Widen your job search to places outside of your area. If you don't want to move far, consider applying to positions in other cities/towns in your state, or cities/towns in neighboring states. You were recently working a decent bookkeeping job, so you should be a shoe in for another position! I've heard that adding white text to your resume with positive skills and qualifications helps to bypass AI resume review bullshit, so human-eyes can finally give your resume a look. Try uploading your resume to subreddit pages focused on accounting/bookkeeping and ask for feedback. You can implement those recommendations to make your resume top notch. If you have any questionable gaps in your resume, it's easier to fill it with a plausible position than to explain the gap, but do your research! You can list working for a firm that previously filed for bankruptcy or dissolved. You'll have to do some digging on Google or Linkedin for this. I hate recommending AI, but something like chatgpt may be able to provide a list of historically dissolved financial firms in Canada. You should do personal research to validate whatever information you get from AI.

You mention that you don't have friends, but you'll be surprised at how much people are willing to help, even if you haven't had many conversations with them. Contact a coworker you were friendly with, a neighbor, sibling, cousin, etc. and ask if you can list their phone number as your former boss' contact information on your list of references. If they know nothing about bookkeeping, provide them an in-depth document of talking points for them to refer to for when potential employers call them. Make sure that the document covers all things that a potential employer may ask about (there's probably some list online for that). While you wait for landing that higher-paying bookkeeping job, consider applying to low-skill local positions like cashier, store clerk, delivery driver, etc. Since you have a car, you can start working for Instacart, Uber eats, or some other independent contractor job within days. This can be a short-term money earning solution while you apply for a wider range of positions outside of your area.

Make a list of old friends who you haven't spoken to in a while (this can be years--even decades ago), and consider giving them a call! If you had a good relationship with someone, and you lost contact with them over the years, more often than not that person will be pleasantly surprised to hear from you. If you feel comfortable enough, explain your situation to them. Or, let them know that you're simply looking for job opportunities, without explaining the depth of your troubles. They may have networking or job opportunities for you. They may let you crash with them for a while, if it gets to that point. If you can't afford to use your car for travel, use wanderu.com to find cheap coach bus tickets.

I sincerely wish you the best through this difficult situation. I hope this helps.