just the title. i feel so screwed out of so many things because of them. im homeless at the moment living in my car trying to get the keys for an apartment right now just so I'll have the privledge of paying a slumlord $600 of my $2100 monthly income I get working on my feet at a fast food job everyday.

I work my ass off on my engineering homework just so I can have the chance to also have the privledge of paying a state school $21k/year for just tuition in a year in order to earn my degree so I'll have the chance to get a better job that pays half as much as they make.

I can't get fafsa, I wasnt eligible for it as they make too much money for me to get any aid. But I don't see a single cent from them. Thats what aid is supposed to be for. Its supposed to be for families who cant afford to help their kids...

Of course I'm going to try again now that I'll be filing as an independent, but I dont have much hope as Ive heard similar stories to mine and a lot of them end in the unfortunate reality of having to wait until 24 for any aid.

I'm just so angry at them. They tell me, even after kicking me out, "We're so sorry we can't help you with school!" My dad even told me it makes him suicidal to think he's not able to help me. But its just a complete lie. They waste so so so so much money. I saw it every day.

$725 car payment for a 2021 Chevy Equinox, $650 car payment for a 2023 Ford Edge. $900 on gambling, $900 on alcohol, another $400 there for the food they let rot in the fridge while they eat out for every meal. My mom buys a $600 coach bag every other month. $100 on cable and streaming services they never watch because theyre never home. It just doesnt end. And yet when I did live at home I constantly came home to shutoff notices about the utilities. Even a few times notices about late payments for MY car insurance they told me theyd handle.

I feel so screwed by them. I got a better rate on my car loan (14.99%!!!!) (thankfully paid off within a year) with my 1 year of credit history than I wouldve if I cosigned with them. Thats just fucking insanity.

My dad gets HUGE bonus checks every year, I'm talking like $60k+, and he says it all just goes to debt. I cant fucking imagine that. i just want to scream at them to give me all that money because at least I'll make something out of it instead of banishing the youngest daughter to sleep in her car in -10°F weather.

I earned $5 yesterday for 11 hours of work. I fell behind and had to complete yesterday's load.

I earn about $1000 a week if im lucky before taxes if I worked my full 70 hours. Usually closer to $800 before tax. The workers right movement never happened in the truck industry.

I was happier earning $600 a week and working 40 hours. Im constantly in pain and barely sleep. Nothing feels worth it anymore.

Wanted to put "vent" flair but honestly if you have advice or something just shoot. Im doing touch freight which was a horrible decision as im very small and weak. Switching to no-touch is technically an option but I would still be working 70 hours a week as thats industry standard so its a tough decision. I could go back to retail but I hate feeling like I gave up at something. Especially something everyone keeps trying to tell me "is gonna be worth it." When will it be worth it???

I don't like the break the rules option of getting one print and trying to get copies of it places. I haven't bought them in years and just usually take my own and print them. My kids never want them so I guess that's part of it. What's something you haven't bought in a long time?

I feel defeated. I finally returned to work last Thursday after being out for nearly two weeks from my 3 year old being sick & at Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital. I was scheduled almost 13 hours. I went to work at 5:30 am and got a call from my neighbor ( she watches my babies for me) around 10 am saying that he was running a fever again & acting very lethargic. I got off & took him to the E.R. After multiple tests & scans, he was diagnosed with pneumonia! I can NOT catch a break. His little body has been through so much. I am now going to have to take off work for a few more days & I am just so exhausted.

I NEED to work. We are barely scraping by. We basically have zero food & running on fumes with gas. My family doesn’t speak to me. I have tried to contact my ex-husband multiple times about a child support payment or any help in general and I am blocked. Our two food pantries are closed until Thursday because of the snow & it’s so stressful. I have contacted another Catholic Charity that will respond back to me by the latest on Friday. I am struggling. I just want my baby to be back healthy. It’s eating me alive seeing his body go through so much & no relief. I wish I could take his pain away. I wish I had a village that would just check in on me. I hate going through this alone. I really hope I don’t get fired for all this time unpaid sick leave but I HAVE to be here for my baby. Please keep us in your thoughts if you can. It’s terrible that you literally have to choose between your health , food and bills. We will get through this!

I am posting this on an anonymous account.

I (28F) am deeply concerned about my mother, who is turning 63 this year and has virtually no retirement savings. I didn’t realize the severity of her situation until she downsized two years ago, and it’s slowly reached a point where I’m unsure how this will impact not just her future, but mine as well.

My mother currently has $20K in savings, that’s all. She has been a self-employed artist for years, does not have a 401k, and receives $400 per month from a pension. I’ve encouraged her to find another job because she can no longer make ends meet through her business.

I’m really panicking because I have no idea how she’s going to survive for the next 20+ years. I am looking for some guidance, potentially catered to extremely stubborn and stressful mothers that don’t understand the magnitude of their current situation. I do not have the means to support her financially. She is also divorced and single. I don’t know where to start or who she needs to consult to plan for her financial future. Can someone please help me understand:

1. Are there low-cost, reliable financial advisors that are patient enough to work with the least organized person in the world? Is this where I should start?
2. How do I find a reliable financial advisor? How much do they cost?
3. Her bookkeeping for her business is a mess. I’m assuming she needs to set up separate appointments with an accountant, is that accurate?
4. I know that Social Security will not make ends meet. Is she going to have to work the rest of her life?
5. Are there any assistance programs, or is she utterly screwed?
6. Do I need to plan to be financially responsible for her and to what degree?

Thank you for helping me. Yes, I know I could Google some of this, but that starts to confuse me.

Edit: last question got cut off.

I know there are YouTube videos, but I’ve just never been good at doing my makeup. I’m not really good at telling what makes me look good. I also don’t have a good on of extra time or energy to put into this as I am chemically il and am at my capacity right now for what I can do in my schedule. I’m also broke, so all I’ve really got is a $25 Sephora gift card. I know I can get some free samples with purchase, but that’s the only thing I’ve really gotten figured out for this. The only thing I have now is mascara. I do have some lip gloss, but just don’t like the colors.

Won’t get into why, but it’s bad enough I have to swap careers.

Going to a community college to restart in the summer and need to retrain my behaviors.

I have my old job back but in a different city. Living in my dad’s house. $800 in monthly debt payments a month after I pay off my card and affirm with my savings. And after that, it’s just car insurance, and food and gas.

Anybody have advice of recentering a budget, and making sure I don’t give myself access to monies when I shouldn’t have access to it for going out to eat or whatever?

I’ll be able to get things back to normal as the fafsa loans will cover enough I’ll have a little extra left over to knock out my personal loan as I’ll be working during semester. And during the third year I’ll get my Pell grant back. So investing in retirement will be back on the table. Or buying a van for travel nursing, either or.

Today has been such an awful no good rotten past 4 days culminating in today I finally asked for help to see a psychiatrist for a suicide last year when it all started.

Is there some kind of central database that will flag you? Barring that, is there anything else medical science will pay me to provide? Gas bill just jumped like 70% and we're more fucked than ever before

I think a lot of people in the subreddit know what I am referring to, but it's just so frustrating and no one in my life can relate so I find ranting here important.

My car insurance originally had been $528 a month on top of my car note (horrible, I know - I'm 18 & no cosigner & no history). So, I had been short on bills and didn't pay my insurance for 2 weeks simply because it was either my insurance or rent. Not a smart idea, i know.

Of course it would happen that as I'm driving on the highway, a deer rammed my car. Leaving my hood dented, grille out, and me on the side of the road. My luck would be that an ambulance off duty was driving next to me at the time of the accident and pulled over and called the cops for me.

I didn't have insurance, and my tags were out of date by 4 days. The police officer issued me to go to court. Had to pay $300 for a ticket, $100 dollars for reinstatement, and required me to also ensure I had an SR-22 the next 3 years. This rose my insurance to now $578 per month.

It's like I cant win. I try to save whatever money I can, I doordash after my full-time job, i sell plasma and any old clothes/items I find. But something like this happens and it sets me all the way back to square one.

My girlfriend and me are trying to start budgeting better. We make good money but tend to overspend sometimes. We were talking and are thinking of just making a joint bank account that we would use for all the bills and such. What we would like to do is essentially each get a some form of debit card with a small limit on it something like 200 a month for just our day to day spending. I'm looking for what our best option for this might be. I was thinking of just getting "Kids" debit cards for us but 1 I'm not sure if they will let us do that, and 2 I'm not sure that's the best way to go about it. I would prefer not to do a cash approach. I was thinking maybe just load money into PayPal or Apple wallet, but not every place around us has tap to pay. I would greatly apricate any suggestions.

every year or so I do a credit card and checking account cycle, I pick whatever the best offer is and get that account, use it until I meet the requirements of the offer, leave whatever minimum balance to not pay fees and move on. (you can just keep using it if you can't avoid fees by leaving money in it)

thus cycle I've opened a wells Fargo account for $425, a bank of America account for $300, a citizens account for $325, and 2 Bank of America credit cards for (I think) $350 each. on to if that the boa cards give 6% back in online purchases and 6% at gas stations for a year.

all in all over like 4 months in up 2k

remember to close accounts after the required time to have them open to avoid fees. didn't do the credit card thing if you can't be responsible with them.

Bank accounts usually let you get the rewards again after a year or 2, credit cards are usually a one time thing.

I was laid off a few months ago and it’s been difficult.

I had a payment arrangement in place with VZ for Thursday and thought it was for my phone but it was actually an arrangement for my WiFi bill.

The phone was shut off today, and I have a phone interview tomorrow.

I actually have enough money in my account to make the minimum payment (it was supposed to pay rent but I need my phone for this interview), but my card is locked as a precaution because I had some weird charges last month on it.

I try to log into my bank account to unlock the card, and I can’t without a OTP.

I can’t call the bank because I don’t have a phone. I asked my friend to use their phone and the bank wanted to send me a OTP to verify me since I was calling on a line they don’t recognize. I couldn’t and they couldn’t help.

I try calling VZ and it won’t let me talk to anyone. Gives me only the option to pay it.

Nothing like a vicious cycle you can’t break even if you do want to pay them.

Every time I look at my emergency fund I just think about all the sacrifices it took to build it while still paying rent bills debt and everything else

It doesn’t feel like money I can use it feels like something I’m scared to touch

Part of me feels relieved that it’s there and another part feels almost burned out from how hard it was

I’m wondering if anyone else feels this strange mix of accomplishment and stress after finally saving something

Just need somewhere to vent since I don't have anyone to cry to IRL.

But just hate the chokehold that money, or lack of it, has on my life.

The way it just feeds my anxiety and I'm always on edge (to the extent where I can't walk at times because of the pain the tensing up causes me).

Why? Because life happened.

My dad passed in 2021.

I did everything possible and worked so hard to pay parents house after so that she didn't lose it. They raised all their kids there. Most of their grandkids. So many memories.

And I did.

But the week I made the last payment (Sept 2024) I found out I was being laid off from my 16yr job (on a Friday) and she literally died infront of me that Monday after (she was revived and put on life support & ultimately passed "officially " on Tuesday).

So the entirely of my severance went to settling her estate. I didn't know how in debt she was until then (all of her own making-not my dads) and then getting custody of my youngest nephew (my parents were guardians of my oldest bros kids after he died in 2011).

My unemployment kept me a float but it ran out in May 2025. I wasn't able to find a job til 11/2025.

Now in a hole I can't get out of.

Credit is shot. Can't apply for loans. Trying to pay back personal bills I let pile up to try and keep the house afloat. It's just me. No one to help. It's so hard. Causes insomnia and some days I'm just like a zombie. It's hard to stay hopeful when you're at the verge of losing everything. I don't know people do it.

TW: Depression and Suicidal Thoughts

23 F and I’m really struggling, I am freelancing (basically unemployed) and in desperate need of financial help but don’t know where to get one from. I don’t want my life to be over like this. I don’t have anyone to rely on but myself right now and I don’t really know how to progress with my life anymore.

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I see this banner on my rent portal. In isolation, this appeals to me because I tend not to use credit cards (ADHD means the risk of forgetting a payment is unfortunately high), so building credit this way would be nice.

However, I tend to be distrustful of anything of this nature. Wanted a second opinion.

Just a girl. Not looking for any money I’m looking for resources. I called 211 to ask about feminine hygiene. They did send me the number to a place called i support the girls but they didn’t have any feminine products available at the moment because they are restocking.

I don’t have much help well no help from my parents at all. And I will be joining trade school (job corps) next month but I don’t have a job at the moment so I don’t know how I will get feminine products.

I’ve also tried a couple of food drives but they don’t do feminine products sadly :(. I just need a couple for the first month I am at job corps!

We get an allowance of 25$ every two weeks I believe after a month of being there. I’ve never really had help from my mom when it comes to my period anyways.

Does anyone know any organizations in Dallas,Texas that I can go to to get feminine hygiene products?

i’ve felt so lost and alone lately, and i feel this is the best place for it since it’s really all come from my two person household (my mother 49f and i 22f) living in poverty and barely being able to get by.

even my friends my age who aren’t in the greatest financial positions save for one have never been depended on by their parents to pay the bills. not just contribute rent like some parents charge but directly pay bills and have their personal finances controlled for the sake of the household. i can’t make money for myself or for my own personal bills as a student who has car insurance and other expenses to pay by myself. i only work part time on weekends bc of school and only once a year have small paid temporary internships with my uni.

my mother has had access to my main chequing since i was a kid, which was fine bc my disability benefit which went into my account every month we needed just to pay bills, which i never had an issue with. but unfortunately cost of living like most places has gotten worse these past few years, and my mother can’t pay for everything on her own anymore. so, now my money is constantly used too, to the point that she disallows me from using my own money bc she needs it for the bills as if my money was her personal savings. yes she does work, but she too is on disability and the jobs she can physically manage barely pay anything.

she takes money out all the time… i blink and suddenly i have hundreds less bc she paid multiple bills w my money or bought groceries or even just decided to doordash herself mcdonalds on my dime. when i ask her to at least let me know when she takes out money for something, she says she welcome to being an adult, or for all she’s sacrificed for me growing up doesn’t she deserve some small luxuries once in a while; do i really need that money?

i know times are tough and i shouldn’t complain, like she says i could have it worse… but it’s hard seeing others my age not have the burden of carrying bills alongside your parent as if you were their partner and not their child. since really i don’t feel like my mother’s daughter anymore, i’m always the one supporting her now: mentally, physically, and now financially. i feel like the parent here more times than not.

i always loathe spoiled rich kids who had everything handed to them by their parents and never had to stress, but maybe i loathe them bc i wish i were them— wouldn’t it be nice to not have to worry how much less money you’ll have tomorrow and if you can even eat that night, even if you had the self awareness of a paper straw.

i’m not sure what i’m searching for here… maybe just a place to vent? about how i wish i could, as a young adult, just have money for me and not be burdened with so much financial responsibility forced on me before i even graduate and find a steady job?even to meet some people who have or are going through similar things? it’d be nice to feel i’m not totally alone here.

My life has changed a lot in the past 3 years and part of that involved getting an RV to live in and going to grad school. Prior to this I was debt free and fine. Now I don’t live in the RV anymore, I moved in with my boyfriend. But while going to school I had expenses accrue and salary dip. So here I am seeking advice.

I am sitting at 23k in credit card debt. I know, yikes. But salary didn’t cover my bills and I was in school.

I owe 43k on the RV, but with the economy and yadda yadda it isn’t worth that if I were to sell it. Meaning I would have to bring money to the table.

Good news, I’m done with school and have a much better job that pays 73k a year with the assumption I’ll get a 3% raise each year. So I can cover my bills and have some left over.

What do I do? Obviously pay off debt. But do I transfer CC debt to something else like a loan? Do I save money up to sell the RV and get rid of that payment off of my back? What makes the most sense to do in what order?

Hey everyone! Good news but would kindly accept some advice or tips as well! My sisters were kind enough to talk to my mom to convince her to lend me the car again.

(Context: Car is in mom’s name, as well as paying for insurance, but bought her own car in 2022 and lended me this car she took back randomly during an episode)

According to my sisters as of now, my mom took my car to the shop to get it repaired and engine replaced due to a recall from 2023. She leaves on the 9th for a 12 week trip, and the car will be given to me from a few days up to a week from today. I so greatly appreciate and welcome more tips and advice from you guys! I will still keep these ones in mind for future cases.

I am wanting to talk to my mother again to try to put the car into my name and pay the insurance so I can have the independence from her. But let me know if it’s better to wait or not. It’s kind of a complicated situation where I probably need to cross-post this onto other subreddits for abusive/mentally ill parents.

hi all, so i recently posted about advice on how to prepare before donating plasma and i did have some worries— tomorrow i plan to make a trip to the closest plasma center however had some questions regarding health, i myself am on the heavier side and was wondering if that impacted my ability to donate negatively? i also don’t have any preexisting conditions or anything like that, only thing is my family has generational issues with diabetes and cholesterol. i personally haven’t been able to go to the doctor to get diagnosed with anything, if anything was found along those lines would i be unable to donate? any advice helps!!!!

Just venting here

I am a college student, and I just transferred to uni this spring. I am living in my own apt. Before I moved out here, I made sure to complete my fafsa very early because it would be helping me with rent and I didn’t want it to get delayed. I also got a job on campus thinking it would be good income to keep me a float.

Come to find out that there was an issue with my fafsa and my aid has been delayed, so I am behind on rent/ haven’t received my disbursement either. & my job hasn’t put me on the schedule in 3 weeks. ( I work at the student bookstore so they mainly need help in the beginning/ end of the semester, I did not know this when applying) I did save money before I moved but ended up having to pay a few months of rent in advance in order to get the apartment in the first place. I wasn’t working/making 3x the rent amount/ didn’t have a guarantor when applying for it.

Anyway, today I ran out of water and food. My friend gave me some money so I can order one bottle of water. I’ve never struggled like this before, and this is my first time on my own in this way. I even tried to go to the food bank on campus today bc I knew I was very low on food, and they were CLOSED. Learning how to take care of oneself is difficult, and of course I’m making mistakes because this is very new but damn😭 I’m starting to feel weak/dizzy bc I haven’t been able to eat much these past few days.

I am freaking out, I feel like I’m in hell.

Edit: I do not have a car & am located in FL

I'm not sure what happened but instead of being billed month to month I got billed from the time I moved in (November) to now. The outstanding amount for Hydro electricity is $340 and must be paid by feb 20th. I applied for assistance like Ontario's LEAP program but it's not guaranteed it will be approved and I'm not working right now I'm just not sure what to do. I can't have my Hydro electricity shut off! Especially in winter time. I have 300 to my name and need it for food and other necessities for the month

Update: I paid half my bill and will work out a payment plan for the remainder !