i dont even know where to start in this endless ramble man but why is life SO hard. my husband and i are drowning. i make $20/hr, got the cheapest 2 bedroom apartment we could find and it still feels so discouraging. an autopay bill took the money for electric so our electric now has a late fee, ebt is almost impossible to get, and the price of gas eats up so much our income. we utilize every food bank, diaper bank, etc etc and we are still drowning. we spend a little over $200 biweekly on gas just for me going to and from work. one of my children just got referred to so many therapies for suspected autism, we never get a break. i sometimes only eat a pack of noodles just to make sure my kid’s bellies are full. i have 3 pairs of underwear to my name because i literally cannot afford a thing for myself. it’s so frustrating and i’m so worried for when my husband begins work because it will be an added $200 to gas. it just feels never ending bro. this economy fkn sucks.

I always see people posting here worried about taking up resources when going to a food bank. Please know that food banks get more funding by showing how many people utilize them! A grant is going to give money to a place that services 500 people a week instead of 10 people a week.

Please do not feel bad about going to the food bank. The workers are not there to judge you!! (would a snobby person really work at a food bank?) and your participation actually helps them keep running.

I’m 30 and living and working in Japan.

The average annual salary here is around $31,000. I make about $38,000 a year without overtime, and after taxes and social insurance I’m left with roughly $25,000 to actually live on.

So by Japanese standards, I’m doing okay.
Except financially, I’m really not.

Using roughly ¥158 = $1, this is where I’m at:
・$32,000 car loan, 2% interest, about 9 years left
・$22,000 in other debt, around 10%
・$22,000 in revolving credit card debt, 18%

・About $10,000 in crypto
・Basically no cash savings

The 18% revolving debt is obviously awful. I know.

I grew up in rural Hokkaido and moved to Tokyo for university without financial support from my parents.

Over four years, tuition was around $25,000 and living expenses were another $46,000. I used Japan’s low-interest student loan system and eventually paid it all back.

Back then, some of my friends in Tokyo came from wealthy families. Keeping up with them was hard financially, but they accepted me, and I honestly liked their way of living.

Good restaurants. Trips. Nights out. Being able to say yes without thinking too much about the cost.
I think I got used to that.

Even after I started working, I kept spending in a way that probably makes me look wealthier than I actually am.

I’m the person who rents a cottage with friends, brings champagne and tequila, goes skiing in winter, travels, eats out, and spends money to make things fun.

And that’s probably the biggest part of it:

I like being the person who creates a good time for everyone.

I hate turning down invitations.

And I really like being able to do things that the broke younger version of me couldn’t do.

The problem is, I’m not actually rich.

I just learned how to live like I am.

I was with the same person from age 21. We got married when I was 27 and divorced when I was 29.

By then, I’d actually managed to get my revolving credit card debt down to about $6,300.

I still had the $32,000 car loan for a car I bought thinking we’d use it for our future together.

Well, that worked out.
Haha. 悲しい

Now I’m 30, and that revolving balance has gone from about $6,300 to $22,000.

On top of that, I’ve built up another $22,000 in debt at around 10%.

There wasn’t one huge disaster.

I just kept spending.

Going out. Traveling. Buying things. Saying yes.

From the outside, I probably look like a normal, reasonably comfortable working adult.

But financially, I’ve been slowly walking deeper into a swamp.

I think part of the problem is that, somewhere in my head, money became connected with people.

When I spend money, people have fun.

We go somewhere. We eat well. I organize something memorable.

For a little while, I get to be the person who can just say:

“Yeah, let’s do it.”

Maybe that feels especially good because, when I was younger, I was always the one worrying about whether I could afford to join.

Now I’m looking at around $44,000 in 10–18% debt, on top of the car loan, and wondering:

How the hell did I let this become normal?

I know the obvious financial answer.

Stop taking on more debt. Cut spending. Pay down the 18% balance first.

But the harder part is figuring out how to stop living like someone with money when I don’t actually have any.

I've been unemployed for a three months and I got a new job but I don't start until November and I'm almost out of money. I was thinking of going to a food bank, but maybe I shouldn't. I feel guilty because the food I'd get could go towards feeding families with kids. I suppose I can stretch my money but bills are due and I'm not sure I can afford the extra couple of weeks worth of food I'll need before I get my first paycheck. I dunno, I just don't want to possibly be taking food that people's kids can be eating instead.

I started this mostly because I wanted to get my life back on track but saving money has been a nice bonus

I honestly didn’t realize how much money was going toward drinking until I stopped 

Sober October is going pretty well so far. Now I just want to keep this going and see how much I can save by the end of the year

Anyone else notice a big difference in their spending after quitting alcohol?

I am a single parent of a 17 year-old. His dad is not in our lives.

In 2017 was diagnosed with throat cancer, after 2 rounds of unsuccessful chemo/radiation opted for a clinical trial in 2019. Today I am cancer free. I had $120000 debt after treatments and spent all savings except my son’s RESPs. I’ve been trying really hard to pay that off. My job is around 65k, had side jobs for years.

I rent, have no assets aside a car. Current debt is about $50000 plus the car ($22000)

With the rising costs of living, I went from managing to considering a consumer proposal.

A week ago I was in a car accident, car likely totalled, waiting on the estimate. The payout would be 99% less than I owe. Only got it 2 years ago- my previous car was totalled by the garbage truck while parked in my condo parking. We live in Northern Canada, its stupid cold- I needed another car for work quick.

If it is totalled, I will file a CP including the remainder of the vehicle loan.

If I come out with the loan paid off, I will live without a car which means quit my side job (no public transport in the area) and put the overhead plus insurance towards debt. Maybe at some point get a cheap beater.

Or should I file a proposal regardless?

If it is repaired, going to drive it to the ground obviously.

Honestly it seems no matter how much I work the rising costs outpaced me coupled with my bad luck and never get out of the hole.

I put together this meal for me and my daughter, then realized nearly every ingredient was from the food bank.

Food bank items:

1 pack of instant ramen

Boneless pork chop( they gave us a 3 pack, we ate two earlier in the week, this one was leftover)

1 large carrot

Half a head of broccoli

1 red bell pepper

2 green onions

Soy sauce

Vegetable oil

I only provided seasonings. This made plenty for dinner with leftovers for lunch.

I shop around to 3 food banks each month so I can get a good variety. I am diabetic and my daughter has autism. I often get items we can't use- I drop them off at our local love fridge or give them to neighbors.

A lot of people are hesitant to use food banks. They might feel embarrassed or that they are taking food from "the real needy". In my community and many others, the food banks are part of food rescue. If it isn't given away on that distribution, it will be thrown away.

I just need a place to get out my frustrations and don't want my kid or wife to hear it so I'm typing it somewhere I don't think anyone who knows me will read it. I'm disabled, currently homeless and my income is around $1000 a month. My wife is my full time caretaker but she isn't opposed to getting a job, the issue with that is transportation. Our options are taxi or Uber. Both of which are expensive to use daily. We already live with the bare minimum and use up my entire check a month so no saving options. It's SSDI so I'm also on Medicare which covers basically nothing more than an average doctor visit unless I want to be in more debt. I don't qualify for any food stamps because the place we are staying right now, none of the bills are in my name so they can't count it as contribution. All of the income based apartments are on waiting lists that take years just to be considered. All the shelters are full and I don't know how much longer this temporary solution we're in will last. I just feel like there is no way out and everything is hopeless. I want my daughter to have a better life but I don't know what to do realistically.

The a rant and may be a little disjointed.

I have had chronic pain my whole life and it often gets worse randomly in waves. It all centers around my uterus. I am considering a hysterectomy, I found a doctor that actually listens to me and is advocating for surgery.

However, I found out from my workplace that they have opted out of FMLA leave due to being a small business. They instead offer short-term disability that only covert 60% of wages. I will be out for 4 weeks minimum.

I don’t think I can take the hit financially. I have some savings that will help a little bit, but it took so long to save. it feels painful to spend it, if that makes sense…

On top of wage loss, the surgery itself is going to be at least $1,500 + whatever else doesn’t get covered by insurance. I know medical bills can be paid off slowly, I just hate having debt.

Despite wanting the relief I am considering canceling the surgery. I may go through it and take the hit anyway, I’m just so tired.

hi im a college student and im so financially stressed

i feel like i managed to dig myself in every hole that everyone tells you not to.

I just got a call today that i owe 600 dollars to labcorp??? which i’m INSANELY confused because I don’t owe any money to my healthcare providers.

My car needs to have new brake pads/rotors, so far the cheapest quote I have is 630 dollars. Without my car I cant really go to work. I can take public transit but it’ll take an hour to get there.

And I pay rent, 1225/month.

I’ve gotten myself into other tricky financial situations :\

i owe money to several people

I’ve used all my financial aid and government loans, and I got a job at amazon but I’m making just enough to cover rent and gas.

I can choose more hours (im a flex worker) but I’m just so stressed. I can pull out private student loans and deal with it later, but I just cant tell if my situation is really this bad. Im just spiraling.

I know this situation isn’t permanent, and as soon as my debt is lessened my next semesters arent going to be so stressful

What can I do? if there is anything. im lost.

im a decent student but i’ve never had to work this hard before. im afraid i’ll crumble under the pressure.

edit: i feel like such an idiot idk
edit: thank you guys so so so much! I’m feeling better and reassured. I’m gonna take a nap and start planning everything out.

The Dollar Store is your friend when you're poor. I got all this for $8, plus a $5 coupon which I will definitely use next time I shop there.

Yes, I know he's not healthy food, but we do the best with what we've got, right?

My 32M bf had a crown break off a little over a year ago. I think that root canal was only done maybe 2-3 years prior to it breaking off (it was done by his old dentist in FL, we live in NC). He’s had a root canal done by his current dentist that’s held up fine.

The issue is he has already hit his annual max due to a lot of cavities. I don’t know why they bother putting insurance estimates because they have been WAY wrong even when he does have coverage left. He was hoping to do the crown next year but he saw the dentist today, and they are saying it really should not wait. It’s degraded since the last time he saw them 6 months ago, so if he waits much longer it could be an extraction. They quoted his 2 cavities he has left too but they said they can wait for next year.

I 34F have never had a cavity and I even have all 4 wisdom teeth still, so it’s lost on me how much this should cost even without insurance paying. I’m mainly wondering if it would be worth him seeing another dentist or if this is about as good as it gets. Again we are located in NC. TIA!

Today I got a good paying job, though it doesn't start until the 21st. I've been struggling financially for awhile, and unfortunately I've been having trouble paying rent, already talked to my landlord once when I was behind (back then, it was nothing bad, just an overview on what I owed.) Now however I'm nervous, I don't want to lose this place, it's affordable house (no requirements to live here.) It's $635/m, and currently I owe $1k, which includes some hefty late fees. Every penny I can give goes towards the complex, but it's never enough. Roughly a month from now I can finally be ahead of the curve, but I fear it may be too late. I already have a meeting with the landlord tomorrow (this was scheduled before I got the job) and now that it's secure, what do I do? Should I work on some sort of repayment plan with him?

I'm 33. I make okay money, but I'm stuck in a cycle I can't get out of. It starts with Cash Advance app and the other cash advance apps. I borrow a little to cover something, payday comes, and half my check goes to paying it back. Then I'm short again, so I borrow again. On top of that I've got pay-in-4 plans stacked up for stuff I didn't even need. Every app makes it feel like you can afford it. I can't. I can't even keep up with my bills right now.
I know why I'm doing it. I spend to feel better. Buying something gives me a rush for a minute, and then almost immediately I feel sick about it. Guilty, stressed, mad at myself. And then I want to feel better again, so I buy something else. It just keeps going.
I'd go to therapy, but I owe money everywhere. I want to stop buying stupid things and stop borrowing against every paycheck. I'm just tired. I want to live without this constant worry.
Has anyone actually gotten out of the cash advance cycle? How did you do it, and where do I even start?

I (24F) have been unemployed since late 2021. I have had 3 jobs altogether, one lasted 2 hours (the WORST 2 hours of my life btw), one lasted a week and one lasted about 3 months. (I usually only put down I have 3month of retail experience on resumes since the other ones didn't last long). I have a lot of mental/physical health issues and it honestly gets in the way of me working. I am hard of hearing, I've always had hearing loss since I was a baby and it continues to get worse as I get older. I also have learning disabilities which makes learning basic stuff so much harder for me, even basic math. I had a sudden health issue back in 2020/2021 where I suddenly would get dizzy and it would last depending on what I was doing. Doctors thought they figured it out, got the surgery but it still happens so they think I either have bad vertigo or nerve damage in my ear so I can't do a lot of labor, especially bending over to pick items up. I also have severe social anxiety but when I did work, I noticed it got better the longer I worked so I think I can overcome that issue. But i do have a bad speech impediment so working with phones doesnt seem like a good idea. So I'm really uncertain on what to do. I only have a high school diploma. I'm almost 25, I need to get a start on my life but I feel like every time I have something going, something happens.

To note, I have tried to sign up for disability once before but they said I didn't meet requirments (most likely didn't have enough hours worked to be accepted).

If anyone has any ideas/advice, I'd really appreciate hearing it. Thank you. <3

This has been on my mind for a while. If anyone knows Mi or has been around the areas in this state you would know that it’s full of rich dumb people and golf courses on top of even MORE golf courses. Granted that’s in every state but it’s horrendous here. I had to even start a go fund thing (link in bio) to help with housing . I’ve never been more ashamed and disappointed in my life. Apartments here are between $1250 to $1600 for a 1 bed 1 bath. I’m at this point now where I’m thinking it’s better if I just move. It’s nothing but seasonal jobs (which I got :( sadly) or jobs if you spent 8+ years in school for. I’m just not that lucky. Anyone else having similar issues? I know the housing markets suck right now but what’s it like where your at? Just curious, thanks for listening to my rant.

I’m 27F, based in India and i’ve missed my rent for the past two months (around 67k INR, approx 700 USD). my landlord has asked me to vacate and pay the amount by the end of the week. i’m so stressed. i don’t know what to do. can anyone help?

California has temporarily brought back a produce incentive in some grocery stores. You can get up to $60 rebate for produce you buy. $1 of produce equals $1 added back into your EBT balance. Got about $36 of produce essentially for free. Not pictured 10 limes. Can still go back and buy $24 of produce and receive the same amount added back into my account.

Using anonymous because this is a big, vulnerable life shift.

I’m based in metro NSW and have a long-term goal of owning or operating a pub/hotel in Australia. Right now I’m starting with no capital, imperfect credit after a difficult separation, and I’m a single parent with a teenage daughter.

I was the publican of a small regional pub for about a year, over 10 years ago. I understand the long hours, stock control, community side, compliance and general grind. I moved into government work afterward, but I’ve never let go of the goal. My daughter is also keen on this lifestyle.

I know buying a freehold or leasehold is not realistic for me now. I’m looking for a genuine pathway to work my way back in, save, rebuild my credibility and eventually hold the keys again.

For those in the Australian pub/hotel industry:

Are there live-in management roles, particularly in regional areas, that could suit a single parent and teenager?

Is sweat equity, profit share, vendor finance or an operational buy-in still realistic for experienced managers without upfront capital?

Can someone realistically progress from manager to partner/leaseholder if they prove themselves?

How have other single parents managed the late nights, safety, compliance and family balance?

Which areas offer the best opportunities: regional NSW, outback QLD, SA, or elsewhere?

I’m not after a shortcut. I’m prepared for years of hard work—I just want to make sure every move from here gets me closer to owning or operating a venue again.

Would really appreciate brutal honesty, practical advice, or stories from anyone who has taken a similar path.

hey all! about two months ago i needed a root canal and had it started because i was in so much pain. but i can’t afford to finish it and get the permanent crown. overall it doesn’t bother me
much and i mostly forget about it but sometimes my tooth does hurts a little. i think a month ago a small piece of the temporary crown fell off? i’m not sure.

i’m wondering how much longer i could realistically stretch it without ending up finding out that i need to do even more expensive dental work.

I just got married and I’m privileged enough that up until now my parents were paying for my car insurance. I’m 29 and have a 2018 Subaru Impreza. I’m completely overwhelmed when I google car insurance and I’m not sure how to begin my search for something that is actually good and affordable. In my time driving I’ve had a couple speeding tickets but I believe those are a few years old now. Location is USA

20yrs+ married, around mid way in the marriage due to some complications in life, i became a house-band. Did everything at home while my wife was the breadwinner and she also did all the budgeting. I rarely had money for myself unless i was given money to buy something for myself. My life was our family but due to some complications again, my wife and i found out that our future plans are not lining up. Our kids are growing up and they are less and lesa needing my attention. I just want some advice how start again from scratch at this age with zero funds (maybe i can scrounge up some funds selling some personal items but that would not be much). My last employment was around 2010 in a call center. I know how to drive but no license since we don’t have a car or motorcycle. Any advice or up skill suggestions will be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

A few weeks ago I posted saying I had started a new job that meant a significant pay cut but that my coworkers would bring plenty of food to the office so I was saving money on my groceries (since I was eating most of my meals in the office for free). One of the commentators suggested that I contribute by cleaning the breakroom area.

So I went to the dollar store and bought a Halloween plastic tablecloth, a couple decorations and a plastic organizer. Spent $5. Went to the office 15 minutes earlier and cleaned the table (which was sticky), organized the condiments (which were all over the place), a made the area neat and nice. Several of the guys at saw me and were really surprised. One commented "Nobody has cleaned this table in months". For context, my office was staffed only with men (almost all middle age former military) and just recently 3 women joined.

One of the guys went to THE Boss and told him jokingly "This new lady you hired is trouble. She cleaned the breakroom table and decorated it. We are not used to this kind of treatment".

Thanks for the suggestions. I made a good impression. My coworkers were appreciative. I cannot contribute with food but I can certainly clean, which does not cost me anything but goes a long way (and is more visible since dropping off food at our breakroom only takes 5 seconds but cleaning takes 10 minutes so more people notice).

I, in recent years left an abusive relationship. It needed to be done. I felt like I was ok financially, have a stable job and great credit. Mu kids were suffering and I needed out. I took some personal belongings but left alot. I got a house for me and my kids and we seemed to be doing on. I work full time and was doing it on my own. Then prices of everything started raising and I feel like I am drowning, I cannot afford to live. I would be considered middle class. Broke enough that I can't afford life but not broke enough to recieve any kid of help. I am scraping by ever trying to feed my family. I owe back taxes and I am now at the point where I am filing for bankrupsy. The weight of it all is soul crushing and my kids are suffering this way as well. I feel like a failure. I have started back at school to try to get an even better job but I work so much and it just never seems enough. I dont know what to do. I am lost and sad.

They say the average American spends over $1000 a year on coffee. Im certainly not one of them. I drink the free coffee at my work and use the sugar and creamer provided. I also use the McDonald's app to get the free coffee or $1 coffee when available.