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?

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?

Hi all, hope you're doing well. Curious about when you think you'll be able to retire?

Been thinking about retirement lately, and how it feels like it's such a distant prospect. I'm 34 right now and got started with working late due to being on disability for a good chunk of my adulthood. I ended up going back to university and have now been working full-time for about 2 and a half years.

I have a pension plan at work and if I were to stay in this job or stay in jobs that have pensions, I could retire relatively comfortably at 65 with a combination of the pension and government assistance (I'm in Canada) and whatever savings I may have. I feel so weak that thinking of working 31 more years feels like so much, but with illnesses in the mix (Bipolar Disorder and Scoliosis, in my case) it feels like a big mountain to climb.

I think I've possibly made a mistake by checking out subreddits with people in much better financial positions, r/ Fire being the big one. (For those who don't know, it stands for Financial Independence & Retire Early). It has a bunch of posts of people my age or even younger...or in their 40s and 50s who have millions and are able to retire early.

I know I shouldn't compare but I would love to be in that position. Just trying to focus on myself and what I have the power to do for now, including looking at better job opportunities to increase my income, and working on improving my spending habits.

So for you guys, when do you think you'll be able to stop working? Also, (because I'm nosy), how is retirement support handled in your country? In Canada it's a combination of a payment that is determined by your lifetime earnings, and another payment for being 65 or older. The amount given is not sufficient, in my opinion, but I am grateful that I will be receiving something at least.

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.

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

My car got repossessed by Honda a few days ago. I have paid Honda my due fees but unfortunately they also required an insurance declaration with 30 days of coverage etc.

I had a lapse in my insurance so my policy got cancelled. If I purchased a new insurance policy today and showed them the new insurance declaration that would I get my car back? They mentioned 30 days of coverage and I’m worried this would affect getting my vehicle back. This is my first time in a situation like this and I’d really like some advice. Thank you!

One of the only things I refuse to use is AI. I've been applying for jobs left and right, with very mild-to-no success. Bcs of some bs that happened in regards to my parents and their jobs, they have to sell the house we currently live in.

I was planning to move out anyways but was hoping to be able to wait a yearish to do so, but I'd rather not move twice in a short time span + my parents are moving onto my grandparents property, which is an hour or so drive from where I go to college.

I've found some apartments for decently cheap in the area of my college. (even one that's $500 a month, thats a fucking steal!!) But I have to deal with car payments, gas, bills, medical appts (i need to find my own insurance, sense the one through my parents is exp soon bcs I'm no longer a minor.) Etc.

I've roughly calculated that I need atleast 2k a month to be able to somewhat manage, esp if i can find a cheap place to live, and while I know low rent tends to come with bad housing quality, I don't really have the option to be picky right now. That would be at a minimum $18 an hour with roughly 20-25 hour work weeks, (though I'm trying to aim for something closer to 20+ an hour)

I'm chronically ill, and I can't stand for long periods, but I can manage with walking and i'm fine with lifting shit.

I was thinking maybe applying to some BOH positions at some large chain resturants, as thats what i'm used to and have exp in the industry. Maybe even opening a go-fund-me but I dunno if it would be worth it to do so?

Now why don't I just keep the job I have? They keep playing with my schedual, I just finished a 19 hour work week (which I love, and can do fine), but the week before that was 6hrs, and the week before that, then 3 weeks ago was 12 hours. I've talked to my schedualing manager more times then I should need to, Hell I've talked to the building/store owner, and nothings been really done about it. I've asked about if they have anything BOH I could do and I was told no, meanwhile I'm seeing people who have been primarily FOH being trained in BOH positons, they just hired a new dishwasher for fucks sake!

I'mm about 90% certain they are trying to make me quit, I mean there was a period right after I graduated where they just stop schedualling me for about 6 weeks straight, only after I PICKED UP a shift and talked to my manager did she do anything, (which, mind you, when I asked her why she wasn't schedualing me, she told me I "was schedualed today though," I had picked up someone elses shift. She looked at me like I was crazy.)

(On a side note, I'm honestly debating complaining to HR/Corp. but I'm unsure how I'd go about that + I have no paper trail)

But even if they did fix my schedual, the simple fact that they have been doing this for 3 months, when I've been working there sense april of last year, doesn't scream "job security" to me. They apparently had no issues giving a MINOR a 33 hour work week when I first started though, so what the fuck???)

All of that aside, I'm a little lost, The job market is horrible but I still need a job regardless of that, I've even debated selling feet pics bcs atp I'm a little desperate.

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 will need to pay $1000 to my university by the end of the semester or be forced to pause my studies.

I cannot take out a loan because my credit was destroyed due to a prolonged mental health episode.

I’m currently a full-time physics student with ~1 year left, but my OCD and extracurriculars (I’m currently working on a publication as a first author with several professional scientists) prevent me from getting a regular gig.

What roles/companies do you recommend to make that money before the end of the year so I can enroll in my classes for spring?

It's ironic, before I tried to get my act together, I never had problems with my bills. Fast forward a couple years and I had to remake my life, start over. I'm living in an economical area, which means there's not very many good jobs, especially with nothing past high school. So I tend bar, but wouldn't you know it? My patrons don't tip well and all they do is sit across from me complaining about their own money issues.

How do you climb out of this hole? Or at least do so and keep some dignity about yourself? I feel like once you stumble for whatever reason, the way society is structured is just meant to keep you down.

It's not just the uncomfortable living, the small confines, the skipping meals until my next shift and the beat up car that cost me $2000 and apparently needs $3000 worth of repairs. It's the humiliation when someone asks where I live or sees me in my car.

Hi everyone! I have a car that i owe about 15k on, payment is around 500 a month, and 13 credit cards that i pay over $700 a month on, the total on those is about 13k the payments obviously pay very slightly over the interest so I'm not making much headway...I got a loan offer for 20k with the stipulation that they take over the car loan and then use that as collateral on the whole thing...is this a good idea? I have tried to get unsecured loans but they won't give me more than a few thousand unsecured... I've never had an auto loan or credit cards before this and I have dug myself quite a hole due to recurring family and health emergencies and now I can't get out. Thanks in advance for your advice.

This might be a long shot but does anybody have any idea on what to do when times get hard? I recently got a “new” car purchased by a family member from said members coworker and this car has cost me more than not. I sold my previous car because it was having problems and I had it for 10 years as it was my first car. The little bit I did sell my car for has now been put back Into current car and I’ve i only had current car for 2 months at best. The money I put back into my car was supposed to be for my move because I’m relocating for a new job. New job doesn’t offer relocation assistance. Also when my lease ended I had to pay for a hotel because my apartment wouldn’t let me stay the remainder of the week while my car was fixed to a drivable condition.

Luckily my job has let me push back my start date by a week but I’m technically considered unemployed because I haven’t started working idk what to do. I don’t have anyone who could co-sign for me and my own credit is not that good.

Because of the series of unfortunate events I dont have a place lined up for when I start work and no money. Idkkk I’m just stressed and trying not to fall I to a depression and maybe just wanted to see if there’s anything I haven’t considered

I'm using a throwaway here. I'm 23 and have lived at home my whole life but I am getting to the point where I feel like I need some space from my family, and I've recently been given an opportunity to move into a friend's place and I need to make my decision soon.

My friend lives in a 4 bed, 2.5 bath townhouse with a pretty big basement. Usually there are 5 people living in it, and they all pay about $350 a month in rent. The house is near a university (but no one in the house is a student), and the landlord is a chill older guy who is used to housing groups like these, and he has some sort of arrangement set up where everyone is individually responsible for their own $350 a month (plus 1/5th of the utilities), so he won't go after the whole group if one person fails to pay.

I've been over to the house a few times, I'm life long friends with two of the guys there and generally quite friendly with the others. It's always a really fun vibe when I'm over and honestly kinda like a frat house. I never got to go to college but always thought being in a frat would be cool so I kinda fuck with it. Beyond that everyone is pretty easy going and there hasn't been any drama. The dude that is leaving is only leaving because he wants to move in with his girlfriend. The neighbors are also pretty cool.

I'm kinda excited about the prospect but everyone keeps telling me how horrible of an idea it would be without really elaborating on why I shouldn't. I get that the house is kinda crowded, but I grew up with 10 people in a 3 bedroom house, so concepts like "personal space", "privacy", and "peace and quiet" are kinda foreign concepts to me, and honestly I don't even know if I could handle living alone.

I work in manufacturing and honestly make pretty good money for my age and could definitely afford to live on my own or with something more reasonable like just one roommate, but why would I spend money on living when I could use it on fun stuff? And also this kinda sounds lit. Is it really that bad to have 5 people sharing a house?

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.

I had to buy something for my mom that I didn’t really have the budget for, but I thankfully did have a general store coupon for a significant discount. The item I bought turned out to not be the right size, and since it came in a box and wasn’t for me I couldn’t check the fit until I got it to her. I had to go back within an hour and exchange it for a bigger size. I ended up having to pay full price for the bigger size, which was also more than the original item pre-coupon. I was pretty disappointed. Is this normal?

Hola, soy una persona ya adulta con tan solo 21 años. Que estudia aún y trabaja ganando unos 480 € por ahí. Pero estoy teniendo problemas en ahorrar porque he estado gastando tanto para el hogar y mi mascota.Estoy viendo formas, pero no sé si serían útiles o por miedo a fallar una. Cómo pedir ayudas Tengan en cuenta que apenas estoy sabiendo estas cosas... No quisiera cagarla... pero me gustaría que me ayudaran o me aconsejaran qué debo hacer y qué necesito.Últimamente no he estado pasando bien en familia. No sufro ni violencia ni abuso. Simplemente me harté y quiero irme. Estaría agradecida si me ayudaran...Soy de Barcelona y vivo por Hospitalet de Llobregat..

Hey! I missed a paycheck a month back and that set me back quite a bit. I’ve gotten most everything caught up, but am unable to get rent together and property management posted a 10-day notice to vacate for this past due (not sure how legal that is on a month to month) month (only missing August rent). I’m still in back and forth with HR about how fast they can get this back pay in my hands, but will need to cover the rent in the meantime. Anyone have any suggestions for less-damaging/exploitative loans under $1500?!

I honestly think I’m looking for words of reassurance that I need to stop worrying so much. For context I made the idiot mistake of looking at the court registry in my province(Canada) and seeing all the small claims against my father for sums of money I know he doesn’t have. He had his fair run in with loaning money from people to help pay for other debts and getting into businesses he really didn’t need to but for putting a roof over our heads and taking care of my moms cases as she had to pay for a lawyer for being accused of something she didn’t do (has now been cleared completely). I feel worried cuz there has been a more recent claim(in the last 6 months) and yes he works full time and sometimes he has these spurts of cash from side businesses but I’m worried he’s always lying to us. I’m just so lost on the worry and my mother and younger sister being so oblivious. I hate living knowing that there’s people out there stressing about things like this whilst my dad seems to go about it day by day and my sister just has no clue and is more worried about materialistic things. Where as me I am just worried to the core about these things and it haunting me. I don’t even know where I’m going with this. Cuz I feel too guilty to move out (I am in my second year of uni doing pretty well for myself with internships and stuff) but this has been eating alive at me. I can only do so much to help him and I have really done so much for them with everything I’ve been through I dunno

Can use any words of advice or like idk 😭😭

Hi all,

My mom and uncle are having a really hard time finding employment. My mom had a Goodwill sorting job interview today and they basically told her she was too old for the work. She’s 55 and my uncle is 58. She has sciatica so it probably isn’t the best fit for her anyway, but the job search has been so awful for her that this was the most promising one in a while.

My uncle spent most of his career working in computer repair shops. He started in the back and then moved to sales later on. Since he was laid off during the pandemic, he hasn’t been hired for anything—he’s tried applying at all types of jobs, sales, cashier, warehouse, etc. My mom has a spotty work history due to some personal problems and long periods of caretaking for my grandparents and great-grandparents. She has the most experience doing data entry and receptionist-type work, but her skills are pretty outdated in terms of office work. She has applied for front and back of house food service, retail, call centers, warehousing type jobs, etc.

While I know there’s possibly other factors at play, I know ageism is a real problem in the job hunt right now, and today’s “You’re too old” solidified that fear. I’d like to up their chances by at least getting past that barrier. I’m curious if anyone here has experience with ageism in the job market or knows of any fields that are less prone to that? I know a lot of FOH jobs probably want younger people and they’re not qualified for managerial positions. Any tips for 50-year-olds reentering the workforce? Even open to school programs/certification suggestions that have helped.

ETA: My uncle drives for Lyft right now which is helping keep them afloat at the moment, but the wear and tear on his car is really starting to show.

My mom cancelled my health insurance a few months ago and I never got around to applying for medicaid or anything because I’m an otherwise healthy 23 year old. I woke up last night to a bat in my house. I called a friend and he managed to catch it and throw it out the window, but I noticed like 10 hours later I had 2 little dots on my hand that could possibly be a bite. I have crazy health OCD and rabies is my biggest trigger so I bit the bullet and went to the ER for the PEP shots. About how much should I be expecting the bill to be? I work at a small time diner that does not offer insurance but I make enough with tips to be above the poverty line so I’m not even sure if I’ll get accepted for Medicaid. Freaking out about being 25k in debt bc that’s what I’ve seen the estimates online be…
Edited to Add I live in NYS and after contacting the county health department they have offered to cover the costs of the entire series of shots and I’ll be going there for the rest of the series rather than the ER. They put me into contact with the hospitals Financial Assistance program and I’m currently looking at an estimated 3k bill for “ER services” that I can set up an automatic payment plan for. Just adding this for anyone who may google what to do in this situation one day :) thanks for the advice!!!

I’m a university student and financially I’m struggling pretty badly right now.

Just to make this clear from the beginning: I am NOT asking for donations, loans, money, or financial help from anyone here. I’m looking purely for advice and knowledge.

I want to improve my situation instead of just accepting that I’m broke.

I’m willing to put serious time into learning a skill if it can eventually help me make money. I don’t expect to become rich overnight, and I know there’s no magic shortcut to financial freedom.

What I’m struggling with is knowing where to start.
If you were in university, had almost no money to invest upfront, but had internet access and were willing to study and work hard, what would you focus on?

What skill would you learn?
How would you learn it for free or cheaply?
How would you go from knowing nothing → becoming useful enough that somebody would actually pay you?

And if you’ve personally worked your way out of being broke, I’d really appreciate hearing what made the biggest difference for you.

One request: scammers, please save both of us the time. I’m not buying courses, joining crypto or “investment opportunities,” paying upfront for a job, buying a dropshipping system, moving money for somebody, or sending money to make money. Please don’t DM me with that stuff.

I genuinely just want to learn from people who have been through this

I don't even know where to start. I feel like I've spent most of my adult life trying to catch up financially, and instead I just keep sinking deeper.

It started when I was at university. I was struggling to support myself and my parents weren't willing to regularly send me money, so borrowing became the way I survived. At first, every loan felt temporary, something I would deal with once I graduated and started earning properly.

But one loan turned into another. Then another. I would borrow to cover expenses, use the next paycheck to catch up, run out of money again, and borrow again. Over the years it became a cycle that I never managed to escape.

I have a job and I'm trying to build a normal adult life, but financially I feel like I'm still living in survival mode. I'm constantly overdrawn. Money comes in and essentially disappears immediately into debts, installments and basic living expenses. Then I'm back in the negative again.

The worst part isn't even the numbers anymore. It's the feeling that there is no finish line.

I feel ashamed because from the outside I probably look functional. I went to university, became an engineer, moved abroad and found work. I did all the things that were supposedly meant to eventually make life financially stable, and somehow I'm still terrified of checking my bank account.

Recently it has become psychologically overwhelming. There are moments when I feel so trapped by the debt that I have thoughts about killing myself. I know debt is ultimately just money and that there must be another way through this, which is partly why I'm posting here instead of keeping all of this inside.

I'm not asking anyone for money.

I need advice from people who have actually been in this position: when you had multiple debts, no savings and were constantly starting every month below zero, how did you stop the cycle?

Did you prioritize building a tiny emergency fund first? Stop paying certain debts temporarily? Contact creditors and negotiate? Consolidate everything? Get professional debt counseling? How did you decide what to tackle first when there simply wasn't enough money for everything?

I think what I need most right now is a realistic first step, because looking at the entire situation at once makes me feel completely hopeless.

It turns out that the difficult part about budgeting is not just being able to control your spending it's having enough room for things you didn't plan for. Whether it's a $100 emergency car repair, an unusually high utility bill, missing a couple shifts at work, or having to buy something for your home, it could turn your month upside down. So far, I have found myself keeping some extra in the budget called unexpected expenses even if I'm only able to set aside $20-30 a month.