Sonja Funakura, 51, has saved $500 and a friend has offered to give the other $500.
"It's based on if I get a job offer," Wfaa.com quoted her as saying.
"I figure the worst case scenario, I'll give them my first paycheck. Literally. That's better than going another year like this," she said.
Funakura is a financial analyst and has worked as an accountant, but got laid off more than a year ago.
After 15 months of searching, e-mailing hundreds of resumes, and landing only one job interview, Funakura came up with the idea of a $-1,000 reward on June 30.
"I was just sitting there thinking 'Money talks. Money really talks'," she revealed.
Funakura said she has already cut back on everything. She hasn't bought clothes or perfume in two years, and though she enjoys it, she only mows her large lawn sparingly in order to save gas.
And even worse for her is that her $50,000 in savings has also run out.
On Facebook, Funakura offered to do yard work or haul off trash for free, just to feel productive until someone claims her $1,000 reward and helps her rejoin the workforce.
Image: Sonja Funakura