I don't really expect the internet to be any help since the majority of people have these sorts of problems, but I spent most of the past two years without work, living just barely off unemployment checks, applying for every imaginable job (Wal Mart, Taco Bell, Gas Stations, Banks, Hospitals, EVERYTHING) and getting no responses no matter my efforts to get their attention.
The very week my unemployment ran out for good, I wound up with a job doing phone surveys...which pays less than I was making on the unemployment. My only guaranteed income right now is around $180-250 a month, and I live with a friend splitting the upkeep to an entire house.
I'd do virtually anything to make money right now, but I don't know if I can possibly do it through art. I know some web design, I type 90 WPM, there has to be something clerical I can do but thus far nobody pays attention to my applications.
I think it's one of the worst decisions a person can make, but then, I hate guns and war and everything about how our government functions. I'd have been a proud deserter in the old days.
So, what do you think of that idea? Hopefully it's able to help.
However, seeing as you may not be able to do the Halloween thing this year, I can contribute photos of Halloween oddities for Bogleech :<