Hello. I am back after almost 3 years! Here is a little about me, a couple questions, etc.
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Hello everyone, a bit long but please bear with me!
My name is well.. you can call me altek for now. First post.
Anyway, if you read my about me, you got a little preview. Basically, I've been a member of PayPal for nearly 10 years I think. I have to double check somehow later the exact date, but definetly close to it. I opened my PayPal account in high school when I got my first debt it card and bank account. I was so excited to be able to buy things online, let alone sites that I couldn't use my debt it card for. I eBay'd a bit, but mostly I bought a lot of junk and cool stuff for a teen, as well as sold a few things here and there to make extra pocket money along my part time job or go just back into my PayPal balance.
To not be so secretive, if anyone is familiar with Something Awful I used their SA-Mart forum a lot for buying/selling/trading and some of the other internet geeky type forums for the like.
I always had a reason, use or excuse for my PayPal account and using it. I loved it and now that I re-discovered after logging on after almost 3.5 years that I remember it. I graduated HS, went to college, moved to a new state and my life slowly started to fall apart.
I don't know you people and this isn't a pity party for me, just MY true story. Of course in growing up in middle school and High School, you got peer pressure, older kids, ciggarettes, alcohol and drugs. Well that came natural to me. I did all the things the other people in my age were. The underage drinking, smoking pot, experimenting once or twice with LSD or ecstacy. But the party never ended for me. I went to college and eventually got into prescription pills. I managed for 2-3 years going for a degree in Information Technology, planning to graduate, get a job, enjoy life and move on. I only wish.
But instead I got hung up on heroin after the prescription pills weren't cutting it. Luckily, it took a few years to get rock bottom bad. I was still at college, but using drugs whenever I could. Lucky I had a cheap car, but that was just to get my girlfriend and the drugs. I got her hooked on them. I drained my bank accounts. Started dipping into school loan money. I eventually had to leave my job, so now with NO income I became a petty criminal. I did things I did not want to do for money that I needed for me and my girlfriend's heroin. And then eventually behind her back, me, more. Long story short, she cleaned up, went to rehab, has 2 kids by herself, but is doing as good as she can and no drugs in years. Me? After a few more years, arrests, rehabs, parole, probation, a DUI, couple jail experiences, convictions on my record and a whole lot of destruction of my friends and family because I chose heroin over them I finally had enough. Got on a program slowly and worked my addiction away over time with help, meds and therapy and today I am clean and happiest I am in many years. And I'm never going back to that lifestyle. I am 26, almost 27.. this happened late teens to early twenties.
Now come's the hard part.. rebuilding. I did so much damage in such a quick few years emotionally, physically and to my family but also financially. I have been turned down more times than I can count because of my past on applications at jobs, even fired for. I live at home with my parents and I should be in my own place like many of my friends. I want to start a life and a career. I am a smart guy and Info Tech is still something I want to finish and get a degree in and I only need like another 3 semesters maybe, new school though probably.
I just went through a month of hell. I had a friend of the family who is the hiring manager at a great company I could have worked for. They were hiring 5 people and he made sure my resume got in there. And he knows about my past. This was a dream job for me I am telling you. This would have been my career. My ticket to a new life, to rebuilding my credit, to paying off my $100,000 school loans I have not paid in 2-3 years, the other $10,000 I racked up on credit cards and stole, borrowed, pawned. I have no bank account. I have no credit card. I have no debit card. Creditors call my phone EVERY DAY. I pay in cash when I have it. That's all I can carry right now. SO this job would have saved me financially. Starting 65k w/ benefits, 401k, health, dental, 2 weeks off a year, swing shift schedule, 1 straight week off month aside the other off days. DREAM JOB. I passed the tests on the top of the applicants everytime, went on interviews, drug tests, etc. Went for 1 more interview a week before job offers. I was excited. I thought I nailed this thing and plus have a little history with him, the HIRING manager. 2 days later Monday morning I wake up to a voicemail from not him, but his HR person saying sorry but they have their 5 candidates, but to I can come re-interview in 10 months when they add more positions. I wanted to die. "You just didn't seem confident as the other's" BUT NOBODY KNOWS WHAT TO DO. IT INVOLVES A 2 MONTH 5 DAY A WEEK 8 HOUR A DAY TRAINING CLASS.
I am broke, I have school loans and bills, bills, bills, collectors coming after me and my family because they co-signed the school loan. I am unemployed. I make a couple bucks here and there scrapping metal, craigslist or odd jobs. I got my **bleep** in gear and started looking for real work. Career work. Monster, Careerbuilder, etc. Last 3 weeks I have had nothingso far. Well, today I got a call from my uncle. He does maintenance at a medium college by me. They are hiring in his dept. I run over there with my resume, fill out the application and give it to HR. I got a call back from the maintanance manager later on for an interview on Monday 10 PM!! My uncle put the good word and they are desperate for people he said, a couple guys quit, so hopefully I am a shoe in. Now it's something, not a career or enough to pay what I need to start paying (loans, bills, credit card), but at least I can look while I work. And it's still full time, so I can still put something to down to these collectors and something is better than NOTHING to them. Maybe baerly have a couple bucks left over in the wallet. And since I'll be working at a college I can take CLASSES FOR FREE. So, I am going to try and get this degree done. But it got me thinking, which leads all up to why I am back here.
I had to reformat and re-install Windows 7 today so I spent all day doing it. I can probably get a little side business going fixing people's computers and what not since I hopefully will get that degree. Start advertising on Craigslist and on campus if I get that job. My cousin works IT for Siemens and makes amazing money as a career. I have no problem working my way up or working hard either. I've learned a hard way.
PAYPAL. So, while re-installing all my apps and configuring my new Windows install, I find out I still have my PayPal account and eBay account! My PayPal account is Verified (old bank and card - right now I am leaving them until I can get a new bank account. I owe my bank $185 plus the $50 new account fee just to get a new bank account. So it will be a bit before I have a new one. Trust me, I have not had a bank account in a year and it's just such a hassel now. I need my SS card on me if I ever need to cash a check to get my cash because of the two forms of ID. License + SS Card (not CC or Debt it card). I did that for a $7.00 check my mom wrote for my for ciggarettes. The bank would not budge on just my license and the check. The only semblence of FINANCIAL positive I have left in my life is PayPal and partly eBay. Never had any problems, refunds, chargebacks on either, never stole anyone's money or anything. If I sold something, I shipped it. So I think I am going to start small. Start to get some money in my PayPal balance which is at $0.00 (At least it's not overdrafted lol). Starting over here.
So I know people can send me PayPal money directly with to my e-mail if I sold someone something like on website or forums I used to frequent. But eBay is the big one and while I have a linked bank account and debt it card, they don't exist until I get my new one. Is that a problem on eBay? I am sure some of you people know and are eBay vendors. Can I just request a payment via PayPal by my e-mail if I sold something on eBay nowadays? It's been a few years so both sites are different, lots of changes, but I am learning. I also want to start building my credit back up and I was reading about that PAY-IT-LATER program affiliated with PayPal. Worth it? Obviously I would made sure I had money first or coming before taking credit, but pay it right back. Small amounts at a time. $25, $50, $100. And that's if I was accepted. Just to get my credit going in the right direction slowly because I destroyed it. Or is there a way to help build credit with PayPal by itself? I was thinking of getting a Credit Card through them, but I doubt they would give me one.
So folks, long intro I know. But it's good to be back. Hopefully I'll have employment within 2 weeks, but right now I can have stuff to sell.. just not sure if the questions I asked above would warrant me being able to. I'd love to start to get into eBay again! Thanks for reading. Nice to meet you and please feel free to message me, respond, ask me anything you want about anything.
EDIT: WOW! I am sorry that was long. But I just started writing. Props to whoever read that whole introduction and can even help me out or get at me!
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