It sounds like your mom is a piece of work. No offense, but she told you to quit a job because you "didn't need it"? My concern is that you agreed with her and did so. I hope you don't make a mistake like that again.
Do you live in the middle of the country and there's no public transportation or low-end jobs? If not, I think your first step is to apply for EVERYTHING. And follow up. When I was working in retail / food service, the best way I figured out to get a job was to apply and then harass them until they gave you a job. I applied at a Denny's one morning around 9 am. At 4pm, I called to check up on the status of my application. The person on the phone tried to tell me that it hadn't been long enough, then she changed her mind and told me to come in at 7pm for an interview when the next manager would be in. That manager came in and thought I was there for orientation because she was supposed to be doing orientation for someone else at the time. I corrected her, she interviewed and hired me and put me through orientation anyway.
Places like that do get a lot of applications and they usually have high turnover - what makes you stand out is if you call THEM. The people hiring are frequently overworked and may or may not be actively going through applications. You stand out by pursuing them - if you're that serious about getting them to hire you, you'll probably be that serious about coming in to work.
Don't give up. Even if you need a better job than that to dig out of that hole, you will gain some traction, you'll be making a step, you'll be on your way.
Check out the student loan boards to see what your options are - you may be able to get them deferred or to get them changed to income contingent or *something*. Also, you may want to consider bankruptcy. That won't help with the student loans, but it will help with BoA. There is life after this.
Starting Score: EQ 583 TU04 619 EX 592 (lender pull) 2010
There are others on this board that can give you specific examples on how to resolve each individual creditor situation that you describe below; however, I can give you some real life info that might help get you started in the right direction.
First thing you need to do is take a step back from your situation. You will get overwhelmed if you try to reconcile everything all at once - trust me, I've been there. You need to try and perform a bit of triage. In other words, figure out what your priorities are and start there. Based on reading your comments below, I would say getting a job is priority number one. I understand you've had some hard luck in finding a job but there are plenty of them out there....you just have to adjust your expectations. Starbucks, Target and even McDonalds are all hiring (nationally) and require no experience to start - they also offer flexible schedules, fast track promotions and health benefits. It may not be what you had in mind when you started college, but a job is a job. At this point, you need an immediate source of stable income....you can continue your search on your off-time for jobs in your preferred field. Second, do you live at home? If not, move back as soon as you can. Paying rent is just throwing away money at this point. Third, I would contact all your creditors and find out what your options are - I too have an AES loan, they have worked with me in the past on setting up a deferred payment plan (as long as they know you intend to pay it off). It's even easier for Direct Loans - you should easily qualify for forbearance. You have to be proactive about your situation - calling your creditors will at least let you know where you stand.
Don't despair. It may not make you feel any better, but there are always people in even worse situations than your own. Come up with a plan and I promise you will feel better scratching things off the list. Do whatever you can to stay in school...but don't worry if you have to take some time off to get everything in order. It happens. Take it from someone who has been there 
Ben
Thanks for your reply, Mauve. I really appreciate it.
>>It sounds like your mom is a piece of work.
Mwahaha... You have no idea. 
>>No offense, but she told you to quit a job because you "didn't need it"? My concern is that you agreed with her and did so. I hope you don't make a mistake like that again.
Well, what she did was tell me the day I was supposed to show up for my third day that she wasn't going to drop me there anymore, and that my brothers shouldn't comply, either, and my brothers agreed with her. All because the employer was RGIS Inventory Services, and my older brother, who used to work for Wherehouse Music way back when (and also now has his own severe financial issues, worse than mine, even, many of them not his fault), kept telling her that RGIS, who used to do inventory for Wherehouse, is a terrible company, especially for college students, and that I could do better. (argh -- never mind that it was my first job in four years!) My mom usually takes anything my brother says with a grain of salt, espcially when it's sensible and it contradicts what she believes, because she's stubborn and she hates arguing with him (she always loses); however, that second night of work, she had to come for me at 1 am on a Sunday night the day before she had to go to work (and for me, school), and she was annoyed to the point where she pretty much forced me to quit. I no longer had a way to get to work, I didn't even have money to order taxi service, so I had no choice.
Thank you for being the first person in years to acknowledge that what she did was wrong. My brothers usually have good heads on their shoulders, but they keep pretending like I had options and what Mom did somehow worked out for me. *sigh*
>>Do you live in the middle of the country and there's no public transportation or low-end jobs?
I'm in metro Atlanta. XD Not exactly "nowhere," but public transportation outside of the downtown area is virtually nonexistent.
>>Places like that do get a lot of applications and they usually have high turnover - what makes you stand out is if you call THEM. The people hiring are frequently overworked and may or may not be actively going through applications. You stand out by pursuing them - if you're that serious about getting them to hire you, you'll probably be that serious about coming in to work.
Does that work for jobs applied for online? I always assumed that it wouldn't work for jobs with online applications. I was always afraid that calling them would never work. How recently did you apply for that Denny's job?
>>Don't give up. Even if you need a better job than that to dig out of that hole, you will gain some traction, you'll be making a step, you'll be on your way.
Check out the student loan boards to see what your options are - you may be able to get them deferred or to get them changed to income contingent or *something*. Also, you may want to consider bankruptcy. That won't help with the student loans, but it will help with BoA. There is life after this.
Thanks for the encouragement. The last thing I want to do is to give up. I also really don't want to have to file for bankruptcy -- I'm still a little young. There are still things I want and need to be able to buy with credit (i.e.I really need a new computer), and it will be really hard to spend the next several years not being able to buy anything without cash, especially if I somehow still don't have a driver's license at that point.
Thank you, Ben
>>Third, I would contact all your creditors and find out what your options are - I too have an AES loan, they have worked with me in the past on setting up a deferred payment plan (as long as they know you intend to pay it off). It's even easier for Direct Loans - you should easily qualify for forbearance. You have to be proactive about your situation - calling your creditors will at least let you know where you stand.
I should have included more info about myself:
I live in metro Atlanta, south of the metro, where the suburbs are slightly poorer and more crime-ridden than much of the rest of the area. I'm very close to Atlanta, but some of the best job offerings are far off in the better-off suburbs up north. I also have been living at home since late 2002. I attended my first university in central Georgia (an hour south of home), and lived there on campus, and bombed out of there, so I've been living at home and commuting to college ever since. Thank goodness I don't have rent! That would've just made things worse!
I hate AES. I wish I had never applied for one of their loans, but my current university had said I no longer qualified for aid, so I didn't have a choice if I wanted to continue the following semester. I should've done what I thought was best and just looked for a job, but Mom was so hell-bent on not letting me drop out like my brothers had and finished like she did. I had called AES through the number they told me to call, and I had some collectors threaten me with a lawsuit if I didn't pay them right over the phone that day. That was last Tuesday, and I had my oldest brother pay for me some bogus processing fee, and I feel like I was ripped off.
If I had just had the three credit cards I have to deal with, things would've been fine, but I also have these stupid loans from attending the state universities I had in the past, the most current one costing way too much money than necessary to attend ($4K/semester). I don't think I really wanted to be in college if it meant going to some state school, coming out of there with unpayably high debt, and having no job experience, regardless. Waste of time, really.
Sorry for the whining.
>> Do whatever you can to stay in school...but don't worry if you have to take some time off to get everything in order. It happens. Take it from someone who has been there 
Thank you. I'm really not interested in going to school if my only pathway there is taking on more loans, and then, not even qualifying to take out more loans simply because my credit score is completely shot. I just want work. Forget school. That can wait much later.
So your being able to reliably get to work is basically dependent on getting there on foot, it sounds like. If you have a friend you can rely on, see if you can get them to help you out.
College may not be for you, and maybe you need to work a bit to figure out exactly what you WANT to do.
Given your situation, I have to disagree whole-heartedly with Ben. Here's where I feel your priorities need to lie:
- talk to your friends - see if any of them would be willing to help you out by letting you crash on their couch or the guest room or *whatever* if you find a job close enough to them. They know you've been unemployed - you taking proactive steps to get out of your situation may change how they'd feel about lending that hand. You can agree to something like helping clean or whatever until you've gotten your first paycheck, and reasonable rent / utilities after that.
- If one (or more) of them say yes, concentrate your job search in places that you can easily get to from their locations.
- Yes, I'd follow up by phone for online applications. I absolutely would. I'd also look for places where you can apply in person.
- You can also try looking for jobs like medical billing or whatever that have the work-from-home option.
I sincerely believe that you need to figure out how to get out of your toxic home environment. Your family sounds like they're primarily holding you back and making you feel guilty for not getting anywhere. If my friend / sibling / whatever was unemployed, I would absolutely encourage them to work ANYWHERE (well, except for Vinny the Drug Dealer down the street or Slappy The Pimp). If they had multiple job offers, THAT is when you try to convince them to take the better one.
If you have to remain there, you really don't have another choice, just keep in mind that you need to realize that, for whatever reason, they aren't giving you good advice. They may be stuck in their reality and believe very sincerely the bad advice they give you and the ridiculous demands they make - that doesn't make them the best decision for you.
Check this out: http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/Parenting/story?id=5522191&page=1
