Tip number one: Don't pay for a job, its usually a scam. Tip number two: Don't apply for a job that's not on the bus route until you have reasonable transportation to get you there. How have you been lately?

They owe you nothing. It was your choice to pay for a cab, not theirs.

For $276, you could get a pretty decent bicycle. The job market certainly isn't what it used to be. I used to do odd jobs for people around the neighbourhood as a kid, but no one wants to pay a kid to mow their lawn or pull weeds or wash their car or anything like that anymore. My first regular job paid $8 an hour - about $13.50 in today's purchasing power. The job was just a few hundred yards down the street from me, and I was able to pay my bills with it. Now there are too many regulations, so you can't really get jobs like those any more in the USA. So what does it take then? Well, 1. you need to either have a skill no one else has, or lie about having a skill no one else has and hope your employer doesn't notice. 2. You need reliable transportation. Sorry, but that just seems to be the case. It's a vicious cycle - no car = no job, no job = no money, no money = no car. 3. Experience. You need experience. If they are hiring someone to work with software that has existed for five years, they will demand ten years of experience with the software. So, whoever lies best, gets the job, typically. Also, it's another vicious cycle where you can't get a job unless you have a job. But, you do have a computer. You could post on local sites to hire you, or you could coordinate ride sharing with a local person, or you could even start your own business online. If you can learn to think outside of the box, you can really take advantage of the changing times.