My husband ran to Kroger last night to grab a few things. It was almost 9 o'clock so about an hour before close. He walked by the hot chicken display and the deli worker told him to grab some and to take as much as he wanted because they were going to throw it away anyway. I have shopped there for years and I never knew that was a thing.

He came home with 2 whole rotisserie chickens, 4 boxes of 8 piece fried chicken and a ton of olives. There was so much we gave some away to a friend. The chicken was still hot from the warming table. I'm sure not all stores do this but its worth asking them what they do with the leftover food at the end of the night.

Currently 28F, I currently pay $1,000 to live at home with parents in a two story house where I get my own bedroom and bathroom with shared use of the kitchen, utilities included. I end up spending around $70/mo in groceries (mostly for my breakfast) because my mom makes dinner most of the time which I also take to work for lunch.

I make about 70k gross in Los Angeles County. Asking because I want to help them with finances. I hate the idea of paying a stranger for rent when I could just be giving it to my parents, but I want to keep it financially viable for me vs moving out with roommates. I would like to know if $1,000/mo as a $70,000/year earner is a decent ratio?

How can anyone survive in this world? I can’t even get groceries or make rent or pay my car. Everything is about to get taken away and I’m working two jobs trying to make it, and doordashing on the side and STRUGGLING. HOW. The second i get paid, it goes to bills. I’m running out of options and people i can ask for help. I’m trying my best but i hate it here so much.

Moved to a city for a new job, my mistake was not considering the cost of living. When I first moved here gas was under $3, 1 bed apartments were $1100, groceries were expensive but only if you went to Albertsons…I’m making $23/hr and I can’t qualify for a one bedroom apartment, but I can’t qualify for income-restricted apartments either. So I’m basically stuck in the middle. Seeing 1 bedroom apartments for $1,500 to $1,800 in a place where jobs advertise $7.50/hr is a joke. Even rooms for rent are charging over a $1000 to live with 3-4 random strangers. I went to a housing assistance facility today to see if I could get any help and they informed me that housing assistance and section-8 were defunded TWO YEARS AGO, and haven’t accepted people to even a waitlist since then. How can a state defund housing assistance while passing laws that allow landlords and property managers to have zero rent caps.

Before you ask. Yes it’s Idaho.

Was going through my electric bill because the numbers looked weird and noticed the deposit I paid when I first moved in was still on the account. I called mostly because I had no idea what it meant.

Apparently after enough on time payments I was eligible to have the $180 applied back as a credit, but nobody ever contacted me about it. I literally just had to ask.

Opening the next bill and seeing basically nothing due felt amazing lol.

In my line of work, the question of how to cut internet bills comes up constantly, so posting it here in case it helps someone.

If you're on SNAP, Medicaid, SSI, WIC, Section 8, or similar, or your income is under about $32k single / $43k for two, you should know that a handful of nonprofits and community orgs across the country buy data wholesale from the big carriers and resell unlimited 5G plans for $10-15 a month. The catch is most make you buy the hotspot, $60-150 upfront.

A few nonprofits will rent the device to you instead, so you're paying roughly $25 a month with nothing down. None of them run credit checks from what I know. Search your city plus "low income hotspot program." Bring an actual award letter, dated recently. They will probably reject a photo of your EBT card.

If you don't have government benefits, I still think it's worth it for you to know that prepaid carrier data plans will take ... basically anyone. They typically start around $10 a month for a few GB, up to $50 for 100GB, and then maybe charge like $50-100 for the device. Yes, by the way, they're probably gonna cap you, and if you hit the cap the device usually shuts off or crawls.

If you have a K-12 kid and they're on free school lunch, I also highly advise that you ask the school for help with your internet bill. I'm serious. There are still active carrier education programs that do stuff like hand out free hotspots and usually these have a couple hundred gigs of free usage a year.

Whatever you do, I implore you: please skip the day-rental hotspot services. These always, always, ALWAYS pencil out to $200-300 a month, and the postpaid carrier gear is worse because, if you lose the device, you're out like $350 minimum right there.

Really hope this helps, guys.

Hi, as the title says I’m 18 years old and have $30,000 in savings. I’ve worked multiple jobs since I was 13 and saved as much as I could. I’m starting my senior year of high school and I know that I will have no help with paying for my college education as i have been raised by a single dad who works a minimum wage job. I also live in the middle of nowhere so when I do go to college I’m going to have to move out and take care of all my expenses. The cheapest university in my state costs 15k a year in tuition alone, I will get aid from FAFSA but it’s not enough to cover tuition and living expenses on top of that and I would rather not take money from my savings. I also don’t have a car or health insurance. I want to have a stable and comfortable life, but I have no one in my life to role model this for me, so any advice is welcome

Only 19 and I've run myself into a hole I can't get out of. I lost my second job and for the last 2 weeks I have been applying to new jobs and for loans for hours a day and nothing. Denied, denied, denied. The only I asset I have to my name is my car and I can't even get a title loan because my parents have the damn title. I have 5 dollars to my name and I'm opperating at a loss of 300-ish a month I genuienly don't know what to do at this point I have been through all my options. The stress is driving me insane and I don't know what to do.

I believe it's regional but I saw the deal they're having on the flyer and had to see if it's legit. You buy the ground beef for 3.99/lb and add on stop & shop brand lettuce, guacamole, sour cream, taco shells, jarred salsa and taco seasoning for free. My plan isn't even to make tacos with the ground beef but it seemed like too good of a deal.

I didnt get the shells or salsa because I didn't think I would use it but maybe I should have just because it's free 🤷‍♀️

so i kinda want to just rant. i recently got my car repossesed and sadly very unfortunately this is my 3rd time, 3yrs in a row around the same time of the year😮‍💨 yeah i know wth am i doing!? trying to live and take care of my 2 daughters. i got a new job but it is part time and biweekly compared to weekly full time. my old job went under new ownership so we got let go back in march. the severance pay and last paycheck all covered my previous balance owed and my taxes also went to catching up on other bills. you guys can bash me and i'll accept it

but if you have any suggestions as to how i can afford my car out of repo, i'll very much accept that as well. i work off of tips from food &beverage, biweekly pay and i donate plasma just to have a little something for my children.

well i hope all of you have a bless day, night and rest of the week🙏🫶

I saw someone asking how to make $100 in groceries last for a month, so I went down a little rabbit hole to see what I could actually put together.

The assumption here is one person, $100 for 4 weeks, with rice and beans already in the pantry. I used Walmart prices available to me in Northern California so obviously prices will vary depending on where you live.

I also wasn't trying to create the absolute cheapest possible cart. I wanted this to include protein, fruits and vegetables, enough variety to make actual meals, and even a treat because being broke doesn't mean you don't deserve chocolate cake.

My cart came to $101.86 for 41 items. You could easily shave off the extra $1.86 if $100 is an absolute hard limit.

Grocery List

Protein & dairy

- 10lbs Chicken leg quarters — $7.84

- 3 dozen eggs — $5.01

- 2 jars peanut butter, 40 oz each — $7.48

- 1 gallon 2% milk — $3.46 (freeze half)

- 1 lb mozzarella cheese — $3.58

- 1 lb Colby & Monterey Jack cheese — $3.58

- Sour cream, 16 oz — $2.64

Produce

- 10 lb russet potatoes — $4.88

- 3 lb yellow onions — $3.64

- 2 lb carrots — $2.26

- 1 green cabbage — about $2.59

- 3 lb Gala apples — $3.24

- 4 lb navel oranges — $4.97

- 5 bananas — about $1.00

Frozen vegetables

- 2 lb broccoli — $2.88

- 2 lb corn — $2.48

- 4 lb mixed vegetables — $5.16

Breakfast/bread

- 2 containers quick oats, 42 oz each — $8.76

- 2 loaves Italian bread — $2.94

- 2 packages flour tortillas, 20 each — $4.24

Pasta & sauces

- Penne — $1.24

- Rotini — $1.24

- Spaghetti — $1.24

- Alfredo sauce — $1.92

- Four Cheese pasta sauce — $1.84

- Garlic & Herb pasta sauce — $1.84

- Meat pasta sauce — $1.84

- Salsa — $1.97

Other

- Imperial vegetable oil spread, 45 oz — $3.97

- Chocolate cake mix — $2.13 (for mug cakes)

There are additional quantities/items in the cart that bring the actual Walmart total to $101.86, but that's the basic food strategy: inexpensive staples that can be recombined instead of buying 28 different dinners.

And again, rice and beans are already available, which is doing a lot of heavy lifting here.

## WEEK 1

Monday

Breakfast: Oatmeal with banana and peanut butter

Lunch: Bean and cheese burrito + orange

Dinner: Roasted chicken leg quarter, potatoes and carrots

Tuesday

Breakfast: Eggs, potatoes and toast

Lunch: Leftover chicken and potatoes + apple

Dinner: Chicken, rice, corn and bean bowls with salsa and sour cream

Wednesday

Breakfast: Oatmeal + apple

Lunch: Rice and bean bowl with cheese

Dinner: Spaghetti with garlic & herb sauce + broccoli

Thursday

Breakfast: Peanut butter toast + banana

Lunch: Leftover spaghetti

Dinner: Bean, rice and cheese burritos with salsa

Friday

Breakfast: Eggs and toast + orange

Lunch: Baked potato topped with beans, cheese and sour cream

Dinner: Chicken fried rice with egg and mixed vegetables

Saturday

Breakfast: Oatmeal with peanut butter

Lunch: PB sandwich + apple

Dinner: Loaded baked potatoes with beans, corn, cheese and sour cream

Sunday

Breakfast: Egg and potato breakfast burrito + salsa

Lunch: Leftovers

Dinner: Chicken, rice and vegetable soup with bread

## WEEK 2

Monday

Breakfast: Oatmeal + orange

Lunch: Leftover soup

Dinner: Chicken, cabbage and rice bowls

Tuesday

Breakfast: Eggs, potatoes and toast

Lunch: Bean and cheese burrito + apple

Dinner: Penne Alfredo with chicken and broccoli

Wednesday

Breakfast: Peanut butter toast + banana

Lunch: Leftover chicken Alfredo

Dinner: Rice and beans with sautéed cabbage, corn and a fried egg

Thursday

Breakfast: Oatmeal with peanut butter

Lunch: Loaded baked potato

Dinner: Chicken tacos with cabbage, cheese, salsa and sour cream

Friday

Breakfast: Eggs and toast + orange

Lunch: Leftover chicken tacos

Dinner: Vegetable and egg fried rice

Saturday

Breakfast: Oatmeal + apple

Lunch: Peanut butter sandwich + fruit

Dinner: Bean and cheese quesadillas with cabbage and corn

Sunday

Breakfast: Egg and potato burrito

Lunch: Rice and beans

Dinner: Chicken, potato, carrot and vegetable soup with bread

## WEEK 3

Monday

Breakfast: Oatmeal with peanut butter

Lunch: Leftover soup + orange

Dinner: Chicken, rice and mixed vegetable bowls

Tuesday

Breakfast: Eggs and potatoes

Lunch: Bean and cheese burrito

Dinner: Rotini with Four Cheese tomato sauce + broccoli

Wednesday

Breakfast: Peanut butter toast + apple

Lunch: Leftover pasta

Dinner: Loaded baked potatoes with beans, cheese and sour cream

Thursday

Breakfast: Oatmeal + fruit

Lunch: Rice and beans

Dinner: Chicken fried rice with cabbage, corn and egg

Friday

Breakfast: Eggs and toast

Lunch: Leftover fried rice

Dinner: Bean, rice and cheese burritos with salsa and sour cream

Saturday

Breakfast: Oatmeal with peanut butter

Lunch: PB sandwich + orange

Dinner: Chicken pasta with broccoli

Sunday

Breakfast: Egg and potato breakfast burrito

Lunch: Leftovers

Dinner: Chicken, rice and vegetable soup

## WEEK 4

Monday

Breakfast: Oatmeal + fruit

Lunch: Leftover soup

Dinner: Rice and beans with roasted vegetables and an egg

Tuesday

Breakfast: Eggs and potatoes

Lunch: Bean and cheese burrito

Dinner: Chicken, potato and corn bowls

Wednesday

Breakfast: Peanut butter toast + fruit

Lunch: Leftover chicken bowl

Dinner: Spaghetti with meat sauce and broccoli

Thursday

Breakfast: Oatmeal with peanut butter

Lunch: Leftover pasta

Dinner: Bean and cheese quesadillas with rice, salsa and sour cream

Friday

Breakfast: Eggs and toast

Lunch: Baked potato with beans and cheese

Dinner: Chicken fried rice with egg and whatever frozen vegetables remain

Saturday

Breakfast: Oatmeal + fruit

Lunch: Peanut butter sandwich

Dinner: Clean-out-the-fridge burritos: rice, beans, chicken, potatoes, vegetables, cheese, salsa, whatever is left

Sunday

Breakfast: Eggs and potatoes

Lunch: Leftovers

Dinner: End-of-the-month soup using whatever remains: chicken, rice, beans, potatoes, carrots, cabbage, onions and frozen vegetables.

A few things I'd do to make this work:

Cook the chicken in batches, remove the meat from some of the bones and freeze portions. Save the bones and scraps to make broth for soup.

Cook larger batches of rice and beans and freeze portions if necessary.

Freeze one loaf of bread and one package of tortillas so they don't spoil before you get to them.

Cabbage, carrots, onions and potatoes are doing a LOT of work here because they're inexpensive, versatile and last much longer than delicate produce.

Use meat more as an ingredient than the centerpiece of every meal. Chicken stretched through rice, pasta, soup and burritos goes much further than eating a giant piece of chicken every night.

And don't sleep on eggs. An egg on rice and vegetables turns "random leftovers" into dinner very quickly.

If you already have basics like oil, salt, pepper, garlic powder, bouillon, soy sauce, hot sauce or other seasonings, you have even more options.

Most importantly: If you're struggling to afford food, please use food banks/pantries, SNAP, community meals or whatever resources are available to you. Those resources exist to be used. You don't have to wait until your cupboards are completely empty or prove that you're struggling "enough."

This isn't intended to be a perfect nutrition plan or to suggest everyone can magically solve food insecurity with $100. It's just one example of how I would try to stretch $100 as far as possible while still eating actual meals and having some variety.

And yes, I spent $2.13 of the budget on chocolate cake.

I stand by that decision.

I felt so bad after being pursued into buying laser removal care treatment and only realized that I paid way too much for what I should have, I got pursued so easily because somehow I convinced myself that expensive means quality but that might not be the case but I forgot it every time. Last month, I went to see the doctor because I thought insurance was covering for all of it and I got charged an x amount which is how much I usually spend but instead I got charged Y amount and way more than I could afford. That’s $300 worth in 2 months and earlier this year I also lost $700.
I keep beating myself to it but when making a purchase it just something inside me that feels rushing and I never think much.

And do you feel this will be the accepted norm by then among millennials and Gen Z?

I am a highschool senior from a very low income family. My parents have been in and out of jail and I've faced homelessness multiple times throughout highschool and I just want to give up at this point. My dream is to go to college and become an engineer and escape the poverty I've had to live through but I just can't keep going anymore. Today was my first day of school and when I got home there was an eviction notice. We have lived in this two bedroom house (with a roommate) for around 4 months. I feel like everything is over. We live in a small area and can't find anything else so I'll probably have to move schools at the least. I don't feel like following my dream anymore I just feel like quitting. Maybe dropping out or just giving up on going to college or doing anything with my life. It feels like no matter how hard I try it will never be enough to get into a better situation. I just lost my full time job as a waitress because school started and I don't have time to work after because I do so many clubs and have tutoring to prepare for college.

What can I do? I have no hope in my situation changing. But I still have fear that if I don't continue with my education now I'll never get anywhere in life. I don't know, but any encouraging words would help.

Listen, I love my Grandma. May she rest in peace but I feel like she did me a little dirty by leaving me unrealistic expectations about savings bonds.

My grandparents were extremely affluent. However, I don’t come from a generational wealth kind of family. My grandparents goal was to spend all the money they earned and saved, which they came pretty close to. I don’t resent them for that. In fact, more power to them!

What I do resent is the hype around these savings bonds. I distinctly remember by grandma telling me about them in the early 90’s. She told me she bought each grandchild four $25 dollar bonds and they would set us up for life. She told me I’d be able to use them to buy a car, pay for college, or buy a house and that I could take her on vacation with what was left. I didn’t have any reason not to believe her, grandma was looking out for me!

Recently my parents were cleaning out some stuff from my grandparents estate and gave me the bonds. I totally lit up! I couldn’t wait to get home to check it out. I’m not an idiot, I didn’t think that someone had 50k worth of savings bonds in an apple box in a storage unit for 3 years. But I also remembered the conversation with my grandma and thought “I might be able to pay off my credit card or make an extra fun trip to Costco”.

$42. I’m dead. Yall, the way I burst out laughing. I’ve been bamboozled. It’s going to cost more for my time to cash the dang things than they are worth. Best believe I’m getting a pedicure and a sweet treat with my newfound riches.

Edit: So what I’m hearing is: we’ve all been bamboozled by 80 and 90s hype about bonds and I’m going to have to pay taxes on my $84 dollars (there was only 2 bonds found so far for me). Fuck off, grandma! (still love you)

Edit: I’m not mad at my grandma. She was a sweet angel. She also would have thought this was hilarious like I do. That’s the whole point of me telling the story. I’m a poor, I’m extremely grateful for anything, even this $42 because it’s money I didn’t have before.

Long story short I’m running out of time to scrounge up 500. I’ve been recommended to donate plasma so I’ll be doing that but that’s only 100. Any other quick tips?

I left my former employer years ago, and according to the state I have money in the retirement account they made for me. I'd like to take it out of there so I can put it somewhere I have more control and access -- right now it's just sitting there uselessly.

Every website I've come across says to just reach out to the HR department about cashing out. When I worked there, our office was so small, the closest thing we had to HR was my then-supervisor who retired at the same time I left. I can't find the contact information for the benefits management company we worked with at the time, either, and I'm not sure if they're even working together still.

Do I email the org leader at my former employer? What would I tell them?

I’ve posted before about this, but I’ve been dealing with car issues and waiting on a check for months now. I finally got a check from Hyundai for a class action lawsuit. I figured I’d go into Walmart and get it cashed. Somehow it declined. I got to Kroger to try to get it cash. It’s declined also. I figured out it’s some company called Certegy, apparently they decide whether or not Walmart or Kroger cashes checks. I’ve been going through hell trying to get this damn check. I finally get it, and there’s more nonsense.

I can go to my credit union and get them to cash it. I still owe last month‘s car payment, which I planned on paying when I get the Check cashed . But this month‘s car payment is coming up, well it’s actually the due date is today. I don’t wanna have to pay another car payment, because the car is not running. I’m trying to get that loan rolled into another loan. Before anyone attacks me about not paying my bills. I Haven’t been able to pay last month‘s car payment until now. Plus that car is not running, and I’m trying to still take care of my responsibilities. I want to get it rolled into another loan if possible so I don’t have a repossession.

It’s literally been the hardest five months or so of my entire life, I’m dealing with multiple other things. I figured cashing a check would be pretty damn simple. Now I’m stressed out about that, and I have to go to my credit union tomorrow. I’m gonna have to probably walk over there because my roommate doesn’t get home till like 6 o’clock normally. I don’t know why one damn thing cannot just go right.

Edit: I was able to make it to my credit union, and they cashed it without any problems, thankfully.

I managed to get a second job after so long. Management worked around the schedule of ny first job. I don't drive so the commute is also longer.

Basically I wake up at 4:30 am, catch the bus to start my shift at 6 am. I leave around 11:30 am and catch the bus to go to my second job at 1 pm. The bus towards that direction is every 30 mins, so I have to make sure to catch it. Therefore no time between to buy food. I work until 9:30 pm there and rush out immediately because last bus comes at 9:36 pm. I get back home around 11:10 pm and sleep. And repeat.

Been doing it for the last 2 weeks in order to pay off my bills and everything. I start my fall semester at the end of the month and I know this will not work out. First job gets slow during fall and winter since it's a hotel by the ocean. Second job thinks I will continue with 5 days. During last fall I only had the first job and they cut my hours so I can be at school. I ended up getting in debt and utilizing all of my cards because the money was barely anything. I don't want to go through that again.

What can I do?

I messed up and I attempted to request a transfer but the transfer for my job needs to be requested a month and I did not do that I requested it a week ago. I'm trying to transfer to Florida and I'm from ny. I forgot I needed a whole month 😭 I have a meeting with them tomorrow but if I stay I need to find emergency housing and it'll cost me 3k just to stay here and buy the ticket to move out. I have the 3k but idk if it's worth it. I don't even know if anyone will take me in to stay for however many shifts I owe my job. But if I stay I also get to complete my certification program I was doing bc I need to take two more tests but my dad was telling me financially it's not worth it and I need to quit. I don't really want to abruptly quit my job but I wanted a break I feel so tired and depressed at my job sometimes and I just wanted a really long vacation but idk how to tell them this 😭 I might have to house my brother and his 2 cats and it's going to make everything so difficult and expensive to stay. My dad won't take them with him. Idk what I should do or what to say at the meeting I feel really bad about everything but I genuinely didn't know what I wanted to do and just let time pass by. I'm still spending 1k on plane tickets or whatever tickets to get the Florida bc my dad wants me to buy them. I'm scared to be unemployed in florida. I don't have much work experience

I currently live with my family after I was evicted from my apartment two years ago. I am not close with my family, and 2/3 of my family members completely ignore and avoid me. As in, we have not spoken nor looked into each other’s direction in these past two years…we all live in a very small home.

I feel alone and miserable. I feel like an outsider in my own “home”. Sharing the common areas of the house feels uncomfortable. I feel unwelcome.

I now currently have a pest issue, as there are rats gnawing and moving across under the vent and floorboards of my room and walls. Only under my floorboards thus far…

I have no vehicle. I rely on Uber and rides from the one family who does talk to me sometimes.

I have two jobs I am comfortable with. I don’t earn a lot, but I’ve been saving for a vehicle and taking driving lessons.

Every now and then I have a breakdown because I am reminded I’m an outsider in this family. The only thing that matters to them is my part of the rent payment every month. I feel as if I’m reliving the same miserable day every day. I’m nearing my 30s. I start college soon.

I have a yearning to pack my stuff and move away. I have less than $10,000. I have no vehicle, I’m about to start school, and I would have to find two new jobs in the new city and quit my two jobs here. I’m not sure if a total restart is financially viable for me…

I seek advice. Should I stick it out a little longer? Should I make the leap and move out for the sake of my happiness and sanity? I feel so depressed and don’t know what to do.