May Be Homeless in a Few Weeks

So I’m currently unemployed and my landlord is selling - I have four weeks to get out. I’m finding it terribly hard to get a rental in Melbourne.

Im 34, single and live alone ($400 per week). Most equivalent places are $450 per week.

I have $75k in savings and about $25 in crypto (have lost half since the crash).

This entire ordeal of being kicked out has caused a great deal of stress. I don’t want to go through this again, so I’m considering buying but in FNQ.

Im not really sure what to do - take a place in Melbourne for $450 a week, keep trying at employment and save very small amounts once I get a job or look to move to Cairns with the plan to buy in 6 months once I have a steady job. I can get an apartment for 300k there and with 70K savings the repayments will be pretty decent (much less than $450 weekly rent Melb)

I feel like I’m wasting so much money renting but given I can’t get a loan until employed I’m sorta screwed either way. Im also feeling pressured given I could be homeless in a few weeks and feel like I need to accept anything to avoid that even if that means wasting $$ on rent in Melbourne even though I have no intention of buying here given the prices and being single.

If it wasn’t for my pets I’d probably couch surf but I have a lot of household items too.

Any suggestions - I’ve barely been sleeping. Unfortunately I have no family - my mum died last year and I’m estranged from my dad.


Mod Note:

OP's account has been banned as it was detected as a ghost / duplicate account. They have been instructed to continue their forum conversations using their original (older) Ozbargain account. (John678)

https://www.ozbargain.com.au/user/80094

Comments

  • +20

    Put stuff into storage and just look for rooms to rent until you get back on your feet

    • +1

      Would someone accept me unemployed and with cats?

      • +4

        Doesn't hurt to try

      • +13

        I mean if you paid upfront, not sure why anyone would have an issue. you've got good savings, so you're in a good position.

        you need to buy yourself time so you make whatever decision you ultimately make without the undue stress of the next few weeks. no one should be moving interstate and buying property when they can't think straight

      • +2

        I think they would - doesn't hurt to ask. I've seen some ads with pets ok if socialized and some that specified they already had x pet so those guys would probably be ok to add 1-2 more if pets get along.

        You are burning through cash too fast at that rate of rent. Plently of jobs going round still so you should be on your feet soon enough but in my view it never hurts to try reducing living costs.

      • +4

        Offer them an extra $50 a week to cover the cats and you'll still be ahead. With your savings you are not necessarily unemployed, call yourself a self employed investor. But heaps of unemployed people rent rooms, they often have a nice stable gov't income..
        Once employed and feeling a bit of confidence, consider buying a cheap unit in Melbourne or Sydney, they are undervalued compared to houses. Otherwise buy where you want to retire, negatively gear and just keep taking rooms in lifestyle locations close to your work. Avoiding a commute is in Syd & Mel is worth a lot. If you decide to couple up and do a family thing later, get your own place then and your 'retirement' property will serve as a deposit..

      • +10

        Check your mental state - you seem to be looking for reasons to be a victim… and if you do that… you'll definitely stay one. Rise above it! You can do it!

      • Get a casual job, people hate unemployed share not because of money but because they are always home.

        Plenty of jobs going

  • +2

    How will you apply for another rental without a job ?? Without a job obviously your going to be burning through cash and it won't feel good..

    • +1

      I’m getting job seeker.

      • +1

        How can you get job seeker with your savings?

        • +1

          You just can. Only stops if you have a few hundred k.

          • +1

            @Rocksteady99: nah more like $487,000.

            did you serve a 13 week waiting period before first payment? i had to wait 13+1.

            • @Griffindinho: My waiting period was shorter due to the circumstances of how I left my last job.

              It was about 5/6 weeks.

        • +2

          Depends. If you have more than 10k of "liquid assets" (and crypto is nothing if not liquid) then they enforce a waiting period of 13 weeks before they start paying you to try and force you to run through your money (dreadful policy IMO to punish someone who has saved a nest egg for a rainy day by deliberately trying to make them destitute, but it is what it is).

          So either OP used to have a lot more savings and lived off them for several months before they started paying him, or he has not told Centrelink about those savings. If the latter I strongly advise him to get off this very public forum now.

          Also, I'd point out that moving from Melbourne to Cairns may be counted by Centrelink as "moving to an area with lower employment prospects", which would mean another long waiting period for payment (Jobseeker is designed to be difficult to stay on for long. Almost anything you do on it can be grounds for kicking you off if the assessor you happen to get is so inclined - and some are).

  • +1

    What industry are you in?

    • +1

      I worked in finance but my area is Comms / PR.

      • +7

        Not many communications jobs in finance in Cairns.

        • +1

          Absolutely. I’d be ok with hospo.

          • +7

            @Rocksteady99: I have to point out that your username is quite ironic given the situation you're in. Did you quit your previous job or were you let go - mind sharing?

      • +2

        Looking up specific jobs in Melb in that space, there’s some. Is the job market in that niche area particularly tight currently that your applications aren’t landing?

    • +27

      250$ in Melbourne is a studio. And I wouldn’t give up them. They are the only thing keeping me going.

      • +13

        You spend according to your income/saving. $250 for a studio is better than $400 for a house/unit.

        Fair enough if you can't part with your pets. I was just suggesting to let some friends keep them until you settle at a new place.

      • +5

        Sometimes best advice not always the popular. Getting a place that pet friendly not the easiest, I would put the pet for adoption too.
        Look like you are picky job hunter, consider interstate as well. Since you don't have much of a family, this could be a good thing.
        Start with the share house, once you got the job you can upgrade yourself.
        Maybe go on short holiday, start it fresh.

    • +46

      Put your pets for adoption and reclaim them later if possible.

      OMG

      • -3

        We used to have a dog but when we moved we couldn't keep it. So it ended up adopted by our sister in law who lives in another state.

          • +11

            @maiuspala: Get freaking real here. If OP is going to have problem looking after himself at least look for a better home for his pets. So do you people suggest OP to go homeless and the pets go homeless with him?

            Our dog was well looked after by our sister in law whom loved him very much. She lived with him for a year before moving interstate. Even spent a few grand on him on a heart operation and kept him going a few extra years.

            • +1

              @DarkOz: There's a massive difference between "put your pets up for adoption" and asking friends/family to look after them

              • @Jolakot: Asking friend/family to look after them is considered as adoption not? It is not only limited to the RSPCA.

          • +3

            @maiuspala: C'mon, be fair. The pet stayed within the family, this is so normal. How many pets end up staying at the parents house when owners need to move, or FIFO, or study, or travel etc.

      • Free pet hotel /s

      • -1

        I wonder what DarkOz's advice would have been if OP had any children.

        • +3

          Let me ask you this. If you ever go homeless would you take your children with you or put them up for adoption?

          • +2

            @DarkOz: It's a sad and hard decision that most people would never have to even consider.

            On the flipside "for the good of the kids" can be a horrible justification for a lot of things.

    • +1

      DarkOz only have dark in his user name. His/her advice is light (opp of dark). He gave very practical advice. I would have taken this advice.

  • +10

    Plenty of ‘basic’ jobs to be had. Flipping burgers in Maccas, Hungry Jacks, pizza delivery. You could easily work 25 hours a week to cover rent & not eat your savings.
    Sounds like you’re in a tough spot with family life in a mess, but financially you sound ok.
    Just gotta get started working at some crappy job, it will lead to better things

    • +3

      I worked on Election Day counting votes and it was good to be back doing something productive. At 34, what kind of ‘basic’ job can I get? Too old for hospo/retail and I keep getting rejection emails - is it because my last role was corporate job?

      • +8

        Don't work a crappy job.

        Put all your effort getting back into a corporate role. But you really have to put a lot of effort into it and not just flick a resume through Seek/Linkedin and hope for the best.

        • -1

          Is there anything I should be doing other than just sending it through the “easy apply” section?

          • +6

            @Rocksteady99: You need to write a cover letter specific to the job and answer all the selection criteria. Find someone who can help you, even if it costs $.

          • +30

            @Rocksteady99: You work in PR/Comms? Surely you know how to market yourself?

          • +8

            @Rocksteady99: Definitely do more than just 'easy apply'..

            • Make sure your CV is neat/clean, nobody wants a 5 page resume these days, I recommend picking a template on Canva and just go with it. I've used one that have landed me 3/3 roles that I interviewed for. Don't drone on too much about irrelevant shit in your CV, give some examples of things you've achieved in your previous role.

            • This one I'm not sure matters, but personally when I see a listing with 'easy apply' on LinkedIn, I go look at the company website and see if they have a career section, and if they do I'd apply through there instead. They often ask more questions and allow you to sell yourself more than simply shooting through a CV.

            • When writing cover letter, do a bit of research on the company and address the key criteria stated in the job listing and describe how your experience aligns with those criterias.

            • Is your LinkedIn profile up to scratch? If you've got some experience, you should be getting recruiters hitting you up pretty often. It's been quiet for me recently but up until about a month ago, I'd get 3-4 messages from recruiters every week.

            • Have a profile on Seek as well, I get a call or two every few weeks from recruiters through Seek as well. So set up a profile and chuck your CV on there too.

            • I'd also recommend reaching out to some recruitment companies to see if they have any roles suitable for your skillset.

            YMMV - I'm no expert, just sharing my experience and good luck, hot market for most industry out there, keep at it and you should land one.

            • +2

              @buckethat: And keep refreshing your CV on Seek. Activity gets you calls.

            • +3

              @buckethat:

              Have a profile on Seek as well, I get a call or two every few weeks from recruiters through Seek as well. So set up a profile and chuck your CV on there too.

              This, last time I was looking for a job I updated my Seek profile and got a call within a few hours, they had hired me by the end of the day and didn't even call any of my referees. But I am in IT so it might be different for other industries

            • @buckethat: Yikes my cv is a long one due to the time I've been working. What do you see as the max length a CV should be? What essentials should be left in when paring it back?

              • +3

                @kiitos: I think it might also depend on your industry, I work in eCommerce / Digital Marketing which is a relatively 'young' industry so it may be quite different if you're in an older, more established industry like Law.

                Personally I stick to one pagers, two at most. Have a look at some of these templates here though, maybe it'll give you some idea of how you can format yours. https://www.canva.com/resumes/templates/

                One thing I recommend not doing though, is putting a photo of yourself on your CV.

                For me, essentials are your achievements, or things that are important like certain specialised skill or qualification. I don't have enough space in my CV to detail how much of an expert I am at Excel, or that I am good at managing my time. I've often been asked to further discuss things mentioned on my CV.. 'tell us about that project that you mentioned working on in your resume.. you mentioned that it resulted in x dollars in sales for the company, please explain further' etc. Just points that will lead them to be more curious about you and obviously, the more you get to talk about things you actually know, the more they'll want to hire you cause you actually know your shit.

          • +1

            @Rocksteady99: Go to recruitment companies. Pick a day and just go and interview at as many as you can. Then do it again on another day. At one recruiter, tell them you are happy with temporary roles and give them lower salary expectations. At another one, tell them you only want permanent PR work and give them a higher salary. Go to another one and tell them you will do Finance work and another with a lower salary PR work. Try and create a situation where a couple of recruiters are throwing you temporary work, while you have others that will include you on their permanent job seeker list. In the meantime try and tee up a second job where you have a couple of shifts a week that will give you a plan B to pay your bills. Security work, Bar work, online shopping for the supermarkets. If you can get a second job doing some kind of sales, that is a handy skill to learn. If you can learn to sell yourself, that is the only skill you need.

          • +2

            @Rocksteady99: Also worth checking Federal and State APS jobs. Browse everything, don't use keywords (often they are advertised with stupid titles). There's heaps of jobs on there for people with general corporate/business admin skills and because they are poorly advertised often not much competition.

      • +4

        At 34, what kind of ‘basic’ job can I get?

        Bike + phone = Food delivery gig.

      • +5

        Never too old for hospo or retail or possibly consider call centre/customer service role. Heaps of openings there. You may feel too old, but a job is a job. I'd rather be employed in a role I feel too old for, than be unemployed by choice.

        • +4

          I was let go from a hospo job back when I was 25 - they tried to spin it to say I was bad at work but, they cracked and basically told me that I was on the wrong side of 20.

          • @Carmen Sandiego: Guessing its not worth the discrimination lawsuit then

            • +1

              @dbmitch: Honestly, between that and paying everyone on "probation" $18/hr cash, I should have said something. But I didn't since there were some backpackers I made friends with who didn't deserve the crackdown.

              It was super fun being maliciously nice serving them in the hospo job I had after that though :)

            • @dbmitch: It would go to Fair Work where you would be pressured to concede in round after round of mediation, and you could get some sort of settlement depending how much evidence you have, but for a casual hospo job, you might as well just move on. Defs worth issuing a letter of demand demanding all the unpaid wages and super they no doubt ripped you off with https://jobwatch.org.au/ - my union sent a boss a letter demanding the unpaid money at 2 jobs and they paid pretty quickly after a brief whinge

          • @Carmen Sandiego: There will always be those companies unfortunately, but at the moment, there are options if you have some flexibility.

    • +1

      I was a pool lifeguard and swim instructor for a while at 40 years old - just needed to do a few weekend courses and there was always a lot of work around.

  • +4

    Sorry to hear that Op.

    Echo some of the above, find a storage cage and try reduce/sell as much as you can.

    Look for a shared house instead of $450 a week places. Ideally try find somewhere that's got decent student accommodation and try for cash only whilst being close to PT so you can try find work and go to interviews etc.

    You have decent savings so you should try focus on planning out your strategy especially as many places are looking to hire.

    • Great idea, the OP could easily rent a room with a bunch of uni students for half of what he's paying now.

      • +1

        Yep. Shared acommodation is the way to go if struggling.

  • +1

    You could go and pick fruit somewhere for a few weeks/months and stay on a farm while you work out what you want to do. During that time you could either keep applying for jobs in Melbourne or plan your FNQ move.

    • +1

      Not much fruit to be picked in the depths of winter.

      • How about some lettuce then!

        • I'll biy it off you if under $10

  • +1

    What sort of work do you do? Qld is great, buying beats renting.

    • Communication roles, marketing etc.

      Absolutely. I feel like my whole world has been ripped up having a month to move my entire life.

      • +2

        It happens. Don’t dwell on the negatives. Motivate yourself to get started on finding somewhere else to live. A month is plenty of time.

        As others have mentioned, find shared accommodation because $450 pw for someone who is unemployed but has sizeable savings is too high.

        • +1

          I agree. Shared accom is the way to go and a month is a good amount of time.
          I recently became unemployed and like to think of it as an opportunity - it's much easier to handle if you think of it positively ;)

  • +3

    I can't understand why you aren't employed. So many jobs out there.

    • +1

      He is probably still in the only accepting a higher paying job mode and not putting everything into applications yet.

      • +1

        I’m applying for corporate but also retail. Got rejected from a Myer logistics job and have applied for other customer service roles.

        • +1

          Got rejected from a Myer logistics job and have applied for other customer service roles.

          None of those jobs apply to your skill set of PR/Comms?

        • +3

          Weird.. why would you be accepted in a logistics role when your experience is with PR/Comms??

          • @buckethat: Because people are desperate allegedly I’ve done retail work during university.

  • +1

    You have a very healthy amount of savings. It should last you more than a year. If you can’t find a job within a year then you need to reconsider your career choice. I don’t imagine there are many job opportunities in North QLD….. for the long term I suspect you have better overall prospects in Melbourne.

  • +10

    Flatsharing.

    I did flatsharing into my mid-30s. It sucks, no two ways about it. Strangers who don't respect your things, who take over the common areas, who don't contribute/clean, who take your food from the refrigerator.

    But let's face facts. You're unemployed. So it's holding pattern time until you can get a steady income again. That means getting over your need for your own space, and suck it up, for the sake of your finances.

    Rent a storage unit. Put everything you value into it. Then find a bedroom in a flatshare in the city. Then look for a job.

    You're better off living a frugal existence for a little while in the big city looking for a good job, than living a more luxurious existence out in the country looking for a good job.

    The storm's a-comin'. Batten those hatches until it blows over. And don't be too proud to do it tough for a while.

  • +2

    OP, it sounds like you can survive a long time with no income. My advice from the real world: don't panic and don't get into a stupid low paid job. Once you put a job like that on your resume, every respectable future employer will see it as a red flag and you will find it hard to get back into a meaningful job further down the road. If you decide not to leave it out, then it will be a suspicious gap in you employment.
    Live frugal until you find a decent job. With your savings you'll be fine. Unless you are a gambler.

    • Low paying jobs aren't gonna be a problem if they're side hustles/ casual jobs that won't impair OP's ability to attend interviews. (ie. flipping burgers 5 days a week is probably a bad idea but doing night fill at the supermarket, hospo on the weekends, doing food delivery etc shouldn't be a problem). It's not going to lengthen the gap in OP's CV while still bringing some income to help pay the bills/ avoid eating into the savings in the mean time.

  • +7

    Buy a van. Travel around the country. Stay put when you land a job worth staying for.

  • +1

    Drive monster trucks in North-West WA…

  • +1

    How long have you been unemployed for? If it's recent and a rental application only wants to see 2-3 payslips, you might be able to get away with your actual last 2-3 payslips and your bank statement that shows your savings.

    There's quite a few jobs around and at 34, you've surely got enough experience to fill at least some of those jobs. Did something happen for you to lose your last job? Any connections from your previous jobs that you can call upon to help set you up for a new job?

  • +1

    $75k is a deposit on a unit….

    • +1

      But I can’t get a loan without a job, and I’m literally days away from not having a roof over my head. Even if I found a job tomorrow, I’m not getting approval on a loan for a few months.

      • Buy a caravan and live in that until you find a job. You can resell the van at a profit later.

  • So the general vibe seems to be I’m in no position to buy?

    • +1

      No job = no loan.

      Unless you can buy something within your current $100k asset base, then no.

    • You could move to Bali, 100k AUD should do you for a flat and a decade of living expenses :)

    • So the general vibe seems to be I’m in no position to buy?

      I currently live off dividends, savings and sporadic casual work. I can't get a credit card because according to the banks I don't have a regular income. If I converted my superannuation to an income stream I'd be OK but then my income would be double my expenditure.

      You have no hope of getting a mortgage.

  • +9

    I feel you brother. I really don't have any advice, but I give you a fist bump. Good luck.

  • +7

    If you're unemployed in this market, you're being too picky.

    Just go through the seek category that you're interested in and apply for everything with no cover letter. I bet you get something within a month.

    • I’m getting conflicting advice about not applying for lower paid jobs if I plan on getting back in the corporate world. Or does it not matter if I go sideways or backwards for a while?

      • +1

        Sideways and down are fine if you can explain it on your resume when it comes to the bigger interviews down the track. Easy to say you took a simpler job so you could focus on some family matters that needed your attention.

        But also, scatter gun approaches work for bigger jobs too. You never know what recruitment agencies are actually looking at when they pick you for an interview, I got lucky with this approach and it's definitely the right market to test this.

      • +3

        Doesn't matter sideways, backwards, take a gap year or 2, travel, change your career - doesn't matter. As long as you're happy with your decision.

        After securing your accomo, your focus should be getting back into employment & routines. Anything will do, as long as you're ok to put up with it for a bit. From there, no stopping you job hunting properly into corporate etc, or properly planning your move to interstate.

        I've seen blokes completely change their careers in mid 40's, go to an entry level corporate job, working alongside fresh 20 year olds, making the same money. They're ok with that path, since they hated the career before that. You can freely move around later.

      • If you take a risk and it doesn't work out, all it means is you need to work a bit harder to get back on track. But it's the little side adventures that will make up the stories and spice of your life when you look back. Not the stable long term roles with no drama.

      • +3

        Uh are you applying for any jobs at all? If actually faced with homelessness (which you are not, but rather choosing to be), I'd apply for literally every job I could do. If first job is crappy, keep applying while working in it.

      • I went from a pool lifeguard and retail job to jobs in the Australian Public Service, anything is possible.

  • +13

    Hardly homeless man. Worst case scenario you could rent an Airbnb, flat shares or search Facebook marketplace for people renting out rooms. You have 75k in savings. All you need is to get back on your feet, find a full-time job and everything will be ok.

Login or Join to leave a comment