When Dorothy Stuart worked full-time, she had spending money to travel to see her children, buy Christmas gifts, eat at restaurants, shop for new clothes and update her home furnishings.

But now, at 74, living on about $1,000 a month in Social Security, plus a few hundred more from a minimum wage, 18-hour a week receptionist job, she has had to cut way back. Rent on her Pembroke Pines apartment alone runs $936 a month — up from $600 a few years ago. And because the bus she used to take to her job at Federation Plaza in Hollywood was canceled, she has had to catch a ride with a friend, who she helps out with gas money. Recently, she lost her home phone and Internet service after she fell behind in her bills, and she figures her debt now totals about $10,000.

Yet through it all, Stuart has kept up her spirit. She even returned to college and in 2008 earned her bachelor’s degree in health administration from the University of Phoenix.

She did it, she said, “just for me, for my own lifestyle, to help me along in life.”

Still, the degree hasn’t led to full-time employment. Stuart is hoping to get upgraded to full-time at her current job, or would love to work at a hospital or at the airport. She wants to start on her master’s degree in January if she can get another grant, similar to the one that paid for her undergraduate tuition.

“You educate yourself to a better lifestyle, but it doesn’t work in this economy,” said Stuart, who has been without a full-time job for the past few years. “You can have degrees, but it still isn’t going to work because there is nobody hiring.”

Petite, sprightly and amiable, Stuart seems to have far more energy than her age might indicate.

She has worked mornings for more than a year at the front desk of Federation Plaza, a HUD independent living facility for low-income seniors sponsored by the Jewish Federation. There, earning $7.31 an hour, she answers the phone, greets guests, helps residents, fills out paperwork, delivers packages and handles other duties.

Her supervisor, Yana Daniel, said Stuart goes out of her way to be helpful.

“Everybody likes her,” Daniels said.

Stuart jumps up and opens doors for the elderly residents, and if someone gets sick, she goes to their apartment to check on them.

“I’m a people person,” Stuart said, seated in the building’s lobby after her shift. She enjoys working with people of all ages and cultures, and learns from them, she said.

Beth Allen, executive director of the Joseph Meyerhoff Senior Center adjacent to the building where Stuart works, praised Stuart’s pleasant demeanor and solid work ethic.

“She is one of these people — she is just full of life and eager to learn,” Allen said. “She knows everybody’s name. She’s very bright and helpful to everyone, and she is a hard worker.”

Stuart also participates in activities at the senior center, Allen said.

Before her current job, Stuart worked part-time for two and a half years at Memorial Hospital Miramar’s rehabilitation center, handling patient records. Before that, she worked in Boca Raton for rental car companies.

But for most of Stuart’s career, about 20 years, she did administrative work for aviation companies at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport. At the height of her career, she was making nearly $25 an hour.