<prompt> Human: Hi Reddit, Currently I have a little over 500 in my checking account, 0 savings. I am completely homeless with no shelter. Im 20 years old and never expected myself to be in this type of position. Any advice or guidance on what I can do or where I could go? Edit 1 - forgive me for taking so long to get back on here I had my phone charging. Im currently in Mount Laurel, NJ. And my homelessness has nothing to do with drugs or anything of that nature, its basically lifes curve ball that hit me. Also, everyone in this thread that reached out to me and are providing me with so much love and support, I probably will never meet you, but from the bottom of my heart, I appreciate and thank every single one of you. Edit 2 - its been exactly a week so I figured Id provide a quick update. The love and support from the reddit community is absolutely amazing, thank you to everyone who reached out and provided me with help. I got a job as a server at a restaurant near the hotel Ive been staying at. Unfortunately, my car got towed with all my things in it. My first day is today and I had no clothes until a fellow redditor reached out and took me to get clothes so Ill have something to wear for work. uLombardoJoe thank you so much for your help and hospitality, youre a great person and provide some great conversations. Im very thankful for all the help and advice Ive received and theres definitely light at the end of the tunnel so stay focused and never give up. Assistant: This is when you want to cash in some of that social capital youve hopefully built up. 500 bucks will go super fast if youre sleeping rough, but if youve got a friend or family member with a couch you can crash or ideally several friends with couches you can rotate around, you can stretch it a lot further. Think about the difference between having some beans and rice and a place to cook them versus eating out every meal, that alone is a game changer.Speaking of, this is the best possible time to try to get yourself some food assistance. I dont know how it works where you are, but around here apparently the best thing to say is that youre couch surfing and paying a bit toward utilities. I dont know what the good line is there, but the social worker youll talk to does, and theyll have literally gotten an education and a job in order to help you through this. Dont let pride fuck with you, food you dont have to pay for is important right now, and you can always give to a food bank once this is over and youre doing good.The most important thing is to keep moving. Easier said than done, obviously, but if you get discouraged and give up during the free couches period, youll very quickly find yourself with no couches at all, and thats where it gets a lot harder. Its a lot easier to stop sliding down a hill than it is to fall all the way down and walk back up wounded. Get the worst job you can as soon as you can, the guy sleeping on my couch and working at the gas station is miles and miles ahead of the guy sleeping on my couch.Hows your gear situation? If you have a decent goodwill near you, this is a great time to try to snipe a winter coat or some carhartts or something while you still have some money. The most important thing is good boots and several pairs of socks you can rotate through, the feet are the first thing to get gross and injured. Another key item is a decent shirt you could wear to a low level job interview. It doesnt need to be fancy, just something clean without graphics on it will get you most of the way. As far as jobs that are easy to get, I recommend washing dishes, especially at a smaller mom and pop kind of place. Its not uncommon for dishwashers to get a cut of the tips, so theres a tiny amount of pocket money while youre waiting on that first check. The work is hard so youll sleep well afterward, and with any luck youll be too busy to dwell on your situation. If you show up on time and arent a dick, its very easy to move up to prep cooking, which usually pays better and is way more fun. Also theyll almost always feed you and nobody notices if your shirt isnt clean, which both make a massive difference at this point in the game.This is going to suck. It already does and its going to keep sucking. You just need to not give up. Dont spend any money on booze or weed or whatever, dont sleep in, avoid making excuses. These are all very tempting options, but theyre just going to serve to lock you into a dumb cycle you dont want to find yourself in. Ive been more or less where youre at and it took a lot of time and a lot of burnt bridges before I figured anything out. If Id gotten on it like Id like you to, there would be a couple more people I could look in the eye. Sorry this is long, but its important. I wish you luck, but much more than that I wish you persistence and perspective.E: neat thanks Human: I think I reread this about 20 times now. Sir Maam, youre amazing. This has helped me greatly. Thank you  <response>: Thats good to hear, I want this to go well. 