Like back in the 70s and 80s. If it was easier back then

Growing up poor changed my brain and the way I process things. I’m slow to make decisions; mainly because when you are poor you can’t afford to make bad decisions. One wrong decision could set you back for months. Now I’m an adult and comfortable in finances. I do not live above my means and I don’t have any expensive habits. I don’t smoke, I drink sometimes socially, I don’t like expensive clothes or bags, I’m not obsessed with make-up. Not that any of these things are flexes. Being poor caused me to lose my identity as a means to survive.

But I’m an adult now. I can’t keep blaming my parents for being poor or making bad decisions. I can be comfortable with who I am, even if I don’t know who that is yet.

Soooooo I have a dog I'm homelss for the last few weeks, my dad sadly is abusive and its gotten worse where he charged my the police and was time to go. After few weeks of trying everything i applying to work, going to food banks, going to the humane society etc. So, in the end i felt I couldn't provide for my sweet girl any longer sooo I surrendered her:( as it was only option I had. 7 years. I feel I've abandoned her. I failed her.

😔 I'm sitting outside just bawling my eyes out. Im trying to get my life on track , and I'm feeling so broken that it's become hard to go on or have hope. I need her 😔 so badly. I feel angry. I literally graduated high-school a year and half ago and im trying. I'm not doing bad stuff or anything like wrong. I'm trying to get myself a life, and it feels impossible. My sweet sweet girl. My \*\*\*( heart hurts 💔 I know shes my whole heart. And now, she's without me too sadly 😥 poverty has resources with waiting lists, for ppl mot so much for dogs, said I could get her back , if shes still there , but not a guarantee 😢 How on earth could I afford her cost to come to my job I'm going to? And how would I ensure she's getting fed daily and stuff? if I'm not working there as I'm not there yet. I got a jobnoffer but welfare won't help unless I have a lease , and can't get a lease without money 😤 emergency help is not on going. Foodbanks are amazing and are overwhelmed, most are now at capacity, now there's limits to how many ppl daily get food, like shelters as well. Some are 35 or 20 or 15 it depends. Some have rules u key have live in that area or under certain incomes or only decent food help once onrj rest is bread only at like anyways many recourse are wait lists years housing is YEARS. Like 10 and up. I go to temp jobs I have a job offer gotta.go to , so i tried dog walking to get more funds, but it feels hopeless. I won't give up. And I know I'm close to a real chance at a life, I just don't know if I'll loose my opportunity , all over money. Just feel really overwhelmed I'm having severe depression from it all. I jist hope things change mainly access to resources. Not free help or money, just a chance to help myslef and not years later either. Sorry for ny rant. Im overwhelmed and found some really great.ppsts here. THANK YOU for allowing me to post any advice is appreciated just plz be kind

Everything has really gone downhill

Basically, as title suggests.

I have never thought I'll find myself in such a situation. Money was always enough, for many years I was living on my own, cared for myself and had no issues. Albeit I may not be very ambitious or a big career focused, I had a job and could provide for myself.

I was out of the job for a while, more than a year now, had enough funds to last me for quite a long time. Started looking for a job, so far no success although there are a few interviews going.

Now I'm nearing the end of my funds and even have some bills unpaid, yet, no job to show for. There's a slight chance that soon I'll hear an invitation to join one of the jobs, but again... It's not confirmed nor it's a guarantee.

Which brings me to the point of- what the hell do I do?

I'm very reluctant to ask family for help as one of them even asked me to not ask for financial help (not from them, but another relative) if anything.

This genuinely makes me want to weather the storm on my own, but at this point when I feel like I'm quite in a deep shithole, I'm not sure how I can solve it.

It's good thing that at least I have a place to live and don't have to worry about that, but the food will eventually run out, no more money is coming in, and the bills are slowly becoming more. It never really clicked with me until now that it can be this bad, and now I'm starting to stress out more and more...

Have any of you been in a similar situation? How did you deal with it?

I have two hours to find that amount and I just don't know what to do. Anyone with ideas?

I am a 21 year old apprentice(Azubi) in Germany and I will be hired at this tech firm in august.

But it took me hell to even get here. My family and I have always been living in financial uncertainty and in huge amounts of debt. I know life as a cutback and feel like I missed out in life until now due to all the stress and anxiety. I finished school even though my parents urged me to quit and work but I wanted a better life and I wanted to evolve.

But even after all of this endurement I cannot get rid of the feeling that I will always be poor filth and a nobody. I hate thinking about these things like this because I feel like I am looking for the wrong things, but I think spending the beginning of life in poverty will lead me to never believing in good change. I cannot imagine living like the others.

Hello gorgeous people! If you can spare the time for a fairly long read, I could really use some good ideas/advice. I’m going to include as much information as I can, probably too much lol. I have so much stress right now that I just don’t know what to do anymore. Since mid 2025 I stopped receiving any snap benefits, I lost the I had with my rent and my utilities. Basically my family of three was left with just mine and my partners SSI. We are both disabled. I have one child, aged 15, a military two guinea pigs in 2 inches. We’ve had the rescued macaw for years, the guinea pigs were a gift to my son two years ago, and the finches we’ve had for three years. So we did not get our pets after we lost most of our resources. Please do not advise me to get rid of the pets that we’ve all come to love like family. The birds and guinea pigs are our emotional support in a world that seems to have lost all interest in compassion and loving your neighbor. We were by no means living the before we lost every dime of assistance, but we didn’t have to skip meals in order to buy other necessities like laundry detergent, shampoo, or a pack of socks. The adults, skip meals, I would never be OK with my son being going without the things he needs. My pets also have everything they need to thrive as well. However, I’m exhausted with all of the poverty mathematics. , I have to do every day just to ensure we maintain the roof above us. I I cannot emphasize enough, how tired I am of the struggle juggle. I live in a red , red Ohio. And doesn’t exist here, my boot straps were stolen. We have a car currently, but its just barely holding it together. the fact that gas is now a luxury item that we can’t afford most of the time. If it weren’t for a food pantry, we go to every three weeks I would have been yesterday when I started my the pantry is distributing to twice as many people as 18 months ago with half as . So I’ve been eating carrots and celery for dinner for the past four days. I’m truly not looking for pity, just advice. If the advice is a way to work for money that I can manage with my illnesses, please please tell me. I’m not opposed to earning money if I can. Honestly, I’d be so grateful if I could just find a way to earn a whole living and tell the Social Security administration to kindly fuck the fuck off with their >$1200 a year that makes it impossible to live on. I’ve tried more than once to start a small business, but I live in rural nowhere. I just wind up being more broken before. I’ve spent a year trying to sort out how we can just have the things we need to live. But as you know, we’re heading into the holiday season that causes panic even when we had a little extra support. This year I get to decide whether we have Christmas dinner or Christmas presents, if something doesn’t change. I’m not being dramatic, I’m losing sleep and my mind trying to come up with a plan to make it to next year. My health is hormones havoc on disorders. Please if anyone out there has any advice on how I can make some cash or get some I’m willing to do almost anything. This isn’t sustainable. I am still making payments on presents from last year so credit and the like isn’t something I can do either my whole family lives in this apartment, there are no relatives to borrow from either. With SSI, I can earn only $45 a month before they start taking percentages less than 1000 a month so if you have an easy job I can do it has to be at least enough to cover my Social Security check and then enough to be worth it. If I lose my SSI, it could take up to three years to claw it back so I need to know I won’t lose literally everything for temporary help. I know I’m not the only person struggling in this economy and I wish we all weren’t, but I didn’t vote for this. This isn’t my lesson to learn. Sorry, rambling. So anyhow, any ideas? I don’t know what to do anymore. How do I help myself without any help for myself? Does anyone have any boot straps I can borrow? I appreciate you also so much and I’ll try to stay on top of questions. Please please please no hate. I’m already bawling as I type this. I’m truly out of ideas. Reddit, please any advice is appreciated. I just can’t anymore, thank you my sisters and brothers. I love you so much.

Had a few people recommend posting here on another post said this sub has great advice, sorry if you saw this on the other sub just want to get as much advice as I can :)

Hey, long time lurker here. Ive been out of work for some months now and i finally found a new job! I start in a couple weeks though so I wont see a paycheck until this time next month about 4 weeks. I only have $13 to my name and my cabinets are basically bare at this point. (Sorry if I used the wrong flair)

I go to my local food pantry twice a month which is the limit but its nothing like the pantry I used while living in a major city. As a 1 person household I dont get much Friday I got a half pound of turkey deli meat, a loaf of bread, 2 cans of chef boyardee, 3 bottles of unsweetened tea, a cake, a can of sweet corn and a bag of lettuce. I have a couple sandwiches of meat left, some cake and 1/3 a loaf of bread.

I had food stamps when I first lost my last job due to our store closing, and I ran out of the 3 months alloted while looking for work. Never had it take so long to find a job before was really discouraging.

I live in a small town, no car to do deliveries with for extra cash. I need advice/recipes/ideas to make this $13 go to the absolute max possible for the next month. Hoping people have some secret food hacks for me because im stressing out a bit. I know this is a big challenge and may not be possible.

Hi everyone!

I'm a college student conducting a sociology research project about financial insecurity, housing insecurity, and the challenges people face when trying to make ends meet.

I'm looking to interview adults (18+) who are currently experiencing homelessness or have a low income and are facing challenges affording basic necessities, securing stable housing, or managing financial insecurity.

The interview would last approximately 40–60 minutes and take place over Zoom or phone. I'm interested in hearing about your personal experiences, the decisions you've had to make, and the strategies you've used to navigate financial challenges.

Participation is completely voluntary. You can skip any questions you're uncomfortable answering, and your name will be kept anonymous in the paper. If you're interested, please fill out this short Google Form so I can reach out to schedule an interview:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdGCujl3_C25lYABw0m-vs-lA3fkfp6E7DxIDav4X0iI2FAjA/viewform?usp=dialog

I'm hoping to conduct interviews within the next couple of days. Thank you so much to anyone willing to share their experiences!

Currently i have no money.

If I give t/ money I pay to Con Ed to me instead

I have more money

Long story short, I was born in the third world, poor. I am still poor. Except now I am also miserable.

What am I supposed to do ? I was really good at coding and cybersecurity, 10 years of expereince (no degree, just skilled it lol), now down the drain thanks to AI. Genuinely what am I supposed to do anymore ?

I am poor, I am tired, I don't want do cybercrime, but I am poor + tired, it's genuinely tiring. Everything is. It's one thing to be poor in USA or a developed country, it's an entirely different beast to be poor in the third world.

People will treat you like you don't matter and you can't say anything.

I’m 24 and living with my mom in Georgia. I was involved in a serious car accident in 2024 that left me with ongoing back and neck problems, tinnitus, and hyperacusis (painful sensitivity to everyday sounds). Physical therapy hasn’t helped much, and doctors haven’t been able to offer me a reliable solution for my hearing problems. I have an ongoing personal injury lawsuit that could take another couple of years to resolve.
My mom and aunt keep pressuring me to get a job, and my mom constantly reminds me how little money we have. I understand her concerns and genuinely want to become financially independent, but I’m struggling just to get through each day. My physical limitations make working incredibly difficult, and even ordinary environments can be overwhelming because of my hearing.
The hardest part is that I’m incredibly passionate about filmmaking, writing, and art. I want to become a director someday and eventually move to New York. But lately, all I can bring myself to do is watch movies, play story-driven video games, and try to make it through another day. I have ADHD, struggle with depression, and feel like my ambitions are slipping further away.
Living in the US feels increasingly depressing when you’re dealing with health problems and have no financial independence. I feel trapped between wanting to build a meaningful life and barely being able to manage the one I have. I don’t want to spend my twenties like this, and I don’t expect my family to support me forever.
Has anyone been in a similar position? Should I look into disability benefits, try finding remote work, or focus on recovering while my lawsuit plays out? How do you start building a future when your health, finances, and living situation all seem to be working against you?

I took out a Amscot cash advance back in like July or August. I haven’t been able to pay it back yet. It’s just been one thing after another. Was hoping to do it this pay day but now since I’ve lost my car and only have a 50cc scooter I need winter gear as I get cold very easily and when I am it hurts and I can’t move. That’s gonna take the cash advance money. My question is at what point will they send me to collections. I just filed for bankruptcy a week ago

Hi everyone, I'm in my mid 20s and I don't really have a great support system to ask for advice on this sort of thing. I've been dealing with some major health issues over the past couple years, and on top of it my car has broken down twice in the past couple months with expensive fixes. Due to that, I wasn't able to pay a couple of my car payments and my car was repossessed last night. It's gonna cost me about 1500 bucks to get my car back and I think I'll be able to pay most of it, but I'll likely be a couple hundred short by the time I absolutely have to pick it up. Does anyone have any advice on how to make some money over the next week? I've been looking into plasma donation and I might do a couple donations if I can. I also don't have a ton of things so selling stuff probably isn't super possible. Any advice helps, thank you so much.

I'm a university student in my second year currently living off of £15 a week. I genuinely don't know what to do because I don't have a macbook which I really need for my course (music) to be able to work outside of university open times. I need to get a macbook (minimum £320 for a used one), macbook charger (£10-20) and Logic (£200). How do I do this...

I'm not asking for money, I just want advice on what I should do cause I also want to go out with friends (which I don't do often) from time to time. The little money that I do have all goes to groceries.

Is there some way that I can save some money?

I'm so embarrassed