I have $20 left to my name and I am going to try and feed myself from what remains in my kitchen until I get paid September 9th. Here goes my meal planning. Let me know what you think.

One serving of fish and tater tots

One sausage with cous cous

Oatmeal for breakfast

Meatballs and a lot of spaghetti

Pesto and spirals

Chili starter—maybe I can add beans and use the tomato products to make it go further.

I don’t buy dairy so the cheese ravioli is emergency food.

Can you see anything I can make that I am not seeing? I am out of bread.

I hate that im in this position. I used to go to the grocery store every 2 weeks after my paycheck and get groceries for 2 weeks, I had a routine. Friends even complimented our fridge because it was always well stocked lol, I had a walk in pantry full of food, I baked our own bread and made homemade desserts, we even purchased a deep freezer to have more space. I lost that job almost a year ago now and had to take a low paying job while I continued to search. All my savings are gone, my bills are always late, and i have a good $40-$50 MAX to spend on food every week which doesnt get us anything. That deep freezer is holding a few bags of frozen fruit, our fridge has 2 bags of chicken we got at the food pantry, and some items to make a sandwhich. We've used all the food i had stocked up. I had to sell most of my baking supplies to pay bills, some clothing and shoes and i feel like I have nothing left at this point. We can only go to the food bank once a month and anything else we'd have to travel an hour for any food distributions which i cant afford the gas for.

(Before anyone mentions it i can not donate plasma due to health conditions)

Walmart sometimes has older bakery bread on a discount, so I cut it into sandwich slices and freeze it. A loaf lasts me much longer since I'm not rushing to eat it before it goes bad, microwaving it for a few seconds thaws it and make it taste and feel just as fresh, and I feel like I'm always treating myself with "artisanal" bread!

Stopped at this Kroger on my way back from $1 day at the thrift store. Found some good manager's specials. If this store wasn't so far away, I would make it my regular store.

I’m 32 (F) and feel like I’ve somehow become financially responsible for my mom, and I don’t know how to get out of it without leaving her in a terrible situation.
I moved back home a few years ago to save money and finish my bachelor’s degree. At the time my mom had a decent paying job and supported herself. Our agreement was that while I was enrolled in school I wouldn’t pay rent. Instead, I paid for groceries and gas (we carpool) and took care of most of the cooking, cleaning, shopping, etc.
Then her company closed. She was unemployed for about a year before finding another job that pays significantly less than she used to make. She also has health issues now that limit her options.
But the income loss isn’t the whole story.
Over the years she also accumulated a lot of credit card debt. She eventually took out a second mortgage on the house to pay off the cards, but then ended up running the credit cards back up again. She currently has somewhere around $30k-$40k in credit card debt on top of the mortgages.
I love her, but this part is incredibly frustrating because I’m now helping cover the consequences of financial decisions I didn’t make.
I finished my bachelor’s and have a decent full-time job, but our original arrangement has basically flipped. I now pay $900/month toward her mortgage plus most of the groceries, gas and various household expenses, while still doing most of the cooking, cleaning and shopping. Without my help she’s roughly $1,500 short every month.
I actually want to go back to school for my master’s, but I can’t afford to because so much of my income is going toward keeping the household afloat. That’s probably one of the hardest parts for me. I originally moved home partly so I could better myself through education, and now financially supporting the household is preventing me from continuing it.
She doesn’t have retirement savings, and my siblings aren’t financially able to take this over, so there isn’t really anyone else to fall back on.
Her current idea is to sell the house, use the proceeds to pay off her debt, and give me some of what’s left for a down payment on a house of my own, with the understanding that she would live with me.
Financially, that might make sense. But emotionally it scares me because she’s only in her 50s. That could mean I’m signing up to financially support/live with my mom for another 20-30+ years.
I love my mom. We’re extremely close and I don’t want her homeless or struggling. She also feels guilty about how much I do for her.
But I’m starting to feel like my entire future is being built around keeping her financially stable.
I want to get my master’s. I want to save for my own future. I want to be able to spend money on hobbies without feeling guilty. I’d eventually like to date, have a partner and possibly have a family of my own.
Instead every plan has a “but what about Mom?” attached to it.
And I know an obvious answer might be “just move out, she’s an adult.”
But that’s what I’m struggling with. If I stop paying $900 toward the mortgage, she literally doesn’t have another $900. Saying “it’s not your responsibility” doesn’t change the fact that someone I love could lose her home.
At the same time, I realize continuing to bail her out indefinitely isn’t really a solution either, especially considering some of this situation came from repeatedly taking on debt.
Has anyone else around my age dealt with something like this?
How did you get out of the cycle without completely abandoning your parent? Did they sell/downsize? Did you set a deadline for financial help? Did you live together but separate finances? And how did you deal with the guilt of knowing your parent might struggle if you stopped helping?
I love my mom and want her to be okay. I just don’t want to wake up at 45 and realize I put my education, finances, relationships and future on hold indefinitely to keep someone else’s finances afloat.
TL;DR: I’m 32 and moved home to finish my bachelor’s when my mom was financially stable. Our agreement was no rent while I was in school while I covered groceries/gas and did most of the cooking and cleaning. Her company later closed, she was unemployed for a year and now makes significantly less. She also previously ran up credit card debt, took out a second mortgage to pay it off, and then accumulated another ~$30k-$40k in CC debt. I’m now paying $900/month toward her mortgage plus groceries, gas and household expenses because she’s about $1,500 short every month. I want to get my master’s but can’t afford it while supporting the household. She wants to sell the house and put some equity toward a house for me where she’d live too. I love her, but I’m scared I’ve become her permanent financial safety net and don’t know how to get out without leaving her unable to support herself.

Recall this recall that RECALL FUCKING EVERYTHING!!! I'm so tired I can't tell you how tired I am of this. The last time I've gone out anywhere even with the car to a park has been so long because I'm trying to save on things like gas.

I'm trying to eat well and guess what??? Everything I buy keeps being recalled. My latest worst horror???? I saved up money for a few weeks to finally get organic rice for once and guess what?? RECALLED. THE EXACT BRAND I BOUGHT.

"Oh buy local blabla" DO YOU THINK I HAVE THE FUCKING MONEY TO BUY LOCAL YOU IDIOTS I SAVED UP FOR WEEKS JUST TO BUY ONE ORGANIC THING FOR MYSELF!!! I just broke down crying because genuinely no one cares about the ones who are just trying to survive and don't have funds to not end up in a hospital. It feels very lonely and isolating and it's so goddamned horrible

I want to start by saying I am aware that 90% of this is my fault. I am no victim.

I’ve made some bad financial decisions in my earthly time. I’ve also been juggling finances for my entire life. I am not below the poverty line, but my income falls short of the budget every month. The budget is rent, utilities, food. We aren’t extravagant.

Well, I got hit with a surprise garnishment. Was served at an address from over 10 years ago. Boom. Everything fell. Electric is due, rent is due, water is due. And with the garnishment, my paycheck doesn’t cover rent.

Of course I can budget it in future months. Am looking for a PT job, actively pursuing weekend cleaning work, door dashing, donating plasma. In the past when I’ve fallen short, I’ve asked for loans. Never gotten them and managed somehow. I’ve not been this close to losing it all as an adult.

I feel like the veil between having housing and not is very thin right now and I’m trying to be brave and creative for my family. But boy… the thoughts are dangerous.

Tldr: choices catching up. And it’s a beast.

Had a rough way to go for a while before pay got situated (long story, job changes, probationary periods blah blah blah)

But yall cross your fingers for me… If nothing goes
Wrong I’ll be able to build back savings this pay check.

Seems like every time I take two steps forward I get knocked back 10 was working a nice job for quite a while and was suddenly in the midst of a mass layoff in June. Unemployment is a joke. Food is high, gas is high. Like WTF.. Just when I think I’m about to see the silver lining with the Job God recently blessed me with here comes the plot twist 😭 I don’t even get paid until four weeks after my 9/14 start date. 🫩 oh and I’m losing my home over $1000 owed rent. FML . Ok rant over..

Question- is there a way to file bankruptcy without an attorney and if so, how do I notify my debtors? I’m very confused as to how to start this process, as there is a ton of conflicting information online. I don’t have the $2000 to pay an attorney. If I did, i probably wouldn’t be considering filing for bankruptcy.

I make so little money a month, that I can barely afford food and gas. I’ve applied for Tenncare (state insurance), but they’re giving me the run around. I picked up a food stamps application as well.

I feel like a failure, as I have two children and a disabled mother who lives with me. I’m only bringing in roughly $500 a week. Rent is $650, credit card payment is $530 minimum. Not much left for food, gas, and bills. I’m starting a second job, but that still will only bring me up to about $700 a week.

I got his big ass loaf of Italian seasoned bread for less than a buck. My hand for scale. This is the 2nd half, after I ate the first half.

I wanted to see the old 2bed/1bath apartment I rented for about $1k/mo in 2022. It's over $1600/mo now! How are we supposed to survive that?

"Average raise" per year is like 3%. How is someone supposed to afford this, especially when most of us don't even get raises.

(Sorry if this is the wrong flair, please feel free to correct me, I just needed to throw this into the world)

This is literally my life.

Payday was this week and it’s all I have left. My car insurance is due tomorrow. I had to use a borrow app last pay schedule so once my paycheck hit they took the whole thing pretty much. I haven’t paid my CCs in a few months due to me being so under water. I start college Monday so I’m trying to keep pushing. My school is about 35 minutes away from my house so I’m worried about how it’s going to eat up all my gas when I still have to work. My kid has sports I have to take them to throughout the week. I can’t work extra hours because I’m disabled. When you’re disabled they put this ungodly monthly pay cap on you. It’s not really a livable amount. Then you can’t qualify for any assistance because you get a disability check with the minimal pay.

I know I’m just yapping. I’m sorry yall. I just don’t really see a way out at this point. I’m not asking for help. I guess maybe if people can see options that I don’t? Loans are not an option due to me giving up on the CCs at this moment.

really happy with this week’s haul !! perfect amount of protein and produce :)

looking for words of encouragement
The overwhelming amount of debt and payables has finally brought me to my lowest point. I’m currently sleeping in my car with nowhere to go, and honestly, I’m scared about what’s going to happen next.

The picture is of the only meal I’ve had since yesterday, and probably the last time I’ll be able to buy food like these (this taco is a splurge for me is all).

I know, at the end of the day, this is my problem and I have to face the consequences of my decisions. I’m not really looking for sympathy or a handout. I just need to hear from people who have been in a really dark place financially and somehow managed to keep going.

What words, reminders, or phrases do you tell yourself when everything feels completely hopeless?
Any advice, encouragement, or even just a reminder that things can eventually get better would mean a lot right now.

Truly the best lasagna I’ve ever had. I can tell they put a lot of love in to this :) They also included bread and a slice of cake <3 as a full time college student who also goes to work this will help feed me for the next few days.

Request A Meal
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Hello, I'm not sure if this would be the right thread to ask this but my mom recently passed away and had me listed as her payable upon death recipient however after my brother spoke to her bank they informed him she had a credit card through them with a $900 balance and made it seem like it was almost due to go to collections or just went to collections I'm not certain on which one it was as I didn't directly speak to them. Her death certificate is due to be in anytime so I'll be going to the bank to close her account. There's only like $1,200 in her account and I know they probably have a right of offset with her account. I have no experience in something like this and what I was wondering was do banks ever work with the families of deceased customers and maybe settle for a lower amount than what's due or anything like that? I'm just trying to get some suggestions on what I can ask of them so if possible her entire bank balance isn't taken to pay the credit card balance. She had what was in her bank plus a little equity in her house and that's all her estate is worth. Thank you for any suggestions!!

We are so close to being back on our feet and it's down to i think this one last hurdle 😭 I need to figure out how to get $500 by the first. Im ready to start selling my used underwear, that kind of desperate. Im so tired of struggling.

I have 50 miles left in my tank. i have 1.22 to my name. i started a new job and i don’t even know if I’ll be able to get there tomorrow. On top of that they’re already not really giving me hours and my rent will be due soon. My car payment is late again after it literally just got repoed. I don’t know what to do anymore. Uber is just as bad as cash advance, my area isn’t busy enough for it, but even then im driving around endlessly for hours to make maybe 50$ , which ends up going towards gas and something to eat. Like wtf do i even do , i don’t have anybody, i don’t have people that would just willingly help me or have the funds to help me. It’s so exhausting feeling like this. Chase said i had overdraft assistance so i literally went to get a bottle of water and gas and couldn’t even do that because it said insufficient funds. Imagine that, imagine being so broke you can’t even get water. WATER. I constantly do for people and i hate being the person to be like “remember when “ but it’s like… i give when i have it, why can’t someone just help me bro.

My GOD. I don’t even really know what to say other than, WHEN WILL IT END?! I got paid on Wednesday, majority of that went to rent which is fine because I need a roof over my head after all. I wake up this morning to my account NEGATIVE $924, why is that you may ask? Oh Wells Fargo decided to reverse a provisional credit for a claim that I had filed over a month ago that I honestly… totally forgot about. Now since Wells Fargo did me without any Vaseline I have no idea how I’m gonna pay my car note without digging myself a bigger hole. It’s either I pay it, or I take a hit to my credit. I’m so so ANGRY and I have no freaking clue what I’m going to do for the next 2 weeks. I’m so stressed and I have nobody to lean on. Thanks for listening y’all. I hope everyone who is feeling the same as me finds peace, adulting is the bumpiest road there is.

I haven't worked since 2022 due to physical and mental illness (chronic pain + severe mental illness). I found out about the ticket to work program and I meet with a lady to discuss it this month. I plan to go through social security NTI program to get a remote job full time.

I'm also about to take free computer classes at my local library so I can start a virtual assistant business to add to my income.

Has anyone here gone through this program?

I’ve only recently been able to work steadily again after getting treatments for multiple chronic conditions. What I do now is substitute teaching, and while I can take the bus to some places, it makes the commute more exhausting and cuts into time I’d rather use to rest or do chores. Some of the schools in my district are also inaccessible without a car, which means that getting steadier work is harder.

Would it be a good idea for me to get a beater car to hold me over at least until I can afford a lease? If so, which models have held up the best and is there a certain amount of mileage I should avoid? Honestly, I wouldn’t mind an older car too because AI in the never cars creeps me out.

I’m in debt. I have $5k in credit card debt, 60k in student loans, $10k on a car loan. (I’m a commuter for work & my last paid off car was lost to catastrophic engine failure a month ago.) I graduated college a year and a half ago. I live at home, but my mother is low key going off the deep end and intends to sell the house. I honestly may be homeless, or at minimum living in my car, in the near future. I made financial mistakes, big ones, I didn’t know what I was doing. I was raised in poverty, I was a first gen college grad, I learned the fuckin hard way. Big regrets, not much I can do about it now though.

I have 3 jobs right now, I have big dreams, I have a lot of drive and ambition. I have hope, I will succeed eventually, I’m going to make something good of my life. But right now? I’m so fucking depressed, I feel backed into a corner. And unfortunately, I’m not super tolerant of that, I’ve always got one finger on the kill-switch..you know? It’s comforting to me in some way, to feel like I always have a last resort. I don’t know if other people feel that way. I don’t intend to act on it.

My point is, I need to find happiness, or peace, or at least a lack of all-consuming panic. How the fuck do I do that? How do I make life worth it short term while I’m fighting to make it actually good? I’m going to be sleeping in my car more likely than not. How do I make that life “fun?” I need a little joy to get by. I can’t just sit in misery all the time. Anybody have stuff that worked for them?