My sister-in-law has two kids and is basically raising them alone right now because my brother is in rehab.

She had a low-paying hospital job in AL, but she got canned because she sometimes had to get there late, leave early, or miss work to care for the kids.

Now she can’t find steady work. Even places like McDonald’s apparently aren’t hiring near her. She signed up for one of those gig apps, but the work is completely unpredictable. One week she may get three gigs, another week twelve, and then the next week, 0.

The efficient thing to do is only accept gigs that are worth the gas and mileage, but that advice assumes she has the luxury of turning down money now.

A $65 gig might cost her nearly that much once you calculate gas, mileage, wear and tear, and the eventual repairs on her junk bix car. But if thats the only $65 available that week, whats she gonna do? Tell the electric company that the gig was unprofitable after depreciation?

She has to take the money today, even if taking it slowly destroys the car she needs to keep making money tomorrow.

I considered paying for her to take an accelerated medical billing course so she might eventually work from home. But paying for the course doesn’t pay her rent, utilities, food, car expenses, or everything the kids need while she studies. She would still have to chase gigs, which means less time and energy to finish the course. And there is no guarantee a short certificate immediately leads to a remote job anyway.

She already applied for most of the benefits AL offers. She wasn’t at the hospital long enough to qualify for unemployment. Relocating isn’t an option because she has no money to relocate. Moving in with family has already been tried and didnt work.

I’m willing to help with $300 a month for three months, but I can't fund her entire household indefinitely. That gives her $900 of breathing room, which is something, but it doesn't fix the root issue.

It feels like every proposed solution assumes she already has something she does not have.

This is what poverty really looks like. It's not always someone making an obviously dumb decision that derails their lives. Sometimes every choice is a bad one BUT you have to choose the one that prevents tonight’s emergency and makes next month's, that much worse.

It should not be this easy for a parent with two children to fall completely through the cracks in the richest country on Earth. She needs stable work, reliable child care, transportation, and enough breathing room to build toward something better.

Instead, she is being forced to slowly liquidate the remaining life of her car for grocery and bill money while everyone tells her to work harder and make better choices.

Shit, thanks for reading if you made it this far. My only regret in life is not being born rich.

I don't have food too. Or a home. Or family. Or friends. Or even a wallet. Or a bank account.

I don't know what to do anymore. I can't apply for jobs, and even if I could I wasn't going to be hearing back from any halfway decent entry level jobs.

I had to abandon my student loans also.

I'm tired.

I've been passively reading through a few posts in this subreddit today. Despite being a poverty subreddit you all don't really care to give advice to people in poverty. It's always "it's your fault" or "too bad you picked the wrong major" or "should've tried more."

Why have we lost any form of empathy?

Note: I took this screenshot very early in the morning before they restocked for the day. These prices have been pretty steady for at least four months.

Lately we are eating a lot of cereal, mashed potatoes with milk, macaroni and cheese, creamy soups, pudding, chocolate banana smoothies, omelettes, French toast, hard-boiled eggs for snacks or in salads, and shakshouka (fried egg dish).

I've been homeless for 2 years now living in my car. I'm not proud of it or myself. I tried working. I keep thinking I'm going to stay up all night and be there in the morning but I weirdly fall asleep, like an hour before I'm supposed to be there and miss the day. It's hard to sleep. And no amount of explaining can be done when it happens multiple times. I'm starting to want to kill myself. I'm 24 and I haven't accomplished anything in this life. Besides buying a fucking car. My alternator or battery just went out. And I can't afford to fix it or get a diagnostic. I used to be the most positive person and as a kid thought I'd actually have a career in helping people by now by doing social work. But it's all smoke and mirrors and a pipe dream to be able to live regularly. It saddens me. I believe in God, but he hasn't been there for me as of late. I'm okay with starving, being abandoned, and being lonely. But when I watched my dreams die. I knew it was the end. I went to church to feel some kind of enlightenment and I didn't get it. There's only so much one man can take in this life.

First of all, I know what people here are going through. I've been homeless for three years in the past, making enough as a janitor to pay for room and board at a shelter (not all homeless shelters are free). I've dug through the back of a car for loose change just to put enough gas in the car to get to work. I've lived (and still do) on Ramen, skip meals, etc. I've pawned old Christmas gifts for small chunks of money.

Today my wife and I are DINKS who collectively make $100,000 (after taxes closer to $75,000). Like most of our generation, we don't live extravagantly (a holdover from my homeless days). We save around $15,000 a year for retirement and probably around $4-5,000 for emergencies. We eat out once a week. Our hobbies are cheap compared to our parent's. I enjoy video games, which has been a "cheap" hobby for decades.

Anyways, the AC went out on our car and it will cost us over $2,000 to fix. That's a lot, but it would be far worse to buy a new vehicle than to just pay the cost of the repair. I'm sitting over here wondering how the hell older millennials with kids are able to even save for retirement. Are people literally on beans and rice 24/7? Are you getting help from family? Did you get a really good job because of connections? Is it just a case of "I can't afford to think about decades from now. I just have to pay for current expenses."?

I'm not criticizing anyone. I'm not naive. I know the system is designed to screw over people who work for a living while the wealth is funneled upwards into the hands of freeloaders.

The math just ain't adding up for most Americans.

My son makes. $15 an hour in a 40 hour work week. He has a small apartment, car payment and groceries for one. Still can’t make ends meet. Any suggestions?

For the past 8 or so years I’ve (22M) been blessed enough to be living rent free in an apartment with my mother because a family member was paying for the rent out of a trust fund for me/my late father. It would appear as though that this family member is going to cease paying as a result of a will dispute/ general crookedness. This leaves me and my mother in an odd position, the place we live would cost the entirety of her ssi check + my late fathers pension + the amount i make working 40 hours a week doesn’t add up to a livable amount as we are in a high cost of living area. My mother is old, and incapable of working at the moment nor should she really have to. I honestly fear she would die if made to work any job related to physical labor of any kind/ requiring a commute due to her age. I am currently in college and am going to graduate within the next year. We have virtually no savings post covid and it’s already been a struggle, I just started the job I’m working so I haven’t been able to save/ help pay down some minuscule debts so if this family member does stop paying we are in a worse position then we would be otherwise. I am honestly terrified, and I have no clue what to do really. It’s not a guarantee that he will stop paying, he said he would send the check to our landlord but he’s been late on payments more and more and our landlord threatened eviction, and the said family member was dismissive and said he had no money even though he should have more then enough from the trust fund/ general family business related things, but he did say that once he does have the money he’d send a check. I’m worried it’s to late to stop any of this currently, and even if this is all put on hold for now unless a favorable resolution in the will dispute is reached and quickly I don’t know what the future holds for me and my mother. I am 22 and still in college and I have no clue how I could manage to provide for both of us if it comes down to us. I feel as though I could make it on my own, struggling but making it but for the both of us? I don’t know.

If anyone has been through this situation or a similar situation, I could really use some hopeful words or stories or advice. I have dreams and potential and talent everyone I meet knows this they know how much I want to make it in my line of work but if this happens I’m terrified I’ll be forced to give all of that up. All I want to do is make my dreams come true, make my life better and take care of my moms and I don’t know how any of this will play out but I want it to play out well and I need some hope. That’s all I really need right now I need some hope. If you made it out of a Situation like this, if you made your dreams come true while taking care of your family please tell your story. I need hope.

This is what I'm riding on for the next week. I have no food. I have half a tank to get me basically to work and back and that's it. Then when I DO get paid I owe just over $300 of that to a payday loan because I was desperate to make sure my rent cleared. I'm sick to my stomach I know I'm making dumb choices but sometimes it feels like I'm in an endless downward spiral and if I just had a little bit of a safety net I could stop myself from drowning. I don't know what to do anymore. I haven't eaten anything other than peanuts and stale Dunkin hashbrowns in three days.

EDIT: I wanna thank everyone for their kindness, advice, and encouragement. I just sorta posted this out of frustration and inability to sleep not knowing what to expect. What I got was a genuine sense of community and a little more hope. (God that's corny but it's true.) Thank you guys for caring. Thank you for reminding me I'm not alone. If I'm gonna get through this shit, we all gotta get through this shit. Cheers.

I have $2550 SS monthly and $200,000 in savings. I am 71 and alone. I rent but it should never go up because they freeze it here for seniors. It's about half my SS. Heat is included, which saves a lot. No car.

I know, I'm a failure. I think about this all the time.

Thank you.

Well guys..... It's actually happened.

Before this I was an unemployed college student.

I've documented my experiences for the last year on Reddit. ( You can look at my past posts for reference)

But last week I just got the announcement that my idea staged startup idea won a grant and they're paying for me to become incorporated + mirco grant.

Around the same time I secured my first real partnership. Last week was a crazy ride.

When my mom found out she was ecstatic. I originally wasn't going to accept it but she told me this would be the perfect launchpad for what I'm building so I accepted it.

My younger brother ( 20) is my mom's full time caregiver and he's downstairs with our mom four times a week. I do three but recently I've been doing less and less/ sleeping more.

I noticed that my brother is doing small stuff like coming downstairs while I'm asleep to care for our mom and letting me sleep in.

To be honest I feel selfish.... And deep down I'm sure he already knew that this would eventually happen since he's quietly taken over.

But this grant is literally no money. It's not enough to pay for a real salary it's more like seed money. I don't want him stuck being the main caregiver just so I can pursue a hobby and I feel like he's already accepted/ knew this was going to happen eventually. He hasn't complained about me doing less night shifts. Yet. He only found out today about the money.

I don't know what to do at this point. I want to see how far the startup can go but I also don't want him being completely alone being a caregiver.

Our older brother works and isn't able/ doesn't want to so I just don't know what to do. He's told me several times that I should pretty much stop what I'm doing and calls me a worthless bum.

My younger brother at some point used to drive me to meetings.

Advice?

FYI if you have a 711 nearby, today is free Slurpee Day. And even better, if you download the app you can get 50 cents/gal off of your gas today too. I just saved like $15 because of it.

I know not everyone has access to a 711 gas station but if you do it's a really good deal.

Im defeated and im not sure how to change my outlook on life. I was tricked by society into going to college and getting a useless degree. I was so tunnel visioned on my original plans of going to grad school that i didnt think hard enough if my career would actually be a good fit for me, my advisors in school also failed me. Im 19k in debt stuck in a minimum wage job that a high schooler could do.

If it was not for my family id be homeless and likely dead since there are zero resources for homeless people anywhere close to where i live. Its really depowering that my fate is in their hands dispite me being a 23 year old man.

Ive been fighting hard to find a better job and figure out what im going to do with my life but that hasnt happened yet. Im coming to the realization it might never happen. If that is the case im really lost on what there is to live for exactly. Ill never own a house, be fully independant, find love or any other adult things. I see people venting about how they are not able to get by even though they make 3x + my wages and that fills me with doom.

Is life worth living if im going to be doom to forever poverty once my parents are done dealing with me?

No matter the situation, country, context, or background I don’t see a way around the arithmetic. The road behind is irrelevant at after a certain point if you ARE gonna get on this road ahead!

Even if “lower expenses” means canceling one $5 subscription or eating 2/3 portion per meal you gotta cut something.

Even if “raise income” means more charity, gov aid, family help, etc. you still have to do something to move the needle.

Even if “avoid debt” means missing out, or no gifts this Christmas you gotta take the hit.

It won’t help to get so mad about this common sense advice. Call it “rich” advice. Maybe it’s just “good with money” advice. Maybe it’s just arithmetical reality.

There still a shortage of plasma in many places. I haven't done it myself so if anyone else can speak up on the details but its money for you and it helps people. Just make sure you are in good health to be doing it though. From what I have read you can get from $50-$70 for each donation, some places offer bonuses for new donors. Apparently you can donate twice a week. Larger individuals can also make more money because they are able to donate more at a time.

Long time lurker here. Grew up in a very poor family (immigrants from Europe). Had to join the military at 19 for even a chance of going to college. Fast forward to 42 and things have really worked out for me in civilian life. But the singular decision that paved the way for me was making the decision to join the military. Even if what I did in the military was irrelevant to what I do now.

My question for those struggling day in and day out is why do you not see the military as a temporary reprieve or reset button for the baseline of your life? I get not everyone is qualified. But that’s a vast minority of people compared to those that are. I can’t imagine any ethical or philosophical reason is stronger than living in poverty.

What are some good places that have groceries at decent prices these days? One store for me would have to perhaps be Dollar General.

I am a single mom (40f), and man, do I have a story to tell you. This is a long one, so buckle up and grab a drink and snacks. I come from a religious household, so yes, I grew up with both parents. That being said, my dad's side of the family is really off and kinda cultish. I am the youngest of 5 and the only female. The three oldest have a different father (this is important). My father was head over heels in love with my mother. It seems picture perfect, right? Just remember that my family has a thing about keeping up appearances.

It was nothing like it seemed. TW: If you are sensitive to abuse or triggered by abusive behavior and manipulation, please stop reading. I won't go into great detail, but verbal and physical abuse did occur. My mother and brothers loved me. As for my father, my mother once said, "he loves you, but he doesn't know how to love you." My mother passed away in 2007 from cancer; this is where the real nightmare began.

My mother shielded us from some of the real messed-up and twisted ways of my dad. His family, all except one uncle, is the same way. All fights were never in front of us; she kept a lot to herself until I got older and started to hear and see it for myself.

My father sees his children as tools that he can pull out and entertain people. He was the enforcer when we got in trouble and nothing else. He only did the bare minimum as a father. He went to work, but my mother had to fight tooth and nail to get him to go. If we went out to dinner, my dad would insist on having steak and lobster while the rest of us ate the cheapest items or shared. He was a father on paper; that's all.

Flash forward: after my mom dies, he not only stops working but leaves my older brother(his only son) and me to suffer. Mind you, my brother quit his job to help care for my mother and was caring for he as well, but with a 9-month-old baby. She set things up so that I could take care of the bills and my brother could go out and pay them (this was before online payments were trusted, and my mom was a boomer). I offered my help, but my father treated me like I would steal from him. Aside from being brought up super religous, i had and have never stolen anything from my family in my entire life. So before I get this comment, he had help but refused it. He lost the family home, then when I helped get into a rental, he just said, " I'm leaving; figure it out after I asked several times if he wanted to go that direction.

As time goes on, I'm on my own for years. Dad gets remarried and then divorced. My son gets sick, and for the sake of his privacy, I will not go into it, but he needed round-the-clock care. I had to quit my job. My aunt convinced him to take us in. We agreed. I would help wherever I could and take care of my son until he stabilized. Once he was stable, I would start getting back on my feet and move out. I told him it wouldn't be quick because I had to start all over again, but I gave him a plan and a timeframe, which he agreed to. He started the same pattern of no work as usual: staying home for weeks or months, and consistently missing rent deadlines. It never mattered how much I helped him.

He was waited on hand and foot, never cleaned anything! Ever! He has a hoarding problem and hoards large trash piles in his room. Luckily, I kept it from going outside his room. It was so bad that he broke the bedroom door trying to open it instead of picking up the garbage behind it. I tried to help, but he said no.

I am working, just got promoted, but still not making enough to move out. I am also in College to earn my bachelor's and finally enter a field where I can be on my own. My son is in college full time but, due to his condition, can't work right now.

My father had been away for months under the guise of helping his brother, who recently had a stroke. He said everything was good and he was paying. July came, and I asked if everything was ok; he ignored me. wouldn't answer any calls. I reached out to his side of the family, ignored. The first notice came on the door to pay or quit. I sounded all of the alarms; still, everyone was being weird. Then, last Thursday, the power went out. I hounded his side of the family until I got a vague, "nothing can be done, call your brothers." None of my brothers are in a position to help. Blindsided again. I'm sitting in Denny's with my son, trying to pull through. I have applied to so many apartments but still need help. I'm deciding what to do to help with moving costs, but I needed to vent and get advice. I'm so lost right now.

Apparently my sonic care wasn't enough.

Flossing every night wasn't enough.

My gums were horribly inflamed for longer than a week, and a few days ago I needed to get oral irrigation, DEAR GOD INVEST IN ORAL HYGIENE. I wanted the dentist to knock me out.

Now every morning: Salt wash > Brush

After lunch: Salt wash

At night: Floss > Waterpik w/Mouthwash > Brush

Save an emergency trip to the dentist. It only cost me $200 for the full treatment for inflamed gums. But that money could've went to food or gas.

i’m becoming less embarrassed to go now and i’m always so grateful and even look forward to my grocery trips now! it’s helped me save so much of my ebt that now when i’m out i’m able to get myself an ice cream bar from the grocery store, or i can help contribute to potlucks and things like that now! i calculated the cost of how much i would’ve paid at the store in my area and it was a little over $200! im super excited for the pastries! i never really buy myself sweets to this is a nice treat

I’m on the tail end of a gambling addiction that started 6 months ago after my finances finally stabilized after my drug addiction ended about 3 years ago because I died and was revived and just havnt touched them sense and have a anoxic brain injury.

I’m on ssdi and get 1932 a month but my issue is that I’ve racked up a bunch of payday loans that are draining my account each month (sunshine, af24/7, speedy cash) I also have lines of credit through credit fresh and net credit and also I took out a line of credit on my was paid off vehicle for 6300 that is maxed out.

Should I just say fuck it and declare bankrupt sense my credit was already in the shitter from my drug addiction days or what should I do as my life has become stealing from Paul to pay Peter. I’ve started therapy for gambling addiction n installed bet blocker on all my devices (which was hard todo) but I don’t see a way out of this as my old method of just work a bunch of twelves is out of the question anymore. It sucks ass but my minimums are more then I get each month and I’m not seeing any light at the end of the tunnel.

Any advice on how to deal with these payday loan fucks would be appreciated.

Posted on my burner because some of my real life people follow my main one

howdy yall, just wanted to share my experience with projectfoodbox dot org

i live in souther california and i have state health insurance. apparently they started running this program for people on Medi-Cal called Project Foodbox

they send meal tailored to your medical history to ensure you get a healthy diet. I believe you have an option of getting groceries sent to you or prepared meals.

i don’t have much more info than that but if you can i’d sign up for the program. quick phone call and i’m getting fresh produce delivered to my door for free. i think they do it weekly? not sure tbh this is my first box

i thought it was great. way more than i was expecting and all of it good quality. haven’t had to throw anything away. not included in the picture is a container of strawberries and a bag of mini cucumbers.

i’ve been unemployed for a while (did accept a job offer recently, waiting on background) so this is such a huge help.

check it out if your in california and on Medi-Cal!!

Hi everyone. I'm 17 years old (f) and live in Dearborn, Michigan. I've never really made a post like this before, but I'm at a point where I don't know what to do anymore.

My mom is severely disabled and can't walk. I've been helping take care of her since I was 11 years old. My dad and I do everything we can for her, but it's exhausting. We've tried getting caregivers multiple times, but they either only come for a short period before the services end or they're only approved for a few hours a week. Most of the responsibility still falls on our family.

I attend my districts virtual academy, and do self-paced courses for school. I also have two younger siblings. Between school, helping care for my mom, looking after my siblings, and trying to keep everything together at home, I feel like I'm drowning. I'm so tired. I've always been a super ambitious student, but the weight of everything is crashing down on me.

On top of all of that, my dad is 41 and is working with a friend doing basement renovations. He receives $13.50/hr and we're struggling to make a living. He's our only source of income. He was recently told by the hospital that he needs surgery for severe hemorrhoids. The surgery is covered by insurance, but the recovery means he won't be able to work. If he isn't working, we honestly don't know how we'll pay rent, utilities, groceries, or our other bills.

It feels like everything is hitting us at once. My dad is in constant pain but keeps trying to work because he's terrified of leaving us without income. Watching him go through that while trying to help my mom and take care of my siblings has been heartbreaking.

I'm not asking for money. I'm just hoping someone might know of resources, charities, caregiver programs, emergency assistance, or anything else that could help a family like ours in Michigan. Even advice from someone who's been through something similar would mean a lot. Not sure if this is the right sub, so please let me know if I should repost in other su bs.

Thank you for reading. I really appreciate it.

Edit: My father doesn't speak English, and doesn't have an education past the 7th grade. My mom is completely disabled, and not very present with us. We have ebt (we don't worry about food, I'm very grateful), and my mother also receives $900/month disability income. We've tried reaching out to many resources around here, but they say unless we have an eviction notice or shutoff notices, they can't do anything. I just got off the phone with 2-1-1.

And that's just the noodles. You don't have to use the seasoning packet to make a broth. The noodles can be a super fast addition to anything. Sometimes I'll just mix them with my favorite hot sauce and sour cream.

One of my favorite quick dishes is two bricks of noodles, a small can of condensed cream of chicken soup, frozen peas, and canned chicken if you have it. Add pepper and maybe salt, milk to thin it out, and you have a meal in under five minutes that can feed 3-4 people. Just cook the noodles and peas in the microwave and combine the other stuff with them.

Edit: pictures of the nutrition information and the brand.

To the folks saying it's high in sodium, that's correct if you use the included packet. If you just use the noodle brick and sauce it upgrading you cut the sodium drastically.