Crowdsourcing to pay off debt

Well, short answer is I'm strongly considering starting a GoFundMe page to help pay off my student loans because I'm fucking broke and unemployed and can no longer afford to pay them. But I'm not sure if I should, mainly because they force you to use your real name and real location in the campaign. I don't mind bitching about my balance to strangers or to a very select few people I know, but I don't really want to shove my financial problems in the face of every single person I know. Plus, I owe a lot. I've seen a few other crowdsourcing campaigns about student debt, but the amounts were usually relatively low, like $25K-$30K. I owe that, plus $100,000 more. I don't think anyone will donate to a fundraiser with that high of a goal.

Also, I don't know if it could affect me negatively should a potential employer Google my name and see my beg-a-thon. I just don't know WTF else to do. I expect my lender to play hardball about payment negotiation because they're assholes and I want to try real hard to not get sued. I'm kind of ashamed to have to panhandle online, and I really don't want to share such panhandling with my Facebook friends (especially since many of them are my classmates and professors who all have successful careers).

I'd love to tell people that I was coerced into attending, but I don't think that would pull anyone's heartstrings because most people don't know what it's like to live with a control-freak parent. I'm actually kind of afraid to get a job because not only would my ass be on the line for my private loans (which are about $500 a month), but my income-based repayment plan on my federal loans would increase when I have an actual income. I seriously doubt I'd be able to do any better than minimum wage and there is just no damn way I can afford to pay a thousand dollars a month if I'm bringing home $700 a month.

I'd be glad to offer some kind of rewards to donors, like $XX will get you a piece of custom artwork.

Has anyone here ever done an online fundraiser? Particularly because of debt? I'm genuinely at the end of my rope, and I do not need my harpy mother screaming at me more than she already does when I go to collections because I defaulted and she's my cosigner.

Hey Cambion-

Yes, I have done a Go Fund Me in Jan 2014. I was at the end of my rope, living in a home I could no longer afford and was unemployed. The state of FL had denied me unemployment so in desperation, I did a Go Fund Me. I was crying the whole time that I filled out the info on the page. I also posted a link to Facebook.

And then all hell broke loose. mob

My family turned on me and I went almost a year without speaking to them. (We have since made up however, I see them on MY terms and they know all too well that since it was easy for me to walk away before, I would do it again. But that's another topic.)

All is not lost though. I have a job I've been at for almost a year so my GFM page did not ruin me for getting employed somewhere. But the best news of all is that through my reaching out and getting about $400 in donations, I was also offered a fresh start in a new home. An old friend found me through the GFM page, who I had not talked to in years. she offered me a place to live and I have been there now for almost a year.

I know this is long-winded but you just never know what you're going to get when you put yourself on the line like that. It might turn out to be either the worst thing you've ever done or possibly the best. But your mileage may vary.

Whatever your decision, Best of luck with it.

I've been thinking of doing a fund to pay off some of my debts, too. My total debts amount to around $50K (student loans, paying off the Tumor-B-Gone surgery and the tests, and credit cards). I was thinking about offering rewards, like $30 gets you homemade chocolates, $50 for a custom 9" cake, something like that.

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"I feel like there's a message involved here somehow, but then I couldn't stop laughing at all the plotholes, like the part when North Korea has food."
- Youtube commentor referring to a North Korean cartoon.

"Reality is a bitch when it slowly crawls out of your vagina and shits in your lap."
- Reddit comment

"Bitch wants a baby, so we're gonna fuck now. #bareback"
- Cambion

Oh whatever. Abortion doctors are crimestoppers."
- Miss Hannigan

Cambion,

I'd skip this, because yes - it might lead to unexpected future problems. And how likely is it to bring you money anyway? I should think that most of these things languish and no one even looks at them. The ones who make money at this are the ones that 'go viral' and people feel sorry for them. And as you know - it usually has something to do with kids.

IMO it's not a good idea. Probably won't go anywhere and may come back to bite you later.

How about some other ideas?

You can get 'free money' in other places you know ~
To get it? You're going to have to do alot of reading, research, and paperwork. But so? So do you have to at a 'job'.

Consider this, as example -
http://www.keweenawrealestate.com/listing.php?target_mls=1084241#.VXD5YByaK4A

How much does it cost? $0.
And - "There may be tax credits and grants available for this project."

There's your Art Gallery - right there. For FREE! There may even be more money -

What you need to do now is -

- Gain a basic biz education. You can DIY this online + library books. You don't need to become Janet Yellen, you just need to learn 'the basics'. They want a 'business plan'? Easy. Plenty of examples online.

- Gain a basic construction education. Same as above. You don't have to be Bob Vila to do this - you can hire people for complex things such as wiring. Cleaning and hauling junk? If I can - you can. Sure you can!

- When the time comes - Incorporate a biz. Cambion's Crazy Crap! Look, I just picked out a name for it, ha. WHY you want to do this is - then you, and the biz, are *separate entities*. So - sure you may have debt - but The Biz - has NO debt. This is beneficial in other ways too - such as if someone wants to sue Cambion's Crazy Crap - they sue *that* and not *you*. Eg. any suits / settlements cannot touch your personal money.

You can DO this! MILLIONS of people have, including ME! I'm incorporated in various forms, "The Biz" is incorporated, my home (s) are held in trust under another corporation - it's simple smarts for home owners too. I am not loaded by any means, but someone might think I am because I do have nice things (that I bought cheap). So let's say some Nefarious Money Grubbing Breeder thinks they're going to cash in because Bratley tripped on the sidewalk out front here. They can't sue 'me' - they'd have to sue the trust and corp. that holds this - point being - you keep things separate so assholes looking to rook you cannot clean you out.

I met a new friend here, who's an Artist. I do not know much about your line of work. I do know she makes *very good money* at what she does. Paintings. She makes paintings and sells them. She told me that she wishes she'd have met me 10 years ago because I am a biz person and maybe could've helped her. I do not know the "Art Biz" - my point being - neither did she. I have heard this from others too who studied Art - I guess they don't really teach you the 'biz end' of it all? So she had to DIY that end of it. And I guess some of these people get "Agents" to handle that. IIRC they take a 30% cut though. So I guess if one is a money maker - you can 'hire out' the biz end - everybody else, and for starters - you'd best "learn the biz end" on your own.

IMO General Biz WILL help you, most things are the same. Buy and sell and cover your ass. And you can learn the basics FOR FREE online and through books.

And there IS FREE MONEY! out there - look at this example right here. MANY areas are looking to attract new biz and offering all kinds of deals. There is (gov) grant money to be had, too.

But you know what you'll have to do for all it - PAPERWORK. And learning "general business". But so what? What else have you got to do?

I think that you could get *this place* - right now! By next week probably. Your Biz Plan - I would like to open an Art Gallery. That's your 'basic idea' - and then you work toward the specific. How much construction work will need to be done? What will it cost? What grants do I qualify for? How much revenue do I think I can produce? You will have to break all this out and detail it. You can learn how to submit such a plan - by reading. It's not that complex, others do it - and so can you!

I could do it for you - but as a biz consultant I don't come cheap. And - if I did it all and 'ran the thing' - you'd just be an employee. Why not make *your own thing*? You can! Look here - this thing is FREE! Plus - there is more free money for those who will develop a biz there.

They told us in Engineering school - you work from the vague to the specific. And in Biz school too. My aforementioned Artist friend said the same - they did get that idea, too - you work from the vague to the specific. Eg. Here's a thing I could do - so you work from the top down and break it into smaller parts.

All of these things ARE alot of WORK! And thinking, and research. It is not easy. But then again - if it were - everyone would do it. "Employees" want to be baby sat, Entrepreneurs be doing it for themselves. And it IS more work - but the freedom, and the possible profit - are what's *worth it*.

And now I hope to get into Real Estate as well. That's how I found this thing I linked here. No, it's not something I'd want - but I read all kinds of things. Research. You have to spend ALOT of time at it. I mention this because it looks like a good deal for someone who might want to start up some retail operation there.

And this place - you have to 'look around' too - this is on a peninsula in the middle of Lake Superior. Snow much? Yes. Yes it does. But as you can see - places like this are trying to *attract people*. To the tune of giving away free things! Plus money to get it going.

MANY PLACES have deals like this too - you have to keeping looking, reading, and researching. And with this - would an "Art Gallery" work there? It might. Because it's a tourist area. There are many "Art things" in that region, esp. in Copper Harbor, MI, which is just a few miles away. Lots of wealthy people with beach houses have money to spend, too.

Marketing. Find your market. You're not going sell ice to Eskimos. It's just simple common sense, and thinking and planning.

GENERAL BUSINESS. Start with this. The good news is - you DON'T need any more school - you can learn the basics online and from library books. I spent alot of money on an MBA - it isn't necessary for most biz operations. (I did specifically study market trading and forecasting, because it was what I wanted to do. So for that, I felt I got something out of this education. For General Biz knowledge - you do not need such ed.)

And then you can move to this place and open up your Art Gallery!

Or anywhere, or anything you choose. Just an example.

Oh and first step - stop thinking that someone needs to help you by giving you a job. That doesn't help you, it helps THEM. You will never be paid what you're worth at some 'job'. You wanna make money? You work for yourself.

I know you CAN!

First step: Start reading General Business. Get bored of it? Keep on by looking at things like the example I posted here. Look for RE (including commercial RE) deals. Find that overwhelming? Go back to the books. Tired of the dry texts? Flip over to the SBA (US Small Biz Admin) site. There's ALL KINDS of possibilities out there -
READ AND LEARN.

Soon you will find that you ARE understanding these things, and one topic will lead to other things to research and will generate ideas you have maybe not thought of.

I found this "free thing" - AND SO CAN YOU!

Remember ~

I CAN
I WILL!

I know you can do it! You're a smart person - yes you CAN!

The only way a page like that is going to give you some results is if you tell people about it. Otherwise, you're suffering the embarassment for no benefit at all.

I've been having some problems with my work recently. Believe me, I'd really like to keep it to myself. I hate broadcasting my problems to the world. But the only way I'm going to resolve this is by getting help. So I started out by telling all my friends. They were sympathetic, and the story got easier with each telling.

Last week I told a lot of people I didn't know or barely knew, but who are in my field, at a work-related event. Two gave me good advice and two offered to help me. I really did not like doing that, but getting this resolved is the difference between me staying in this field or having to leave, and I hoped that people would remember my previous work and try to help me stay. That is what seems to have happened, and I'm feeling a lot more optimistic about things this week.

Sometimes, people's kindness can be pleasantly overwhelming.

On the other hand, when you're asking for money, people are going to wonder. They'll want to know why you ended up in this situation and judge your choices.

You've mentioned being willing to do artwork for people. So why don't you make that what you ask people, instead? "I'm having a lot of trouble breaking into the field and my student loans are pressing. Would you consider comissioning something from me, and recommending me to someone you know?" When you ask something like that, the person knows that you don't want something for nothing and you aren't just thinking in the short-term (pay off my loan). The favor you're asking is much more acceptable and you can feel more comfortable asking it as well.

It's okay to let people know you're struggling. Most won't be assholes about it. But think about what favour you want to ask, because you won't be able to continue to go back and ask for more favours again and again.

@ Cambion pet portraits. And listen to zzelda

When I offer commissions, I swear there is no middle ground - it's either people who don't want to pay a cent because they think illustrating is easy, or, much more favorably, the ones who feel I don't charge enough who insist on offering me more. I like the idea of GoFundMe more than Kickstarter because there's no time limit - you can let a fundraiser run indefinitely and still keep the donations. I'm considering offering illustrations that are priced higher than what I'd normally charge as rewards, like $20 for black and white, $30 for color, etc. so donors would receive something for their money. There is very little I won't draw for money; I've done cutesy, I've done sexy, I've done portraits, I've done full-fledged porn and everything in between. I'm not too hot at drawing detailed backgrounds or vehicles, but I focus mainly on characters. And yeah, I'd totally do pet portraits, as long as people are okay with cartoons. I mean, I can do life drawing, but I trust my abilities more in cartoons than I do in realism.

Anyway, thanks very much for all the advice, everyone! I feel a bit better about this hearing people say it's not as bad as it seems. In my research, I'm also seeing things about crowdsourcing sites aimed specifically at student debt, so I'm going to look more into that. And I'll do my best with the business 101, but construction is gonna be a no-go. I have never, ever been good with doing anything three-dimensional. Sculpting, ceramics, even digital 3D modeling. Hell if I know why, but between business and building, I have something resembling experience through sales and freelancing and could probably pick that up better.

Now I just have to figure out how much of a sob story to tell people... I won't lie about anything, but I have to figure out at what point my tale starts treading into whiner territory and stop on the border. I don't want to give away a lot of info in here since it's public, but I attended a for-profit college that's part of a chain which recently closed 15 or so of its locations because they suck and I owe the student lender with the worst reputation. So I totally got DPed as far as my "education, " and not in the good way. But the thing is a lot of other people did too, so I know there will be sympathizers out there.

Maybe this site might help if you have federal student loans:

https://studentaid.ed.gov/sa/repay-loans/forgiveness-cancellation#unpaid-refund

I kind of have it scrolled down partway when I copied the link, so it's kind of in the middle of it. But scrolling up to the top, it's a government site that has shows how someone can get their student loans waived under certain circumstances, some of them being if you are a public service worker or if your loans have gotten to such the extent that repaying them could cause undo hardship. It's worth a look in any case, it might have something that could help you.

I seem to recall their was this organization that was buying up student loans on the cheap, with the express purpose of forgiving them. You might look into that, since your loan is likely to be in one of those worst categories in terms of projected repayments - predatory school, no employment.

Wasn't it called the rolling jubilee? Good cause.

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Presto
Wasn't it called the rolling jubilee? Good cause.

I was going to say - I'm guessing that the US Gov and private banks involved are going to have to 'forgive' some student loan debt. It's choking the economy. And - if they can 'write it down' in some way - that's better than declaring debts 'defaulted'. Bad for credit ratings (of the lenders) involved. Once it's goes to the point of being in their best interest, they'll do something. There's all kinds of ways to cook the books, I would try not to worry too much about it right now. I do believe several politicians have brought this up and may even being trying to float some bills on it.

Also, Cambion, I hope you don't think I'm lecturing you nor am I one of these 'gung ho' positive thinking type people. I have to give myself pep talks, believe me. I'm pretty much neutral to somewhat positive, although I am also quite jaded and cynical. Just force yourself to grind along like I do, ha.

Oh but speaking of 'attitude' - you *can* "brain wash" yourself, really. And situations and others can have an effect on your attitude, but you can *change it*.

Why I thought of that, I thought of something this am. I read alot of news for work stuff, I should confine it to 'the biz news'. I do read all kinds of stuff and I will confess - even Alex Jones. Hey - they might have stories I missed, or you can get a different 'take' on major news stories.

What I don't do is - he's got a "reporter" on there now who's like this MRA type jackass who posts all kinds of anti women crap. It's clickbait and inflammatory, as it is meant to be. So I do not read that crap because I know it will rile me up.

Avoid things that irritate you. But that wasn't really what I was thinking about ~

What I was reminded of - is on that site is usually an 'ad', a small square one normally near the mid to bottom of the main page - which is a pic of something that looks like yellow and orange mushrooms and the text says - Do you have fungus in your coffee? Something like that. Is there a fungus in your coffee maker?

I have never clicked this ad nor read what it was about. It's not a big ad, either. Only noticed in passing, reading the story headlines, at most glanced over at it.

Yet just about *every day* - I get up and make coffee and I get a mental image of those fungi and think to myself - Is there a fungus in my coffee maker?

See how even something like - it gets in your brain and influences your thoughts. Thanks, Alex! Owait - I mean - Thanks, Obama! LOL

The good news is that *you can reshape and change how and what you think about*.

Now I had another idea for you ~
Should I start talking about construction again? No, I won't, I try to keep off of my plans, or keep it brief (I do try) as long as I think it might be of use to others. Anyway, I'm saying that you can look for 'cheap housing or biz' deals - you don't have to go into the construction or RE biz.

But now that you mention it ~
You *could* do construction drawings. Is it that hard? Not all are 3D. I can (or could) do sim because we had to have Mechanical drawing (and CAD) for Eng. too. ROTWANG / Other Eng's - did they make you take this in school? We had to. It's not that hard. There's software that does alot of it too.

Anyway - that gave me an idea, actually -

Go back to school.

Yeah, I know, you're doing this eyes2 :crz right now.

But this is what I was thinking - NO, don't take on any more debt - what about a Community College? And - if you are at least 'half time' - this keeps the student loans on hold, doesn't it? So that could be like two classes. You could pay cash, those aren't that much are they? Or - you *might qualify* for grant money - it could be free. I don't know how that all works, you would have to look into it.

CC's still teach drafting and CAD right? Or - pick whatever you want. Some kind of class that will help toward a job. Or anything. Added benefits - your Mom would let you use the car for that, right? It might even be just one day a week. And - that'd get you out of the house. And - you might be able to find work *through the school*. Most of the ones around here have all sorts of amenities too - state of the art gyms as example. <-- You can get to work on your diet and exercise there, away from Mom's prying eyes and lectures. For students - I think this is even free. Again, I'm not entirely sure. You could even take a nutrition class. I think they even have 'gym class', various sports classes.

You could do this for a few months or even a year. It could 'stave off' the loans, just go part time, there are on campus jobs as well as outside co's that recruit and advertise at these places.

It would be *doing something*, it could be a step forward. You might be able to get this at little to no cost too. "Make a job of it" - treat it like a job and be serious. Look for some classes that would lead to work. Something related to what you want or completely different. Biz 101 - not hard at all! Hey I bet there's even some kind of Psych class like "how to deal with over bearing parents". There ya go! Of course you will have to take credit classes. I will bet there is a 'credit' class in 'building self confidence' or some kind of Communications class that incorporates such ideas.

Getting out and doing, esp. in an educational setting - will generate some new ideas that you may not have thought of, also.

Lots of people have been through lots of school. I have 2 BS's and a Master's degree. That's about 9 years of ed. And this is why I'm insane, also

Well, anyway, this might be something to look into.

Oh also - just because I feel like rambling on ~

I like to think about 'biz things' - even stuff that is way different than what I do - just out of interest because I TOO want to do other things. And it gives you ideas, or you may come upon something that looks attractive.

And - the idea of 'incorporation' and keeping things 'separate' - OK, this is about 'debt'. You keep your personals separate and no one knows how much $ you owe, 'the biz' is it's own separate entity / has it's own credit and debt.

These concepts are a way to 'separate out' various debt. And then, like Lionel Hutz on The Simpsons - you can change your name to Miguel Sanchez!

And you will also see many things that are 'un workable'. I know nothing about cooking. I do not think I could be in the restaurant biz. A few times in the past though - I stopped off at this 'take out' pizza place in this strip mall where I buy cigs - and it was really good pizza so I thought I would look them up.

It is a franchise and out of curiosity I thought I'd read more on their site, and IIRC the buy in amount wasn't all that much - say $75K. But upon further reading there was a requirement that you have $400K in *liquid* assets. Seriously?

For a basic take out place? And the one I've been going to - it's really basic - to the point of looking like one step away from being shut down by a health inspector.

But this whole 'strip mall' is nice, and is in a pretty swank area. This is where I see the yellow Ferrari that I want so much. I wonder which shop owner that is? The cig / tobacco / vape shop is making good money too. Ferrari owner did not go in there though.

Also in this strip mall is a yarn shop. Yarn, needlework, embroidery - those type of things. And it's the 'high end' stuff. I just peeked in the window. I know nothing about this at all - but it is "Art related" - yes?

I do wonder how a place like that makes money. I don't do retail, I do not know about such things, what does it hurt to ponder them though, right? I often wonder if places like this (or, could be any biz) - act as 'fronts' for something else. Some illegal or quasi illegal biz and they use it to launder money. Such things could be used as tax write offs too - like it could be the wife's hobby biz and H uses it as a tax write off.
ETA - these things could make legit money, I shouldn't be negative. Again, I know little of retail operations - but 'pondering this again' - gave me another thought - if I were in this - I'd do online, too. And specialty sellers can make good money online.

In any case, I don't have that kind of money to throw around. Yeah I don't have 75K + 400K in liquid assets to get a craptacular take out pizza joint eyes2

Nor would I want to do that. Such a thing could be a good investment though. Many of such biz's are owned by Doctors, Lawyers, people with money to invest, many will often form a 'pool' or partnership (s) to buy such things, they use them as investments, get other people to work them.

I guess you have to be a pretty high roller to get the crappy pizza franchise, even. 400K liquid? Oooo - maybe that's why I liked the pizza - they must be putting PCP in it! eyes2

I suppose my point on these additional thoughts is - it never hurts to read a bit and ponder things. Even if it's something you're not all that interested in doing. You can gain info and ideas - and those ideas may apply to some other plans.

No, I have not yet figured out which shop owner has the yellow Ferrari.
Always on the look out for it - reminding self not to pounce on the person or hand cuff self to car. Hey - but that's "thinking outside of the box" - how about it?

That's some Executive Level thinking right there! HA

Lots of things to think about, never hurts to read and think

Also, Cambion - that reminds me - you DO have a good education because any and all education is never a waste! And you completed all that - you should be proud of it! wink

Just think of how many of those poor Duggar girls would WISH to be in your shoes! You have alot going for you, trust.

@ zzelda I had to take basic CAD and stuff but my classes were more chemistry based. It was about what the stuff is made out of not what to make it into. I have no clue how I even passed CAD.

Edited due to goddamn autocorrect.

I took an online "course" in autoCAD, and paid $30 for the certification. This got me a sweet job making more than I ever imagined with the phone company. I didn't even pay attention to the learning videos because my job used microstation at the time.
When they switched us over to an open source autoCAD, you bet I wished I'd been paying attention! But I picked it up faster than 2 out of 3 of my coworkers who had taken an actual college course in autoCAD, lol!

Still never did any college. I'm skeptical that anyone today would accept an online certificate like what I produced back in 2006 to get the job...

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Presto
I took an online "course" in autoCAD, and paid $30 for the certification. This got me a sweet job making more than I ever imagined with the phone company. I didn't even pay attention to the learning videos because my job used microstation at the time.
When they switched us over to an open source autoCAD, you bet I wished I'd been paying attention! But I picked it up faster than 2 out of 3 of my coworkers who had taken an actual college course in autoCAD, lol!

Still never did any college. I'm skeptical that anyone today would accept an online certificate like what I produced back in 2006 to get the job...

wink

I do have tons of ed., some is relevant some is not. But it can serve as an 'umbrella' too - such as for myself - for some things I'd maybe want to down play how much ed. I have. But for others - job specific, of course - they will want to know. But for other jobs it may be of benefit to me too - such as if I ever got the urge to sell cars (which I have thought about - the high end ones - then I get to drive all the Ferraris ) - Yes I would tell such a place I have a BS in Mechanical Engineering - because that's impressive - most importantly *to the customers* - it could be a sales point. I'd have to 'fix myself up' a bit too - and then this 'package' would be a good 'draw' - look here - we got a nice looking female sales person *who is also an engineer*. Knowledgeable sales people!

I bet I could get this job! There's good $$$ in that too. I would only want to do this at a high end dealer though.
And *yes I could* - even though - most of *what I know about cars* - comes from just my interest / I'm a hobbyist at it. I do know how all the basic systems function. Did I have *this specifically in school*? NO. ME is a pretty broad education.

And to make an example for Cambion (just an example, please believe I'm not telling you what to do ~)
OK, so you take a few classes in "Interior Design". Then you can seek jobs in that and you can say - I have specific ed in this as well as a Masters Degree in Art from ~
I suppose my point is - you can 'spin' it this way / sell yourself this way.

Or, whatever Art Related Thing you may want to do.

Or back on myself: Sure Thing! Mr. Building Inspector! I absolutely CAN re do all the plumbing here myself - I studied Mechanical Engineering.

Do you know anything about plumbing? FUCK NO! Do plan to watch some YT vids wink
(Shhh - don't say that out loud! )

Back on Interior Design again - just because *I* am interested in this - I think I CAN do it! Do you have any ed. or exp. in this? Uh, no. Does shopping at IKEA count? But I think I can, why not? I can READ. No I'm not blowing big bucks to go to the Harrington Institute which is the top place here, that and the Art Institute (both of which are legit schools. and stupid expensive).

I plan to "DIY" this. I *do know* the 'biz end' of Real Estate - and if I own the thing - then I can be my own Designer, why not? Plenty of people I know connected to such things have encouraged me as well.

Anyone can look at any idea in this way too - try to find 'another angle' - another way to go about it.

ETA - It's not only about education either - it's what you DO with it. While checking for typos I remembered some people I know who went to places like Harvard Design - who are working 'basic biz jobs'. And in the Sci's also - MSME from an Ivy? Teaches basic sci for low bucks. On the flip side - I know of two people who *did not* attend any kind of Art school - and both work as Artists *and make good money at it*. One is the one I mentioned before, the other has a stained glass studio / biz. I know of a few others too, , vaguely - like the one I'm sure I mentioned before who (I see this online) - blathers on about a miscarriage she had 20 years ago ~ eyes2
And death, and *religious crap* - and believe it or not people DO buy this Cow's "artwork". It all looks like ugly, bleak, half assed 'sea scapes' - I always wondered if people used brown in art - yes, yes they do. This shit looks like a half assed kids school water color. And / or brown shit smears from an Awtard's ass. It's ugly and depressing - and she whinges on about her 'feeling's' and death, and other people dying, and Biblical people dying, and ohhh - the miscarriage ~

And people buy this crap? eyes2

Again, - don't sell yourself short, C ~

Cambion, have you thought about creating a line of CF-specific greeting cards? I think I remember you posting some cards you created once, and they were awesome. I also second the pet portrait idea. I actually bought one recently, a painting of my (now deceased) kitty. When I went to pick it up from the artist's studio, it looked like she was doing very good business off of these portraits, and didn't require a ton of space to do it.

I was looking into gofundme just last night, its been two years, can't seem to land a job, I'm on centerlink welfare and going in reverse $250 every week on my home loan alone, I owe my grandma about $2500 for my hospital bills from lst year, Mr exile owes his mum a bit over that amount as well, I just want to get enough to pay those two back for now, but I was reading the gofundme site, I don't have Facebook for a start, I don't have it so my family can't stalk me, I'm not close to my freinds or family since my dad used me as his scape goat two years ago and fired me out of pride for something he fucked up, I'm unemployed so I can't get coworker support either,

This proves a major flaw in helping me get it off and running,
No social media
No faimly, friend, worker support to reach the first $500 so it can be public
And
No promise that if I magically had $500 to kick it off that it would get anywhere since its not a kids medical bills.

I'm not getting anywhere on the job front, and I was hoping if I could get some money going, pay off the people I owe and use what's left to fund me volunteering to gain skills and rappor with people, I could speed up getting back into work and on track, but how am I supposed to do that with zero close socail network of people who care?

I mean that as people in person, I know like two people who dont think I'm some diseased mooching bitch, because they actually know the real me.

Did you come to any decisions?

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" ... what's one more once you've already got two shedding on the couch?"

I'm still debating over the crowdsourcing (but beginning to lean closer to doing it), and I've been writing to my lender a lot to try and negotiate an affordable payment plan, and, no big shock, they've ignored everything I've asked them to do. And boy, they didn't waste any time sending my mother collection letters after I missed two measly payments, so I got to hear about that recently.

The shitty thing about these damn loans is they are an insatiable monster, especially the private loans because there are absolutely no options for repayment like there are with federal loans. You can tell the lender to apply your payment to one loan or just to the balance and not to the interest and they don't listen. You send the fuckers $500 a month and your balance goes right back up to where it was by the time the next payment rolls around. There is just no escape, and just in the last month when I was writing to these pricks, they've proven that they are unwilling to negotiate, and sadly, I don't find a lot of answers online as to how to deal with them aside from voluntarily defaulting like the Corinthian grads.

@Ketchup, that does sound pretty nifty and I'd definitely like to do it, but I need to do a little more digging to find out which site would be best to host a card shop on in regard to quality and price. I'm familiar with TinyPrints, and, funny enough, Moo. I've heard of Cardstore and Vistaprint, but not sure about them. Also, I think TinyPrints is geared more toward bulk orders for invitations.

Are you going to ask for people to commission you or recommend you? I think you will have more success with it. Most people are loathe to part with their money, but they're willing to recommend their ass off. If it turns out that people want to donate, you can still set something up.

Just remember the old theatre saying: "When you're in trouble, tell the truth and if possible, have the press cover it.".

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" ... what's one more once you've already got two shedding on the couch?"

Mmhmm, I'll do commissions. I just have to determine what a good asking price would be. Too cheap and, I can't believe I'm actually worrying about this, I'd be concerned that I'll be too swamped to keep up with potential commissions. But too expensive and I worry nobody will ask for an illustration. I try to use some artists whose art I like as reference. One person I commissioned whose style isn't insanely detailed and very pinup-ish charges $50 for a full color, fully-shaded piece. Another person I like asks $200 as a starting price for their work, but they also do very detailed pieces. I consider myself somewhere in the middle of those two.

I also wonder if I can mix illustration and graphic design. Logo design is probably the only part of graphic design I'm actually good at, but I don't know if that'll mesh well with the cartoons I normally do.

Too cheap and people won't buy, either. They'll assume there's something dodgy about the quality, and the only people you'll attract are those who don't want to pay at all - the kind you already do attract.

If you have any trouble with the wording, many of us are good at it.

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" ... what's one more once you've already got two shedding on the couch?"

Cambion, do you remember the Fug to Fab blog idea? The one, where you re-designed bottles and labels for the rather disgusting sounding salad dressing?

You should do this. You should also feature your other work, and then you could attach a Go Recommend Me campaign to it.

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" ... what's one more once you've already got two shedding on the couch?"

Yup, I remember it! I've batted the idea around ever since it was brought up originally and kinda still want to do it. I just want to attempt to get caught up on all the other stuff I have to do first. Aside from some client projects with a deadline, I have a shitload of other things to do for other folks - some of which has been sitting on the back burner for over a year. Plus I want to try and get a site built and launched for my illustration work and eventual future project I've been slowly picking away at for about two years, but gotta learn web design first.

Just not enough hours in the day! And having such a shitty connection at home does not help. Things I could find in three seconds on a real connection can take 10-20 minutes on dial-up, and I can easily spend days just looking at websites for whatever information I need for whatever the fuck I'm doing. No neighbors to mooch wireless off of anymore either, so I'm stuck with what the crummy phone lines can give me.