How would you advise a genuinely broke person regarding buying a car?

how far is work?

If work is close enough get a bicycle. Zero dollars isn't much help.

Sounds like they need to hit Goodwill and get a 10 speed.

Unfortunately, if they don't have any cash or anyone to help them out at a reasonable rate - taking a loan at a terrible interest rate is about the only option here.

Poor people get railed during times of desperation. What kind of people do they know? Would something like gofundme be a decent option for them to get $1000 for a beater?

But then there's gas and insurance at the bare minimum

Does this person have cable/cellphones/any other monthly expense that can be cut? Sell any non-necessities on Craigslist. Scape together any other cash. Buy a beater. Deliver pizzas in the beater for extra cash. Sounds like this guy needs a Dave Ramsey book.

Save up and pay cash for a shite car

quote:

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Bike isn't really an option due to how far work is in addition to other family transportation responsibilities… Significant other and children

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Nor is a car based on the parameters you've given. Guy needs to go to one of those job is your credit places and buy the cheapest thing on the lot. He's gonna pay a shite ton of interest. Nobody in the family can loan this guy $ to buy a beater?

I assume he lives in the semi-rural Deep South, since in most other parts of the country he could rely on public transit. He needs a short term solution while he works on the longer one: he needs a carpool, stat. Ask around at work, or in the building, or at nearby businesses. He may be able to walk/bike to a pickup spot, where someone going in his direction will take him the rest of the way to work. Think of it as "assisted hitchhiking". Depending on his locale, he might find a carpool through craigslist or social networking. A post on FB describing his route to work w/a request for friends/family to share might generate a ride....

Which brings us to the longer term solution. He needs to cancel all non essential repeating bills: landline, cable, whatever else he's paying every month that's not utilities/rent/heath insurance/food. Then he needs to find supplemental work...he's not going to make this happen on his primary income, so he needs a side hustle. Bartender, grass cutting and weed pulling, tutoring, swimming lessons, odd jobs/carpentry, house or office cleaning, pet sitting, etc. There are a slew of things you can pick up to make a little side cash.....plus, everyone in the household needs to be contributing. Significant other, kids old enough to work: no one should be sitting on the couch, everyone should be contributing to the support of the household during this push to re-establish reliable transportation.

Many of us have been in this situation, and we often pulled through with a combination of busting azz and a little help from friends. We also learned to spend carefully, to trade wants for needs, and to help out others who might be in a similar spot. You sound like you might be in a position to help him a little bit--