Unemployed in a recession - what to do?

I left a company I was employed with for a dozen years back in June. I knew I wouldn't starve to death. I had taken early retirement and I thought I would be taking on a new career (teaching middle school science). I did the whole transition to teaching thing and was ready for my placement.

I lasted 6 days in front of the "little darlings." This was an inner city middle school. I never gained control of the classroom. After two weeks (6 days in front of students), I resigned rather than have a nervous breakdown.

I was out of work just as the worst economic downturn in 70 years was just hitting its stride. I started looking for a job, and I also started looking for a way to supplement a very meager early-retirement stipend. I explored many make money online (MMO) schemes. Some seemed better than others. One scheme that looked promising was "Site Build It." They offered to hold your hand and walk you through the whole process of creating a site and earning money online. However, I'm the world's greatest procrastinator, and a cheap bastard to boot. I decided to investigate a lot of other options before shelling out any money.

Here is what I believe from my research. "To thine own self be true." If you need the level of hand holding Site Build It offers, go for it. But understand, you are paying $300 per site, and if you are willing to do some homework, you can accomplish the same thing for much less. Several recent on-line reviews of "Site Build It" put things in better perspective than I ever could. One of these, Site Build It Scam Review, asked a number of important questions about this product. If this is such a great product, why are the people using it in such a snit about a negative review. If your site is making money (enough to offset the $300 per your paying), why do you care about a negative review. Unless, of course, the money you are making is from the "Site Build It" affiliate program.

For those, like me, who have been investigating other means of making money online, there are a number of sites that provide quality info for free, and the resources you need cost less than $300 per site. For those really willing to make a go of it, try Court's make money site the "Keyword Academy," or Griz's make money and adsense for beginners sites.

If you need hand holding, and don't have the cash, another possibility is the "Thirty Day Challenge." They tell you how to get started with minimal (or no) investment, and the support, in the way of forums, etc., is impressive.

All I'm saying, is don't shell out a lot of cash without doing your homework.