases, and "easy" to bill at least 10-20 hrs a week??? if so, wouldn't more unemployed law students be doing this??

it would be damn near impossible to bill 20 hours/week. Competition is fierce.

[Anonymous]

OP, tutoring can bring in $30 an hour if you have ANY experience with education.
Also, can you get a relative (grandparent) tom come and live w/ you while you work so that there is child care?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you passed the bar, you should go into practice for youself. A first year attorney in practice with no real experience can charge $150/hr and should have no problem billing at least 10-20 hrs per week. You can literally go to the courthouse and hang out at traffic court. Plenty of people would pay $100 to represent them. A few of those a day is real money (drastically more than everything else suggested on here).

There are also court appointed cases for probate and other fields. They pay mediocre for lawyers but 5-10 times what any of the other jobs you are looking at pay. You may even find that you are a good lawyer (just a bad student).

I went into practice myself right after lawschool and 10 years later make more than anyone else I know, even those are large firms. For the record I graduated in the bottom half of my class.

While this could work for some, I'm not so sure it would work for OP. Starting a business is hard work, and it takes capital but mostly lots of time- both of which OP doesn't have. And, iss this still the case- $150/hr for traffic cases, and "easy" to bill at least 10-20 hrs a week??? if so, wouldn't more unemployed law students be doing this??

No, I don't think most unemployed law grads would even think of doing this. It takes a certain type of person to go out on his/her own, and not everyone is cut out for that.

[Anonymous]

OP here... Wow, thanks for all the suggestions. I made a list of realistic options given my childcare situation:

1) Childcare (I made some ads tonight... not sure where to advertise other than Craigslist)

2) I'm good at standardized tests... Maybe SAT tutor?

3) I will apply to Gymboree like one poster suggested.

4) Movie theaters? I like movies, and I can work nights/weekends.

5) Possibly hang my own shingle and become bankruptcy lawyer?

To answer a PP, I majored in political science in undergrad.

00:07: my email is [e-mail]. Feel free to email me... I'm sure we could come up with lots of ideas/complaints!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here... Wow, thanks for all the suggestions. I made a list of realistic options given my childcare situation:

1) Childcare (I made some ads tonight... not sure where to advertise other than Craigslist)

2) I'm good at standardized tests... Maybe SAT tutor?

3) I will apply to Gymboree like one poster suggested.

4) Movie theaters? I like movies, and I can work nights/weekends.

5) Possibly hang my own shingle and become bankruptcy lawyer?

To answer a PP, I majored in political science in undergrad.

00:07: my email is [e-mail]. Feel free to email me... I'm sure we could come up with lots of ideas/complaints!

if you have the proverbial balls to do it, being a bankruptcy lawyer is your best shot at getting out of this shit. especially if by any chance you speak spanish. pretty easy to get debtor clients if you advertise (craigslist if nothing else - better to get the names of parties being foreclosed upon). I know folks that do this and they are complete idiots, and make very decent and easy money.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you passed the bar, you should go into practice for youself. A first year attorney in practice with no real experience can charge $150/hr and should have no problem billing at least 10-20 hrs per week. You can literally go to the courthouse and hang out at traffic court. Plenty of people would pay $100 to represent them. A few of those a day is real money (drastically more than everything else suggested on here).

There are also court appointed cases for probate and other fields. They pay mediocre for lawyers but 5-10 times what any of the other jobs you are looking at pay. You may even find that you are a good lawyer (just a bad student).

I went into practice myself right after lawschool and 10 years later make more than anyone else I know, even those are large firms. For the record I graduated in the bottom half of my class.

This advice is way outdated. My husband does this right now (and he is not a brand new graduate like OP) and it is hard hard hard. Hanging around the courthouse does not get you a few traffic cases a day - its not going to get you even one a day. In five years of practice which has involved hanging out at the courthouse almost daily, my huband has gotten maybe 5 cases total on the spot like that. To even make enough to cover childcare, OP will have to invest something in overhead to set up a virtual office at a minimum, not to mention creating a website and getting the word out somehow. The only way to succeed at hanging out a shingle these days is to invest looong hours in the beginning, hustle your butt off, develop some sort of niche, and be able to tolerate making almost nothing for at least a year, likely longer. The market for general practice guys (traffic, wills, criminal, divorce) in this area is utterly saturated. I would definitely try to pick up contract atty work before this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, I was an unemployed physician for years, no real jobs in sight. I was lucky since I had no loans, but some of my friends had loans and ended up filing and losing everything, but still in debt for the loans.
Here is what I suggest.
1. Beg family for money.
2. Look into teaching school in DC, MD, VA. Private or public, social studies, US government, history.
3. Look at baby sitting, yes, child care. Many employers will understand and you might be able to bring your child along. You may even be able to skip some taxes.
4. Beg your law school for help. They might want to shut you up, since your complaints might reduce future enrollment. Ask for tuition forgiveness or a job. Any job that will help, perhaps one you can do from home here.
5. Nursing school will take too long. No more loans.
6. See if DH can find one better paying job OUTSIDE of the DC area. If he can get 15 K more, it would be worth it to move. Then continue with the above strategies.

how can a physician be unemployed?

Oversupply of one specialty.

i agree this is really odd and doesn't make sense. were you a cardiac surgeon in the middle of Montana? Even then, why not move?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, I was an unemployed physician for years, no real jobs in sight. I was lucky since I had no loans, but some of my friends had loans and ended up filing and losing everything, but still in debt for the loans.
Here is what I suggest.
1. Beg family for money.
2. Look into teaching school in DC, MD, VA. Private or public, social studies, US government, history.
3. Look at baby sitting, yes, child care. Many employers will understand and you might be able to bring your child along. You may even be able to skip some taxes.
4. Beg your law school for help. They might want to shut you up, since your complaints might reduce future enrollment. Ask for tuition forgiveness or a job. Any job that will help, perhaps one you can do from home here.
5. Nursing school will take too long. No more loans.
6. See if DH can find one better paying job OUTSIDE of the DC area. If he can get 15 K more, it would be worth it to move. Then continue with the above strategies.

how can a physician be unemployed?

Oversupply of one specialty.

i agree this is really odd and doesn't make sense. were you a cardiac surgeon in the middle of Montana? Even then, why not move?

Um, cardiac surgeons are very much oversupplied and having trouble finding work.