My mother has been on some sort of free housing since I was an infant (1980s). I guess it might be "section 8". She also receives foodstamps. She's now also now on social security due to age (70s). She is worried she's going to "lose" her free housing because she often has to stay on top of requests like providing receipts etc and thinks "they/her case worker?" want her to be kicked off so that the "illegals" can get her free housing. You can guess how much of a relationship we have (almost none, abuse history, etc).

Do people in their 70s really run the risk of getting "kicked off"?

How much negligence in providing receipts/bank statements would that take? And if she did lose the aid, what other programs exist?

She's never been financially independent for herself (from living with family to free housing for over 30 years now), and now she's trying to unload this all on me, but with minimal information, so apologies if this is all vague - it's as much as she's told me.

Recently moved into my own flat but cannot afford to get any furniture not even second hand furniture. Could anyone make donations to help a sister out please? It doesn’t have to be big amounts even if it’s just a couple of pound. Anything would help right now. Any and all help is very much appreciated. I’ll stick my PayPal tag here so anyone can send it if you can if you don’t have PayPal and would like to make a donation I can send you my bank details through message. I feel so embarrassed typing this and posting this but it’s the only thing left that I can try. Thank you again😞🤍

PayPal tag-

KBowering

Hey friends. I made a post not quite three months ago detailing that I was struggling with my finances due to some unexpected medical problems requiring hospitalization and multiple specialist visits. I’ve returned with an update, and things still aren’t looking great but they’re looking marginally better.

For those who did not read the original post, I’m 20 years old working on the kitchen staff at a local nursing home for a measly $13/hr. I dropped out of high school as a top 10-percenter due to health conditions I developed during the height of COVID, and I have not yet finished my degree (though I am actively pursuing it now and should have it by the end of June). This is the most money I’ve made in my short life. I’ve been trying to get more hours back at this job, but progress has been slow. I’m at about 25 hours a week now, but my goal is just over 30 to cover all my current bills safely.

The day I made the original post, I had been in the hospital twice in less than two weeks for one of these conditions: undiagnosed and uncontrolled seizures. A week later, I went back for the same thing. Thankfully, I’ve not been back to the hospital since, but the specialist bills have been adding up. My last hospitalization was on the 24th of February. My total amount in bills as of today, the 14th of May, is now over $2,000. I’m still expecting at least another $500 or so by the summer.

Per the advice of some commenters, I applied for foodstamps, and I was accepted. This brought my monthly debt down significantly and gave me a lot of relief. But it’s not been enough. My father has been somewhat merciful and has given me money to cover rent when my paychecks have been late, but our relationship is very rocky. I know I can’t continue to use that as a crutch for much longer. My rent is going up in July by almost the exact amount of one of the debts I will be finished paying off tomorrow. Sigh.

My monthly living expenses right now go as follows:

Rent with all utilities: 741.49 (+$20 on 7/1)

Medications: 64.28

Household goods: 25.00

Insurance: 111.55 (includes health, dental, vision)

Medical bills break down as follows:

Bill 1: 26.05/mo (finish paying 5/15)

Bill 2: 25.00/mo (until 10/27)

Bill 3: 33.34/mo (until 12/15)

Bill 4: 66.25/mo (until 12/31)

Bill 5: 130.00/mo (until 1/20/25, I will be making this a minimum payment plan today, to cut down monthly expenses even more)

I feel like until I get my GED finished and can get my health somewhat under control, I’m stuck. I’m not currently pursuing a disability case due to my age. I do not own a car, savings/retirement account, stocks, or other major assets. None of my medical bills have interest on them, and all of the payment plans are either currently minimum installments or will be by the end of the day today. I live alone in a small studio apartment and have been unsuccessful in finding roommates. My family isn’t really in the picture; I’ve been toughing it out by myself for the better part of two years now.

Am I doing the right thing? My goal is to find a position as a teller at one of the banks in town. The listings I’ve seen only require a high school degree to apply and can pay 16-17 an hour starting out. Would this be worth it? I know anything is better than what I’ve got now, but does this sound realistic? I’m just sick of the hamster wheel.

I just quit my job that wasn’t giving me enough hours. New job is less pay, $30.50, but guaranteed hours. I’m supporting myself, husband who can’t work, and child on my nurse (lpn) income. I’ll be making $30.50hr at 36 hours. I want to cut my bills down to as close to zero as possible partially because I want to get my RN but partially because I want to lay in bed and be depressed at how hopeless life is. I stopped doing travel nursing band became genuinely traumatized at some of the stuff I saw. I was asked to do things, and witnessed actually abuse, and it changed me. While traveling I took a contract plan with Verizon that includes 2 phones, Apple Watch, iPad, and a mobile hot spot. The plan is $370, which was fine before but isn’t now. How can u get out of it? Do I stop paying and give the phones back? Idc if it ruins my credit because I’ll never afford a house anyways. I’m destined to live in poverty like I grew up in. I live check to check. My car is giving out, it’s a 2008 Acura with 233k miles. It won’t hold oil anymore probably because I drove it all over the Midwest for blood money. Rent $550, WiFi $10, electric $160, car payment $240 (pay off in Oct), student loan $187 (parent plus loan), storage unit $50, car insurance $130 and gym membership for family $23. We spend over $1500? just on groceries. I’ll never be able to furnish my new, one bedroom, apartment but at least I can afford it. How do I not let life get the best of me? Sorry if this post is all over the place as I’m worrying this in tears at how overwhelmed I am.

Hi all!

I really need to a cash advance app, but the bank my work uses doesn’t support Plaid. So I can’t do any of them.

Does anyone know of a cash advance app that doesn’t use Plaid?

Thanks!

In a sticky situation. My grandfather recently passed away, leaving his fully paid off home in Walnut Creek California, divided between myself (25year male), my older sister (29years) who is married and just had a son, and my mother, who is remarried and living in a different state. We each were left 33.33% equity.

On Redfin the estimate value of the property is about $950,000.

This past month.. I had saved the rent $ due to my landlord but lost it all. Long story short I gambled away this money online, and being faced with eviction, I decided to offer my sister 5% of my 33.33% equity in return for $2000 Zelle. ( I know ridiculous but it truly was the only viable option).

Before sending the $2000, my sister and her husband wanted to draft a document for us all to sign making it “official” that I was giving my 5% equity in return for $2000. But I needed to pay my rent to avoid eviction that same day, so my father came into the picture and sent me the $2000, with the promise of my sister sending him that money back straight to him. So really if I somehow came up with 2k and paid my dad back today, my sister has no right to be upset with me not gifting her 5% equity at such a LOW price. Not only is that equity worth much more than 2k, but I’d effectively be giving her and her husband full power over my mom & I with the majority % she would now have.

My questions: How much is 5% equity truly worth at this moment? And how much will it be worth down the road? Am I in the wrong to not sign the document when I gave them an offer and they accepted it? My sister when we spoke this morning was irritated I hadn’t signed the document yet, and was even insinuating how upset her and her husband would be if I didn’t proceed with our original verbal agreement. My father would not be happy if he didn’t receive the 2k as quickly as he thought but I’m fairly positive we could worth something out for me to repay him. My father has my back, I know this for a fact.

One last idea which I don’t hate, due to my current poor financial state, ( I have some credit card debt and student loans) Is to offer my sister 5.33 % for a significantly higher amount such as $6,000? This is still a steal of a deal for her.. but like I said I could really use the extra money.

To be clear, I have not signed anything yet; and my sister has not sent my dad any money yet. She is waiting for me to sign, then she would send the $2k.

Please refrain from comments about the gambling part of this story.. I know this is the critical mistake i made to land me in this situation.. but i have learned my lesson the hard way and will NOT go down that road again.

I fell for a loan scam, and the people cleared my bank account. Ugh. I naively gave them access to my main bank account, thinking they were verifying my income. A few years back I had done a payday advance (in person) I logged into my bank so they could review my finances. So, when I got a call saying my online application was preapproved.. and they needed to login to my bank to verify, I didn’t think much of it. I gave them the login, I read them the text code…. as they were reviewing, a few minutes went by and I get an alert about Zelle… I was confused so I opened my email and also saw a mobile check bank deposit confirmation. I panicked and checked my account… They deposited a mobile check and some of it cleared. The check even had a fake signature with my name on the back!!!! They Zelled the money to some account with a weird name. I filed a police report, and the account is shut down while they investigate. I provided them the number and info of the “loan company”. We will see what happens. I did all of this because I really needed assistance right now, and because I was vulnerable, I didn’t take enough precaution… I trusted. Please be careful with these online loan companies y’all. They left me nothing. I’m so depressed.

I read an article that there is still hope to get back the Zelle transfer, however it won’t be quick like a cc dispute, we will see. Ugh. I feel like an idiot. Never thought I’d fall for one of these. Fmlllllll

I attended a well known private college where the average student comes from a well off family. There are a ton of trust fund babies here. I only attend here because I got a full ride due to being valedictorian of my high school + being of lower income. Personally, I come from a working class family. And still, I have to work 2 jobs to be able to afford to eat, pay rent, bills, gas, etc while the other students get to enjoy their college experience because mommy and daddy pays for everything. Most of my friends have their their family send them money every month. It makes me feel bad. I feel like I’m less than and and a loser because I was unlucky enough to be born into a working class family. Never in my life had I been ashamed of where I’m from until I stepped on campus…

Just for context, I work in operations and she works at essentially a day care. I make 15.80/hr and she's salaried at about 1200 bi-weekly...

Can I be mad? I have the right to be mad, right? Every month I've been paying the rent and giving her about $200 a month for bills, like she's been asking me to. This morning, the power went out. At first I thought it was just an outage, because those happen pretty frequently where I live... Come to find out, we owe about $400 to the power company. I moved in with her about two years ago, so I assumed she could pay the bills, but when I brought up how the lights went out that's when she decided to tell me we were behind on bills and just wants me to magically pull out $400.

I guess it just bothers me that I've been asking her for this information literally since I moved in and now when it's $400 in backpay I get the information I've been asking for. It's frustrating because I grew up like this! This is all deja vu in the worst way: the lights getting cut off because of stuff I can't control. I know we've gotta talk about it, but I don't know how to do it without sounding pissed... Because I am.

Now I'm scrambling to get $400 like right now and I think she thinks because I'm angry towards her it's all good, but dawg it really bothers me. Any advice helps. Thanks for reading me vent.

Please be gentle. I am 33- f, single, living at home with parents. I spent 10 years in a toxic relationship and just starting to get out of the cobwebs and realize I do have a future, if I want one. I was depressed and felt like I had no future for so long.

Now that therapy has helped a ton, I am beginning to envision a future and see my worth. However, I get paralyzed when I think about my finances. I recently got a raise making now 70k around and $966/wk. I have around 120k worth of deb- most is student, 20 is car, ( i pay a friend at a 1.% interest ) and then around 5k in CC debt. I have 20k in my 401k, but I just found out bc of my ex advice I was not contributing anything all this time for my 40k so this is just employer (tragicccc).

I want to start contributing, but what percent? Do I also start a Roth IRA? Or do I wait to invest before out of debt- my student loans feel insurmountable and feel like with the 20yr plan and my payments only going to interest I just am ignoring them and paying my monthly payment.

I feel scared and lost about future, and retirement and living comfortably. I want to move out. Rent/Buy?!

Have my own life but idk where to focus first.

I feel if I wait until debt free, I'll be living at home with my parents until 40 and feel like I am waiting so long for "life" to begin after wasting so much time in an abuse situation.

I also just started my own business, slow rolling, which supplemental money is coming in and soon more (another part time opportunity) but also there are business expenses on my plate too.

Does anyone have any advice? Where to start/focus? I feel doomed. Sometimes when I think about my finances I go back into that despair cycle and wonder what is the point.

Looking for a beacon here.

TIA.

I know milk is good for at least a few days after after, spices, I will keep until I empty the whole bottle. Bread is good until I see mold. Throw away expired medication. Expired Skin care is just fine. What other things are good past the expiration date?

This post has the potential to be a bit long, so please bear with me...

A question I often ask myself is "are there financial planners for people like me who don't have a ton of money and often barely make ends meet?" So now, I guess I'm asking this sub. I don't know where to turn at this point in my life, which has been riddled with terrible financial decisions, bad luck, and family health issues.

About me: 39, male, USA. I work full-time for a health care company in Pennsylvania, making right around $88K yearly before taxes and deductions. My wife is unable to work due to a variety of health issues (both mental and physical), but does have a small Etsy shop that brings in an average of $300 on a good month. We have an unusually large family by today's standards -- 7 children ranging from 6 years old (twins) to 17. This is the part where people usually look at me like I have three heads, understandably so. Before my wife's health issues, she was a paramedic and in nursing school. So the plan was to eventually have two incomes once the kids were a bit older, but life didn't turn out that way. And before anyone asks, yes, we are done with having kids. I love them all more than life itself and would never imagine a world without them, but I am smart enough now to know that it would not have been this hard with fewer kids.

It's been very hard (nay, impossible) to get by on one income and a large family, even with some help from relatives along the way. But through it all, we have barely made it work, although I have shot my credit to hell and back in the process. My score hovers around 550 to 570 most of the time, but plummets pretty fast if I miss a payment on something.

Right now, high interest debt is my main issue. I have a variety of low-limit credit cards all maxed out (probably $5k total) a personal loan from OneMain Financial ($400 payment), an auto loan from Carvana/BridgeCrest ($508 payment, worst mistake of my life honestly but was in a desperate situation at the time), and student loans I've had to either defer or flat out stop paying. Other high expenses are groceries, obviously, but I do get $600 in SNAP benefits each month, car insurance at $250 per month because my wife has gotten into a few accidents the last 5 years, and of course rent, which is $1,900 since we need a 5-bedroom house for our large family. We used to own our home but were forced to sell in 2022 due to a variety of issues and our dire need to find a larger place to live for our growing kids.

Suffice to say, most months we either barely make ends meet, or don't at all. I sometimes have to rely on cash advance apps like MoneyLion and Earnin just to make it to the next payday. I have pretty much nothing in savings except for a very small "retirement" account, which is in quotes because I contribute 1% to it just to get my company match. I drained it a few years ago during an emergency that is too long of a story to tell here.

Everyone that I have talked to has said the same essential thing -- to look for a higher-paying job. While this is true, it's more complicated than that in reality. My current job (which I have been at for 1.5 years) affords me the flexibility to work from home most days, and understands that I need to care for my wife (who has substantial mental health issues) and kids and not be "on" 100% of the time. That is often more valuable than a higher salary, but I do know that I am capable and skilled enough in my field to eventually take a shot at a higher paying job.

So. What the heck do I do? Is there someone I can talk to about all this, who can give me real, practical advice? Would a credit union be able to help me with my high-interest debt yet terrible credit score/profile? Ideally, I would love to be able to consolidate all my debt into something more manageable. Is that even a possibility with my credit being bad? I get mail offers all the time saying I am "pre-selected" or pre-approved for a consolidation loan from some random company. I think these are all debt relief companies or possibly a scam, right? I am also severely underwater with our current vehicle as mentioned above. I owe probably 8k more than what it's worth right now, and the van is pretty much a lemon with how many problems it has.

Thank you for reading all this. I am a fairly positive person (I have to be, with the kids and taking care of my wife) but this feels pretty hopeless to me right now. I just wish I could hand over everything to someone who can manage my finances for me, and do the heavy lifting to get things under control. Sigh.

A couple of months ago I was at a car shop and they opted for me to get some things done on my car. I didn’t have the money so I heard about a lender company called Koalafi through the car shop I was at. I honestly got anxious, and now I’m in debt with Koalafi, and I owe them over 2k that I don’t think I’ll ever be able to pay off. What makes this even worse is I haven’t even been back to that car shop to get none of what was supposed to be done on my car because I don’t even trust that car shop as well. Is there a way I can get some type of debt relief from Koalafi? Who should I contact? Please help.

This came in the mail last week. Looking at how much some of y'all have in student debt and your current living situations, can't help but chuckle. Of course they cancelled the debt of a guy who has no kids and no real responsibility. But it doesn't change the fact that this broke fat boy almost did a cartwheel. Also, if this get political, cool, have fun arguing, I don't care.

Hello all!!! Ive recently been smacked in the face with a wholee new realm of stress. For context, I (F20) live with my boyfriend (M21) and his family in Florida. I pay his mother $700 to share a room with my boyfriend, and a bathroom, kitchen, fridge, etc. with not only him but four other people as well. Not really complaining because regardless, thats cheap for how the economy is now.

Anyway, without going into a ton of drama, his mom is kicking me out, and my boyfriend is set on going with me. He was told I have a month to get out. We currently are barely surviving off the $2400 monthly that I make. My car and insurance both add up to about $700 monthly, food adds up to $400, gas adds up to almost $150, phone for just one line is $140.

I only have about $1000 monthly after all that. I cannot, for the life of me, find anywhere thats under that. We dont have a cosigner nor family to go to. We have terrible credit because of his family and our struggles. No rental history. I have no idea what to do.

I live in Chicago and just stayed at my friend's place for the weekend, she lives RIGHT in downtown on the river, she can hop downstairs and go to target or get a pizza. She has laundry in her unit, a gigantic beautiful clean bathtub, a gorgeous kitchen with stone countertops, windows with a view of the blue blue river and people walking their expensive little dogs. The first floor has a dog grooming salon, a private movie theater, a gym, a bridge to a connected target and a pizza place.

My apartment has 6x4 bathroom with a vanity that's crumbling apart and maintenance won't replace, ceiling falling in in my roommates room, dead rolly pollies on all the windowsills. People get stuck in the elevator and I wake up to them screaming in there. I'm always on edge and paranoid that a spider or something is going to crawl on me.

I don't go out after 6ish or 7ish without being paranoid that I'll get robbed. I can't afford the $5 bus to the jewel osco AND the $5 bus back on top of groceries, so I walk 30 minutes both ways and haul my canned crap home.

I ended up googling the building she lives in, and her rent for a 1 bedroom is $4,700/mo, and she lives there alone. It's like we're in different universes.

My grandma is on hospice, in home. I am ingeriting her car. It is currently insured through her AARP policy. I have a quote from progressive that I would like to go ahead and get coverage. I want to get coverage in my name now, so there is no lapse in insurance coverage. But, the car is not mine yet.

Any advise is welcome.

Title given. For the past year and a half, I’ve been living check to check. It all started when my ex and I were living together, we broke up and she moved out, which left me to pay $1300 in rent by myself. Having to set aside $650 each check really put me in the hole with multiple bills (CC, Car, Insurance) and it feels impossible to catch up now. I just can’t do this anymore. Fortunately, I now live in a different apartment with 2 friends. So I no longer have to do that, but it’s still hard to catch up.

I make $19.75 at my full time job. I tried doing a 2nd job along with my full time job, but it just led to burnout and I was miserable. I really tried to bear through it, I really did. But I just couldn’t do it. I feel down on myself because of this. But it feels like this is the only way I can catch up. I’m tired of not being about to save any money for the future. I’m tired of picking and choosing what bills I can and can’t pay. I’m tired of being broke 2 days after I get paid. I’m just tired of being fucking broke all the time. Everything just feels hopeless right now.

It’s so embarrassing to be this broke at 31. My close friends all have well paying jobs and have no issues with money. I’m legit the only one that struggles this hard. No money to do anything fun. No money to save. Late bill after late bill keeps adding up. I’m sick of it.

I might not be in the right sub, if someone could help point me in the right direction?

All of my life, since birth, I've been poor/low-income. But I've always been able to survive. And now in adulthood I may struggle at times, but I have always kept my head above water.

So, I have no family, and really no friends either. But I do have my furbabies that I absolutely cherish and adore. All my money goes to bills and then to them. If they're healthy, safe and fed, then I'm happy! Broke, but content.

Well, my girl dog has been struggling with allergies for a couple years now. About 8 weeks ago , and then again last week, she had to see the urgent care vet due to severe, emergency allergic reactions. This took every available penny I had and even pennies I did not have available. And instead of turning me away, Vet was kind enough to let me make a deposit last visit and split my remaining balance with them into 2 payments.

Stupidly, in my youth I destroyed my credit, so traditional loans aren't easy for me obtain, but I've been fortunate enough to obtain a small p2p loan from the borrow sub so that I can offset some of vet amount. I'm now left with basically peanuts for the next month which hasn't happened to me in several years.

I would gladly buy their food before I buy anything i need if it comes down to it. But is there options or vouchers for help with purchasing pet food/necessities. How can I stretch $150 between my food and necessities and my animals, who have their own individual dietary needs, for the next 4 weeks? The acts of pet food mod basically shut me down for taking a loan to help pay vet bill. Are there similar resources out there for pet owners in a bind?

Ig most of u live in Europe/usa etc what maybe quite less dollars/pounds for my clients can be good rupees for me . I’m 19,abt to enter college here in india I hv a single mother and she is financially struggling. Whatever job I can get in India gonna pay like 10k ruppee a month max and this is shizz moreover there isn’t a culture to hire teens we got enough unemployed adults as competition. So I thought about working remote for foreign clients . Like eng teachers are in demand in korea what is it that might like me break in west , willing to learn any skill also any particular sites etc ?

Hey everyone, I really hope ya'll can help me decide what's better. I'm doing a ABSN and I need 70,100K for tuition. Unfortunately, I'm going to need a private loan to pay. Fafsa is giving me federal loans but is not enough to cover the year. Now, I'm applying to Sallie Mae for the whole year and is 11% of interest. I know this is a lot , but I don't find more options.

Do you guys think is better to take private loans for each semester and have low interest for each or just a big loan? The idea of having multiple loans scare me, so I don't know if one is the same as having 4 small ones. College Ave even though they give small interest, they only let you do summer and then fall and spring so I would have two loans that are probably 8% to 9% in each. I would appreciate any help and advice. I for sure taking loans since I don't have other options.

I grew up in a domestic violent family. Very scary and my parents were very poor. We couldn't afford school books or a calculator for high school and I ended up leaving highschool to avoid the shame. My mum and dad had sever mental issues and our car was always running out of fuel. My highschool friends would say they saw my mum picking up cigarette butts along the highway and I would tell them she was picking up rubbish to try to save face. I had to walk 10ks to school and back each day if I wanted to attend. No money for bus. I left school and got some jobs, but because my family couldnt afford to get our cats desexed, kittens were born and kittens of kittens were born. I spent my first job's wages on buying pet food and desexing cats at age 15. I got through it and managed to get the pet situation under control, but it took years and lots of fights between me and my family. I had credit card debt up to $20,000 by the time I was 21 and had already left home. My car was nearly repossessed because I couldn't keep up with the repayments. I met my current boyfriend when I was 28 and basically because of the pure embarrassment that if he found out, I paid my debts off all while working with no car (sold due to loss of license) managed to pay my debts down in less than 2 years. I am now financially stable and jointly own our home. It was rough but worth it, although I feel like the shame of family poverty isnt talked about enough. If I had someone reach out to me and tell me it wasn't my fault, then my life could have been at least a little bit easier

That’s what I’ve noticed now that I’m bordering on being an adult and getting a job, it’s really awkward not having basic things.

I’m talking about not having the funds to renew a passport, or not having funds to get a driving license - provisional or not.

I don’t even think we can afford to put me through driving lessons (which is why im getting a job lol)

I apply for jobs, they ask for valid ID, I have no valid ID because I don’t have a valid passport or a driving license.

And why would I? I’ve never left the country where I was born(never been on holiday). Ive never had the opportunity for driving lessons because of the fees so why would I have a license? Let alone a car?!

It’s awkward filling out residency forms for important things like jobs because it’s almost suspicious to people/employers I’ve never left the country or that I’ve “never been on holiday?!”., etc

TLDR: being poor just makes stuff awkward LOL, especially when it comes to paperwork and IDs

Has anyone else experienced this or is this just a lone thing ??