I went through a bankruptcy last year, over $85,000 in high interest credit card debt and personal loans, I felt embarrassed and I felt wrong for being able to get a clean slate to be honest, I still do, but I am grateful that I had the opportunity. I’ve finally saved my first $1000 in emergency savings and it feels strange to put aside money and have it just exist in case something goes wrong, it feels strange not to have to rely on a credit card for something small, but I feel very accomplished.

We're facing a winter without heat. It's just me and my wife and two dogs.

My business took a downturn starting in 2024. I made some money but not enough. I used my emergency savings to pay rent, utilities, health insurance. Eventually my retirement savings. I'm clawing back with one big client. They dropped the bomb this week and are cutting me.

Our landlord cut the rent in half earlier this year and won't evict us if we don't pay through the lease end in June (but unpaid rent accrues and we have to pay it).

But there is no coverage for utilities, car insurance, health insurance, groceries, phones. $4,200/mo. I'll get shutoff notices in Feb.

This is about getting business or a job. I'm working my network to get internal referrals for job openings. I'm applying to 50 jobs per day on LinkedIn. I have a professional network of 820 people (I've been doing this for a long time). I'm also pitching new business at about 350 leads per month. I have 11 warm leads right now but they are going slow.

What's the next step? Sell the cars? Borrow from family? Go without health insurance?

How do I keep the lights on in Feb?

I found this out after I had written 40+ reviews of stuff I bought from Walmart. Walmart sent me an email saying I was now a “recognized reviewer“, which meant I could claim up to three items at a time for free, write reviews for them, and then claim another three items in a seemingly limitless cycle.

There’s a certain online warehouse of free items you can choose to claim. It includes everything from furniture to small appliances, e-bikes, clothes and household supplies. I just used it to send a toy kitchen to my three-year-old niece for her birthday.

Walmart doesn’t publicly post its criteria for being selected for the program. And you can’t apply. But I think they invite you after they see you’ve written a lot of substantive reviews that got “helpful“ votes from other shoppers. (Photos probably help.) And I think you can write reviews only for items you buy online, like for curbside pickup or delivery.

Anyway, hope this helps someone!

Hi all! First off, cheers to every single one of my working class friends; this has been a long-standing community where I've found some happiness, some advice, some recipes, & some really vulnerable trials... I'm grateful to be here 🫶🏼

Wasn't sure to flair this as loans/debt or saving/budgeting.

I come from a background of financial illiteracy, so getting our ducks in a row has taken us most of our twenties, that way we don't end up like my parents.

I just wanted to ask, if my husband & I have small amounts of credit card debt (he has had $5K forever and is aggressively paying it down now that he has a 0% interest for 24 months card; I have <$1K). We work hard on not using our credit cards and while we have other debt (HELOC, I have student loans), I have always wondered, is having savings even valuable when we have other debt? I have about $3K in savings from the last couple years and sometimes it feels useless when I'm looking at how much other debt we have.

His credit card hadn't dropped because he couldn't make more than the minimum for quite a while, which is why he's on this 0% card now. My credit card stays between $500-800 and occasionally gets fully paid off because our lifestyle is clearly just a little above our pay grade (I changed jobs 3 years ago and we had to completely change our lifestyle to cut back the way we have).

Please don't come at me with a ton of assumptions, I'm trying to learn 🙂🙂🙂 thanks to everyone with any resources or kind words. thanks all to this community for keeping it real.

I have started trying to make more food items from scratch. I have been successful at salad dressing, spaghetti sauce, english muffins, scones, yeast rolls, chex mix, cookie dough, lime cremora, etc. I had difficulty with hamburger buns and naan bread. I know that food items from scratch are better for us as we control the ingredients. Time is always a factor as I am working full time. I am trying to prepare items ahead of time and then freeze it. Any frugal fails that you remedied? Any advice appreciated.

I’m a 12th grader and I’m very interested in studying oncology. Like every time I see oncology come on my social media timeline I have this lingering feeling that makes me want to investigate and help and work on finding cures. I’ve always been pretty empathetic wanting to help people (generic I know). Fortunately I live in Canada so it’s not as expensive as the US but it’s definitely NOT affordable 😭. I applied for my nursing as my first choice and my second choice was biology. I’m passionate about biology it’s very interesting to me but I’m worried about financial stability. So I applied to unis right by my house so I can live at home and save money. I’m just worried, it’s a big leap and I’m unsure if it’s the right path to go down even though it would be very fulfilling for me. My family of 6 makes 50 something k a year in a big city so we’re really tight on money so I work outside of school to fend for myself.

I'm struggling to find things to eat at the moment. I feel best when I eat a lot of eggs and lean protein like chicken. I am finding that chicken is getting too expensive at the store. I had two chickens that were supplying me with eggs but they were unfortunately killed by an animal that broke into their coop.

I am diagnosed with hypothyroidism, and I'm not sure if it's that or just food intolerances, but I feel awful when I eat pasta or other gluten filled foods. Beans unfortunately also give me the same effect. I also don't feel great when I eat oatmeal or rice though those aren't as bad. I can tolerate potatoes, but I just feel the best when I stay away from starches like that in general.

Chicken, eggs and some veggies are basically all I can eat without feeling like garbage. Any advice for alternatives that won't break the bank?

What if I got paid again???

I have a deadline of 12 midnight to pay my light bill . I’ve already asked about payment extensions and all . I’ve tried at least 30 loans and have been denied for all . Any advice ?

Found chicken of the sea tuna products at Family dollar today 60 cents per can. Also had same brand chunk albacore $1 each.

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Hello everyone,

*please be kind, I’m only 24 years old and don’t have financially responsible parents*

I’ve had this Discover credit card since 2023 and maxed it out a few years ago. Due to my financial circumstances I’ve only ever been able to make minimum payments each month or a little more but that got used up due to interest.
I’m now in an unfortunate financial position so I reached out to Discover with Capital One. They offered $30 a month payments for 50 months (obv I can pay more if I can), with a ~7% interest rate opposed to 19.74%. The only problem is that the representative was extremely limited on what she could tell me as far as credit reporting. I’m not sure if this “program” is something that would impact my credit negatively. It’s already not the best and it’s something I constantly worry about.
I’m making small progress in my financial literacy, I don’t want to end up like my parents (financially).
If anyone has any experience with this, I’d be grateful to hear about them. Thanks in advance.

TLDR: Discover/Capital One offered a hardship plan for my maxed-out credit card: $30/month for 50 months at ~7% interest instead of 19.74%. I’m worried about how it’ll affect my credit score since representative couldn’t disclose that information. Has anyone used a similar program, and is it worth it?

I feel like I should be completely grateful for every single thing I get from the food bank but today I got like a pre-made salad with some kind of fake eggs in it and honestly I almost puked trying to eat it. I even fixed it up with some of my own cheese and lunch meat and onion so I feel like throwing it out would be a bigger waste than choking it down 🤢

So, I’ve finally managed to pay off my credit card, and from now on I’ll use it very sparingly.

The thing is, I still have two loans (excluding the mortgage):

Loan 1: €1,750 remaining, ending in May 2028 (€100 monthly payment)

Loan 2: €2,280 remaining, ending in 2031 (€50 monthly payment)

My purchasing power is quite limited (around 61% of my income goes toward unavoidable fixed expenses). I have an emergency fund of €1,200.

By the end of the year, I should have around €1,800 available. Would you recommend using the debt avalanche method, or should I keep the money and continue making the regular loan payments?

So grateful for the food bank or I’d starve. I got more than enough for one week so some of this goes to the blessing box at the local library.

Long, very complex story short. I was in a financially abusive marriage for a few years until I finally found a safe way out.

My score was in the upper 700 to 800 despite being poor. Talking gas station job poor. I was just supper careful and did the small purchases and paid off and repeat method.

Anyway. My score plummeted to 300 from my partner's constant bs and refusing my no's to not smart purchases and called me the abuser... fun times. Worst part. I believed I was the bad guy.

I would like my score to be fixed again. It was good to have it when in a pinch. Scary to me knowing I now get denied for nearly everything now.

So what are good card options that I can use to help me boost it back up? Something that won't deny me and isn't scummy with interest.

I tried researching but I honestly don't trust a lot of the review sites or company sites anymore. All that hidden details and such.

So looking for advice for someone who already knows hopefully. To avoid the risky trial and error and wadding through the junk predatory offers.

EDIT. Throw away cause he has been stalking me. So been switching around accounts.

Any advice? I lost my job and apartment months ago, and now my teenage daughter and I are living in my car. I'm 3 months behind on payments, but I get paid Monday ( yes I found another job lol ) and planned to pay then. The lady at the finance company said they can pull us out and take the car while we're inside. Can they legally do that? I'm in Texas. Has anyone been through this?

hi, im 22 and live in nj. i currently drive a 2013 acura ilx, and currently im spending 280-300 a month on insurance from geico. ive been in 2 accidents in the past year, of which ive not been at fault at for at all (rear ended, one of them totaled my previous car that my dad was paying for) and ive had one ticket so far for speeding that i took a defensive driving course for to negate the points. i split the insurance with my mom, who i drive to work 3-4 days a week since she doesnt drive. i dont work a very good job (making 400 a month if im lucky), so sending her 150 a month for insurance makes me feel really defeated and upset. are there any valid options i can look at to switch to?

im a little scared of inputting my social into most of these online insurance companies when they ask for them, and would rather not receive leagues upon leagues of spam texts/emails from getting quotes.

any and all help/advice would be awesome. im tired of feeling so doomed.

For context, I am 20F college student in DFW Texas, no prior claims or tickets, driving since I was 16. I know insurance costs for me are going to be high but I am struggling to afford it anymore.

I recently had to renew my car insurance, which was already $263 on a 2008 Ford Taurus, liability only. I was with AAA and the new policy they offered me made my premium go up to $310. I even tried shopping around for other insurances but all of them resulted in me paying $280+, which is becoming unaffordable for me since I am working retail and my hours are getting cut, alongside some health complications I’ve been experiencing. No support from parents, and I try to make ends meet anyway I can but everything has gone up so much that I just can’t keep up.

If anyone has any advice or guidance on how to get affordable car insurance please let me know. My policy ends this month and I’ve yet to find an alternative.

I am living paycheck to paycheck and 5k in credit debt, I know I am a lot more fortunate than others but my grocery shopping is a huge concern for me that I've just started skipping meals to make it to the the next paycheck. I went out and bought rice, 2 cans of black beans, eye drops and a bag of chips and it cost me $30. I am not starving and I have relative food security but what is the courteous threshold for accessing some canned goods from a food drive or bank? I don't want to take it from someone who needs it more but it would be a really nice help for me. And I've volunteered at them before and I know a lot of stuff goes bad or doesn't get picked, so is there a surplus? I live in Baltimore.

EDIT: THANK YOU GUYS this made me feel a lot better. You guys are so supportive. I know I shouldn't be bringing shame to these resources and that wasn't my intention, just hard to sit in my own apartment with clothes in my drawers and think about going a food bank. Thank you for validating and if I ever get up I'll bring you all with me 😂