She is damned if she does and damned if she doesn't!

[yy4me]

Five or six years ago my (adult) daughter bought a used Ford SUV. She needed space for gear plus one large dog. No real hoopla about the death of the SUV and the price of gas at the time.

She has since been laid off, cannot find new job in her field because of the economy and other changes in the industry with which she is familiar and educated.

Still has the gas guzzling SUV, unemployment is running out, the value of the car is zilch and a fill up is $75.00 or more.

Catch 22. No $, no gas, no way to get to interview, no jobs in field anyway.

I would never have believed things are as bad as they are. I know several people who are unemployed and all tell me that same story. Cut-back, closing up, etc, you know the rest.

And the government is trying again to extend unemployment benefits for 13 weeks. Pretty petty to not make it automatic. They got us into this financial mess in the first place? Who made the decisions to send our jobs overseas, who allows the gas companies record profits and puts the screws to us at $5.00 a gallon.

This old Granny had had enough. 1/20/2009 CAN NOT COME SOON ENOUGH!--and yes, I'm yelling.

Now i'm off to work. Retirement sure is fun, 8:30 to 4:00 daily.

Thanks for listening....

[ingac70]

1. If I were in your daughters position...

I'd ditch the SUV and find an early 80's Chevette that runs, or an old Yugo. I know for a fact the Yugos get around 40 mpg, and the Chevette gets close to it from what I understand.

A couple of years ago I bought a Yugo and almost enough parts for a whole other Yugo for 500 bucks.

[Fumesucker]

2. Q: Do you know why Yugos have rear window defrosters?

A: To keep your hands warm while you push them.. :)


Seriously, if you don't have money for gas you don't have money for another car.

I'm truly amazed how many people fail to understand that.

[RazBerryBeret]

3. and when you buy that old of a car,

you're gonna need $$$$ for repair bills, unless you're handy enough to take care of it yourself.

[MiniMe]

4. Do you know why they named it a Yugo?

You go, it doesn't.

Seriously though, if she can't afford the $75 to fill the tank, she can't afford $500 for a car, nor the repair costs associated with an older car.

[ingac70]

7. I thought it was a great car...

Yugos were nothing more than Fiats and were simple enough a monkey could do most of the work on them. You literally could just read the Haynes Manual and fix this vehicle, no mechanical knowledge needed.

[ingac70]

5. If you sell the gas guzzler...

cheap you'll have plenty of cash to buy a old beater.

[varelse]

6. NO, silly! what she needs to do is ditch her place of residence

move into the SUV (it's rent free!) and THEN take out a couple of those handy credit cards we're always getting applications for in the mail, to buy an economy car to drive around to the job interviews. She can strap a crate to the roof of the SUV for the dog to live in while she's out interviewing - or just let it loose to forage in garbage cans.

Think outside the box a little and - viola - problems just melt away.