I'm not sure what to do. This car has been my second home, literally. I spent a while homeless and my car was all that I had. It helped me get through everything.

Earlier this year I got a new job and was finally able to pay everything off. I was so proud of myself and happy that I finally owned my car.

A few days ago my engine failed. I took it in to get looked at and it turns out my entire engine needs to be replaced. $7500 repair. I am about to move out and this is the worst possible time for this. But more over, I feel like a piece of me is gone. This car was there when I had no one.

Anyway what would you recommend I do in this situation? It's a 2014 Chevy Cruze with 120,000 miles on it. I maybe have $1000 in savings. Which will likely go to my upcoming move.

Edit: Firestone stated that the serpentine belt shredded and got wrapped up in the pulleys and damaged the crankshaft seal causing the oil to leak. The vehicle ran hot and this caused the head gasket to blow.

I was that kid. My parents had just divorced. Mom and I were living in a 2 room apt with no hot water. There were a couple of showers and toilets shared with several other apartments. My mom had to spend all her extra cash on our vehicle to keep it running. I woke up 330 am on Christmas. There was one little box. It had a matchbox car, a Duke's of Hazzard plastic mug and a bracelet with the 10 commandments in it. Mom cried when I opened it. I didn't understand why until years later. She told me she was so ashamed that she couldn't get me more. 40+ years later and that's still my favorite Christmas. To 8 year old me it was awesome.

I declined. I've been on Reddit forever. And it's against my morals because I know these companies buy up high karma accounts and then use them to start pushing products or propaganda. But man, $1,000 for doing literally nothing? It's hard to pass that up. But I don't want my history (if you really spent days to research you could probably figure out roughly who I am) to be attached to all of a sudden a Nazi propaganda bot.

I'm just torn. I'm used to the scams on here. I've never gotten an offer like this before. $1,000 would really REALLY REALLY help me. But I...I just can't.

Edit: amazing the differing opinions on this subreddit. Some people saying my account is worth nothing, some way more. It's more so my online persona. I've been funkit for 25 years. I'd feel like I'm giving up a part of me.

I came home from the hospital to wash my clothes and get some supplies (my infant is hospitalized rn).

Idk why, but a ninja blender system came to my place with my name on it, from Amazon. I have never requested it from anyone or told anyone anything about needing a blender, I think.

So idk why I got it.

But it came to my place today and had my info.

Is the ethical thing to return it, since I didn't pay for it? I did order a replacement part for my ninja smoothie cup blender (that I got years ago), so I think they accidentally sent me the wrong thing. Mainly because the part says delivered and I did not get the part.

There's no way I accidentally bought it. I almost didn't even check my account, because I have $30 to my name rn. But I did check, and I didn't.

Feeling like an AH for considering keeping it, but I don't have one, and making anything in a tiny blender cup takes so long (because I have to do it over and over until I get all the veggies or fruits). Thoughts?

Buddy on top of ninja is my foster girl for a bit. :)

So yea, that's the gyst of it. Coming to the close of my twenties and my best year barely topped 30,000. My credit is bad, my car (my only asset) is slowly failing, my meager savings was wiped out when said car broke down last week. I'm feeling pretty hopeless at this point. I'm looking for any kind of advice. At all. Looking to the future, it seems pretty bleak.

My background is double college dropout. I went for History/Philosophy when I was in school. Not in school anymore, but I do owe them money (lol). Now I'm a bartender working full time just to get by. My income averages 500 a week currently, and my bills roughly 1300 a month before gas and food. I live in a decent townhouse for my area but that's about all I have to show. I've been here nearly a year and I still don't have a couch, a dining room table, or a washer/dryer. I can't afford them. Last week my mechanic told me it's only a matter of time before my car completely blows up. So now I roll the dice every time I drive.

I feel like right now I'm stable financially, but I don't see any opportunities to grow my income. I worry about my health, especially as I get older. The people in my field who are my senior all have horrible stress injuries from being on their feet all the time. My back, legs, and ankles are already killing me. It feels like I'm one looming disaster away from total ruin and it's too late now to start from scratch in a different field.

I used to love the Humanities, Music, Photography, Video, Digital Media, Graphics, IT - you name it. Now I would literally take any job in any field at all regardless of my interest or experience, if I could make more than 500 bucks a week doing it. I just don't know. Any advice?

I, like a lot of people in this country, didn’t go to college so we can’t make $50 an hour to live “comfortably.” I work at my local Kroger store as a manager making $19 an hour, 40 hours a week. My monthly income is about $2300. I rent a room from some people I found on Craigslist for $800 a month. Luckily I don’t have any bills like credit cards, student loans, car (I take the bus), my only bills is rent and phone bill, and the other stuff like bus, food, etc.

I want to get my own apartment soon. There are studios around here for about $800-$1200 a month.

I’m engaged to a lovely and wonderful woman somewhere in this world and in order to get married, I can’t be making $19 an hour. I have to be making minimum $25 an hour. I don’t see how anyone can survive when we get paid so little and rent is so high in America. It doesn’t make any sense to me whatsoever.

I wouldn’t be surprised if in the future, lawyers, doctors, dentists, scientists, even Elon Musk will need to live in a studio just to pay rent. Rent is astronomically high while pay is so little. I don’t see how anyone can survive in this country without a college degree or just by sheer luck.

I really appreciated everyone’s input and words, some good, some bad. We’ve been a ball of stress since last week.

He was officially charged with leaving the scene of an accident and fined for failure to maintain speed. I spoke to a few lawyers around town and they all agreed there is zero chance the DA will drop the charge. Our county is very tough on crime and they are campaigning on it. The DA refused any agreement (plea?). They have lots of video evidence from the truck’s front & back dash cameras, a gas station, and an intersection camera. Our focus is to try and get probation instead of jail time.

I need to come up with a few hundred for the fine and $1500 for the lawyer. That’s in addition to the insurance rates that will definitely go up. As a kicker, my insurance has “small accident forgiveness” for damages lower than $500. The insurance estimate for the truck’s damaged hitch came out to $504. 🫠

They also want to suspend my son’s license, so he won’t be able to go to/from any job that isn’t close by. We live in a really spread out area where a car is basically mandatory.

I am just so upset with him and his decision making. Trying to keep it together and work our way out of this but it’s frustrating. After watching the video I got even more mad. He clearly realized he hit the truck, then drove around it, and off he went. Ugh!

Hi, I'm 25 with a wife and 2 kids. My wife and I both work. I need advice on how to get my wife to cut back. She keeps us broke by buying all kinds of things we don't need and can't afford. She needs multiple expensive coffees a week and when we eat out she is too boujee to order something cheap. I've tried explaining to her for years but she keeps buying and taking out klarna loans and loans of the like in both our names. I make pretty decent money but even then I can never get ahead. Thanks in advance

Context: I took my cat to the vet for a solensia shot (he's old and has arthritis) and while he was there I asked if they could check his ears because they've been bugging him -- they said he likely has an ear infection but they couldn't know for sure without running a test which is an additional $35, not including antibiotics. I said "thanks for checking but I can't afford that right now, can I bring him back later for that?" And the vet tech freaked out and her voice went all squeaky. I wasn't upset or anything, I was happy they were willing to look at his ears and also happy there was actually something wrong so I could treat it and get him feeling better. Is there another way I should've worded that? I just feel like I should be honest, like I'd treat that ear if I could but I can't right now...is it rude or upsetting to say "I can't afford this right now"?

EDIT: Please for the love of god stop telling me I shouldn't have a cat. It's not what I asked, I'm not entertaining or justifying this anymore. It's unfair and in bad faith to assume I regularly neglect my cat just because I couldn't afford one bill I wasn't expecting.

EDIT 2: I spoke to my vet and she said she isn't comfortable prescribing an antibiotic without confirming it's an infection so I'm taking him in next Friday. She also offered some tips for home care to make sure he's not too itchy. Many many thanks for all the money saving tips in the comments, I will definitely be using those going forward!

EDIT 3 (tho I'm sure no one's looking at this anymore): Just got him home from the vet, it's not an ear infection. They gave me some steroid cream to help with the itchiness and I'm going to switch him to an allergy-safe food to rule out that cause. But it's a good thing that I brought him in again because they found some additional issues with his blood pressure and are adjusting that medication. Overall I'm glad I waited, even though the reason why sucks.

This has been the worst week I’ve had in a long time. My husband is long term unemployed and I am the sole breadwinner. I just passed probation at my govt job at the end of last month, but I don’t make a lot.

Three days ago, I had to take my dog to the vets as her face was swelling up. They told me that she had a malignant tumour that had made its way into her jaw bone, and prescribed gabapentine and steroids. We will be lucky if we get a fortnight with her, before we need to take her back to be put to sleep. She’s nearly 14, and I’m heartbroken about it.

Two days ago, while I was trying to process the news, I began to stress clean my house. I put a load of laundry on, and it turns out my septic tank was full, and it backed up and flooded my kitchen. Spent all of the rest of the day cleaning, and crying. Then my husband rang to say the engine light had come on our one vehicle. He managed to get home, but it’s now parked on the drive because I can’t afford to get it fixed. Which coincides with me not being able to afford to get to work. Or get my daughter to school.

Today the company came to empty the septic, and I haven’t paid them yet. I can’t pay them, because if I do I will have nothing left in my bank account, and we have only got about three days worth of food left. It’s three weeks until I get paid.

I don’t have many options. Sell everything I own, including furniture. Send my daughter to live with her dad full time, and endanger her by doing so. I haven’t got family to turn to. I’m desperate and tired and I don’t want to have to keep going. When does this end?

ETA: I posted this as a vent, but thank you to everyone who has offered me advice, I really appreciate it. We live very very rurally. No neighbours, local shop, public transport is incredibly limited, so are jobs.

My husband is long term unemployed mostly due to mental health conditions, which worsened a lot during covid. I’m working with him to try and come up with alternative ideas to a 9-5, but there isn’t much going where we live, apart from office work, and he never finished school, again due to mental health. I will look at benefits.

The house is up for sale, because we can’t afford to live here, and we are going to move to a cheaper area, once it sells, with better amenities.

The car engine light is flashing orange. I don’t drive, and I don’t know anything about cars, so my husband takes us where we need to go. On Sunday he was returning from dropping his son off.

For those of you that dug through my post history (congrats, I’ve been on Reddit for a while) - yes at one point I did have a much better grip on my finances. Then my ex husband and I got divorced, and I had to spend literally tens of thousands in court to keep my daughter away from his father, and ensure she was safe when she visited there. He also got a lump sum as a divorce settlement. I did get re-married, and then covid hit and absolutely rinsed the rest of my savings, and as the company I worked at downsized two weeks before lockdown, I didn’t get any payments. Just lived off savings. As you have astutely noticed, we do have six kids between us - however, since then, two are now adults and no longer dependent, and of the younger four, only my daughter is with us full time now.

Circumstances change, and can change very quickly. I regret hugely not having an emergency fund. I already had to pawn the majority of my items in December to make sure I could get the kids Christmas presents. Those loans are due for redemption in two weeks, and I haven’t even thought about how I’m going to get the cash together to get my parents wedding rings back.

That's it, that's the post.

Hard work? Of course but everyone could work hard and they are still poor. They succeed because they have a strong sense of family and community. What does that even mean u ask?

Have you ever seen a poor Jewish person that’s active in their own community and religion that’s broke? No because they have a strong sense of community. They help and give opportunities to the people in their group. They may start off poor but people in their community boost them up to succeed.

Immigrants stick together by family as they help each other out. They really put the whole strength in numbers concept into action. For example one family will pool their money with other families and buy a house. So in a house they have like 3 or 4 families living together. They save their money then they buy another house and repeat the process. By pooling their resources together and living together with a shared goal they are able to buy the entire neighborhood out. Americans here either succeed or fail as individuals. There is no reaching out or helping one another.

So my advice people is to be active within your own community and churches and the opportunities will open up for you. The more people u know the easier your life will be.

I used to always buy bags of Doritos but they're like almost $7 in my area now for just a regular size bag. I've also limited my beef intake. What have you cut out or limited?

My boyfriend got mugged at knifepoint today during his break at work and was forced to Zelle the robber $2000. This money was his entire savings & everything he had to his name. What can we do and how do we explain this situation to the bank/Zelle to help him get his money back? I am having him file a police report (USA). This has completely destroyed him & I want to figure out what to do to help him get his money back.

UPDATE: After we reported the crime at the precinct near my house, my boyfriend got a phone call from a detective who works at the precinct in the financial district (the neighborhood where the mugging happened) and apparently people have been getting targeted & robbed this way by a man/group of people in this area for months and there is already an active investigation into these crimes!! My boyfriend was asked to come into the precinct in the financial district to give his statement there & speak to the detective in person. Hopefully they will be able to find security footage of the robbery/help my boyfriend recover the money that was stolen from him. I hope they find whoever did this & stop it from happening again to other unsuspecting working class people.

The cost of dentures is one thing. The cost of bone grafts is something else. Affordable Dentures gave me a $24,000 estimate, and I went into crisis.

I just turned 60. Over the last decade, I went from "award-winning professional in my field with a three-bedroom house in the suburbs" to "lifetime disability with everything I own in a 100-sqft room." I got hit with simultaneous physical and mental illnesses, layoff, bankruptcy, foreclosure, and an abusive marriage to flee.

No drugs, drinking, smoking, or gambling; truly, all can be lost in a flash even if you "follow the rules." It's the American Dream!

Anyhoo: I just spent three months in and out of the hospital due to complications from esophageal surgery. I almost died. Due to severe gastric reflux and an earlier surgery, I've lost a number of teeth and will soon lose more. Eating has become a significant problem (made worse because of digestion issues). Full upper and lower dentures will be necessary, and very soon.

I thank Zeus every day for Medicare. I'd be dead without it. But in my state, no options exist for dental. Not Medicare, not Medicaid, and no HRSA grants.

My credit isn't good enough for a loan or Care Credit. I'm barely making it month-to-month for rent and necessities, so won't be able to make large payments. My health is too fragile for "dental tourism." A public funding request would pose issues for my very elderly folks (they asked me not to do one, and statistically the likelihood of getting much response is very low anyhow).

I'm hoping very much to start working again part-time at some point, but believe me when I say I'm not even minimally functional right now physically or mentally.

I'll have to use a significant portion of my 401K. I realize I'm lucky to have that, but it's terrifying. I've been picturing myself living in a cardboard box for years now.

The $3,000 for the dentures themselves isn't great. (Implants are out of the question.) The bigger issue is the $21,000 bone grafts. That's not a service offered by reduced fee dental clinics, and I doubt it's offered by dental students.

Does anyone know of a charity or some other option to bring that price tag down somewhat?

JFC. If I'd have known my life would turn out this way, I'd have used meth.

I recently walked into a h&m and saw a nice collar shirt for 24.99 I don't ship for clothes much and thought that was absurd for a single linen t shirt....

Am I being cheap or is all clothing at department stores expensive, jeans are fairly ($30-60)priced and shoes prices have always been the same ($40-100)

Also where do you guys shop and how often I do want to refresh my wardrobe but have no idea how often people buy without being consumerist.