<prompt> Human: Hi Reddit, A little over a year ago, I had 30k in savings and was working as remote job making 75kyear. Then we girlfriend and I decided to move to a bigger city in hopes of better future career opportunity. Unfortunately, I was unexpectedly laid off my job only 2 months after moving. Despite our optimism, I could not find a job in my field for anything many last interviews, but no offers, and I was unable to find temp work or min wage work min wage jobs outright told me I was overqualified and didnt want turnaround. I blew through my unemployment and ALL my savings getting by in this higher cost area of living before moving back cross country to live with my girlfriends parents in August. If it werent for them offering to take us in, we would very well be homeless. We currently only have 1000 to our names and 3 pets to take care of on top of it. I also had to sell my car old car, and I couldnt afford its repairs so I had to sell it, and lots of our furniture and personal possessions were sold as well. At this point, I feel overwhelmingly hopeless that we will never be able to recover and acquire financial security again. I was hoping we could stay at my girlfriends parents for up to a year while we rebuilt our savings, but her parents are getting very disgusted by us staying here, they have a very tiny home we all dont fit in, and their dog and our dogs are having massive conflicts. Basically no one is happy here. Its a shame her parents are having a change of heart about us living with them now too... So heres the rundown of where we are currently at:- We currently live in a very tiny rural town without much opportunity. A major city is about an hour commute away though. - We really need to get our own place, but because of our pets we are unable to get into the cheap apartments we can afford in the 500-700 range, and the next cheapest placeshomes we have found for rent that would allow our pets are 900-1500...- We both did find low paying jobs in the area. My girlfriend graduated with her B.S. degree and found an entry level job in her field paying 15 an hour. I found a warehouse job for 10 an hour. Its something, but I look at if we moved out and pretty much all our income would be going to expensesbills.- Ive pretty much given up hope on finding work in my old career. I had worked as a Sound Designer in video games for 4 years, but the job competition is insane and the job security nonexistent. Im currently back in college online earning my B.S. degree in Accounting and Business Management hoping to find work in either HR or Accounting, but I will not graduate for another 8 months minimum. I dont know how hopeful I feel about finding a decent job either after graduating, and it will probably require a relocation... Basically, Im not too optimistic about gainful employment after getting my degree, but my past experiences may have just made me cynical. - Another thing, any type of distant relocation is out of the question at this point. : This limits the job opportunities we could apply for, especially if I ever happened to find something in my old career of sound for games. In short, the only option I see right now given the circumstances is that we get our own place in town to live, which will pretty much require us to use most, if not all, of our income to get by. My warehouse job is not very stable either, as some weeks I only get 20 hours and others 40. I dont see how we will ever be able to build up our savings at this rate and recover from this terrible situation we found ourselves in. What does reddit suggest I do? Ive thought of joining the military, but unfortunately I dont agree with what the military currently stands for basically fighting a rich mans greed battle, and ALL of my family are strongly against me joining the military. I figured I could try to take out extra student loans for living expenses, but I would like to keep my debt to a minimum. Lastly, its worth mentioning that me and my girlfriend are not careless spenders and very good with our finances. We both have always lived financially secure up until last year, and our credit scores are both excellent 750. One last option would be to ask some of my family members for financial help, but I generally feel terrible about doing that. I shouldnt have to burden them. Thanks for hearing me out. Hopefully you guys can offer some tangible suggestions that can help us get back on our feet as quick as possible! Assistant: Online collegedegree? Be careful, many of the are diploma mills. Also, you might want to give up your pets as they are draining you further. If you want to find lower paying jobs, avoid putting your Bachelors down on the resume.Human: Why the heck would I want to find lower paying jobs?? Givings up pets is heartless, its like giving up children. If you had 2 children when times were good, then lost your job, would you give up your kids??? Im not worried too much about the online degree. Traditional Universities are one of the biggest scams of the last decade or two. Charging 40k tuition a year for a piece of paper and poor job training. Id rather go to an online college where I can get a degree for a 110 of the price, and cut out the bullshit of traditional university. Also, online education is the way of the future, even most state colleges offer online degrees now. Wont be long before you see IVY leagues and pretty much every school offering online options. Assistant: You are clearly in denial and not interested in getting actual good advice. Your pets seem to be a huge burden both by nearly costing you your current living situation as well as ensuring you cant rent a place of your own due to their costs. Pets are nothing like children.Human: Pets are everything like children. I would never give them up. Assistant: Your current children have a short lifespan and offer no tax benefits.To help you understand why were downvoting: Imagine you have three horses as pets, instead of whatever you have now. Omg I love my horses, theyre family. Who cares that I currently cant pay their food, vet bills, stable costs, trainer, hoof maintenance. One day Ill be rich again and itll all work out.Pets are a luxury; they dont offer food stamps for pets. Sometimes you have to make cold rational decisions. I dont recommend any pets until you have an emergency fund and retirement investments.Human: Well dog and cat maintenance is DRASTICALLY different than taking care of horses...  <response>: Dude, the people on this thread are giving you tons of great advice but you dont sound like youre willing to heed any of it.I wish you the best of luck, but youre going to have to realize you need to make some tough decisions to get through this period in your life. 