These are tough times for almost everyone. Please hold your head high and realize that you are not alone.We have watched as many of our friends have had the same problems and many local biz have closed their doors. We were so very close to selling our home and we finally got them to reduce our monthly.
We are in Real Estate also and have had to do some major changes.
The first thing we did was ditch the dish.We have only a handful of channels but that leaves us have more time to garden,read and be with family.Called up and raised deductibles to lower our ins.Put in a Really bg Veg patch.
Get use to eating what is cheap.
We have always loved garage saling so used stuff is no problem to us.
Having been in fulltime ministry before we are pretty good at feeling good about pinching pennies.
If you need food stamps by all means get them. Seek help from churches if you can.
Hopefully you are not buying cigs or alcohol .These will make you more desparate.
Remember no matter how bad you think it is it is not bad enough to do away with yourself or family like some of the desparate people we have read about.
****You worked for a RE Attorny so he should know plenty of people who are being foreclosed. Get the list. Start your own biz doing clean outs. You know what some of those places look like after angry homeowners get kicked out.Same for rental owners.
This is an opportunity. It takes getting up early,making phone calls and fliers and doing a decent and honest job.
Getting to work on time,going to bed late ,getting filthy dirty and rubbing Ben Gay in all your achy muscles.
You can do it.

Good luck NativeMel, I hope things work out for you. Also put an ad on Craigslist, I think it has much wider exposure than just GW and maybe something will turn up for you both.

You have gotten some good advice. I would like to add some more: look for senior citizens who need this type of help. They have not been as impacted economically because they are on a fixed income, even got a raise last year (COLA). Everyone needs a handyman but doesn't know who to call.

Buy a magnetic sign to put on your car with your name and phone # and your business name. Every time you drive you are advertising for free.

Since your DH is handy he could install "grab-bars" in tubs/showers and things to make homes safer. Not only would he be employed but doing something worthwhile. I've seen ads for "Mr. Grab-bar" so it's a viable business.

Make flyers up and go door to door handing them out. You may need a business license.

Good luck.

Thank you all for the great advice. In retrospect, I should have added more details to my original post.

I've been checking into getting a business license for doing "handy work", and I've made fliers. I've considered the magnetic sign for the car, but haven't contacted anyone to check into the cost yet. This seems like the way to go. My SO is the more talented one, and is shy, but I'm not. Door to door may just have to be my task.

No, we don't buy cigs or booze with our hard earned money. We've been without any sort of television for more than 6 months. You learn quickly how to entertain yourself without it.

We are accustomed to eating cheap - a lot of homemade soups, etc. I'm trying to figure out where to plant some veggies and when, and how to make it look presentable for the potential home buyers that come to see the place.

Mostly we've been using whatever supplies we already had to beautify our home, hoping to get someone interested in buying it this year rather than have a foreclosure on credit reports for the next 10.

We don't belong to a church family, so we feel it would be inappropriate to ask for their help. There are other people worse off than us, so we try to do without charitable help and prefer to earn.

We do hold our heads high and know that this is happening all around us. Every day we hear of another friend or family member that is struggling through these hard times. We both grew up poor and know it could be worse. We are not depressed or suicidal, nor do I believe either of us would get to that point. We have another struggling friend that fortunately owns his house outright and would take us in if necessary - an absolute last resort, as he is 4 states away with a one bedroom, one bathroom home.

The real estate attorney I work for specializes in vacant land acquisition and development for nationwide building companies. We aren't on the residential side of things, so we don't have access to the foreclosure lists. But I'll look into this idea.

Keep us in mind, you never know when you are going to run into someone who needs our help. Thanks again!

You can go to your local library and get tons of DVDs to watch for FREE. Hubby and I have been using our library for months now and we love it. We order videos online and just pick up when they are available. Beats Blockbuster which was trying to charge us 35 a month and for less movies. As for clearing out homes you should go to real estate companies and banks in your area to offer your services.

Thank you for suggesting the library. We had a small collection of DVDs before this financial dilemma, so we've been using those for entertainment periodically.

I am continuing to check into the things that all of you have suggested. We are also going to hold a garage sale soon. It's easier to minimize when you aren't trying to keep up with the Joneses! Thanks for the great advice.