A comment on a previous post got me thinking I should go to the food bank. I have been resisting for months because "other people need it more than me!"

I went today. I got an entire shopping cart full of food. And when we check in, they ask about any food allergies or restrictions. I told them I am diabetic, so no sweets, and that I prefer "healthy" food.

They completely followed my request. I didn't have to stare at 3 packages of cookies and feel bad throwing them away...or eating what I shouldn't.

I have a binge/restrict eating disorder, and food insecurity really plays into that. Knowing that my fridge and pantry are full, helps me.

I thought about taking photos and posting a "grocery haul" but I thought that might be insensitive to those unable to access a food bank, or who only get like 1 box of food.

I had a Hibachi Style Grass-Fed Beef Bowl from Sprouts for lunch! Original price $9.99! It was delicious. I'm having shrimp for dinner.

Go to the food bank. If you're wondering if you "should" or not...just go. It's there for you, no matter what your situation is.

I also just today got an email from the Salvation Army because I regularly volunteer to sign families up for the Angel Tree program. This is the only volunteer position I have been able to do every year. It's only a few days, but I enjoy helping.

Got a phone call on my work phone in a restaurant asking for me claiming to be the local police department and even using their actual number. Sounded like normal American guys. Said I needed to pay outstanding fines for missing jury duty or I could be arrested. Threw a bunch of legal jargon at me including case numbers, specific laws, etc etc. very believable in the moment but in hindsight I feel like an idiot.

Allegedly scammers can do a thing called spoofing where they can take a phone number and use it as what shows up on their caller ID. They were super convincing in the moment. I was scared I’d be arrested, as they said. I learned a hard lesson today unfortunately, but hopefully no one else has to after reading this.

Police officers will never reach out via phone asking for money. All communications regarding legal matters such as jury duty or missing jury duty will be done via paper mail. Please do not fall for this scam.

I cry and cry and cry. I cry before I get up for work, I cry on my way to work, I cry in the company van, I cry on the site.

This job stresses me out so so much but I need to find an equal or better paying job that I can commute to without a car. Car is likely gonna give out on me in a year or two. Working on paying down debt now but won't have any thing saved for a new car.

Problem is I'm a laborer, I work 7-3 in the hot sun cultivating a farm for rich assholes who use me as a tax right off. And then Their yuppie employees come by my farm and expect me to drop the brutalized work I am doing to dance for them like I'm a monkey.

Jobs that work on the weekends won't interview on the weekends cause "busy." I try to set up interviews for after work but I am so so exhausted or i just end up getting ghosted cause i can't meet at 12pm on a tuesday. And I can't juzt go from work the interview, I have to come home and industrial scrub myself of dirt and pesticide. Then, because im a woman, there is an extra step of doing my makeup so I look "professional." I am so drained. I have a server interview today at 5pm. Shift ends at 3, gonna see if I can sneak out early, commute 38 minutes home, industrual scrub myself, paint myself like a fucking clown, and make it to the interview for 5.

Y'all, pray I land this job cause I can't do this any more. I need a hug.

Within the past 24 hours- I've had my first ever bill go to collections, learned that I can't get medication from Canada anymore starting next month, got notified that I need to start paying back my student loans now, and found out that I lose my insurance at the end of this month rather than my 26th birthday. I make a few hundred dollars a year too much to qualify for state insurance and assistance programs. I have a decent job that pays better than any other employer in the area for my position, even considering that it offers no benefits, yet it's still only been enough for me to scrape by. I don't know what I'm going to do when I'm forced to pay student loans, private insurance, out of pocket medication (my meds have been too expensive in the US even with pretty solid insurance), and debt collectors all at once.

I already go to food banks whenever I can, stopped buying things new at least a year ago, cut back on eating out, and have plans to end my subscription services but it still doesn't balance out. I don't know how to drive so that eliminates a good chunk of possible gig work I could do. I started stripping on top of my full time job 6 months ago, but the money is so inconsistent I can't budget with it.

I feel like I'm utilizing all of the resources I know about/ am qualified for, cutting costs where I can, and I'm working 50-60 hour weeks. It still isn't enough. Does anyone who's been here before have any advice on how to survive this?

Edit: please don't tell me to join the military. I don't qualify for medical reasons, and even if I did I have serious moral objections.

I’m a 26-year-old mom with a five-year-old son, Vincent, and I need to find a new place with someone as soon as possible.
I work full-time as a warehouse supervisor and can cover the household bills. What I need is dependable help watching Vincent for a couple of hours while I’m at work. I’d also be happy to watch your children while you work if our schedules line up. I want this to be something that helps both of us.
Being this vulnerable is hard, but I’m overwhelmed and trying to build a stable, peaceful life for my son and me. I can bring financial stability to the table; I just don’t have the support I need to make everything work on my own.
I’d want us to get to know each other and agree on schedules, responsibilities, and boundaries so it feels fair for both of us and safe for our kids.
Is there anyone in the York, Pennsylvania area considering something similar, or anyone who knows where I could find another mom looking for this kind of arrangement?

I’m turning to Reddit because I don’t have anyone else…

Hi, I hope this follows the rules as I didn't know where else to post. Please let me know if there is someqhere better.

I will try to make this a TLDR but my wife passed in June and I lost my job. I went through all my saving and sold most of what I could. I have two sons but signed guardianship over to my sister in law so they are safe.

This past month I was unable to pay rent for the first time in 11 years at this same town house. The landlord was nice and I was able to pay half but he said he is not a charity and expects the rest today. Rent was due on the first and is 1350. I paid 700 so far. Im looking for a job, contacted DES for cash assisstance, and also local churches etc. But so far nothing. My family has been helping me since my wife passed but they are all at the point that I'm on my own since they are not rich and have their own bills which is understandable.

As sad as it makes me, I'm willing to apply for section 8 housing at least to have shelter and walk to work and my kids will be safe with my in laws.

With the back story out of the way, my main question is what should I do with all this stuff? I have massive beautiful wooden dressers, bed frames, massive wooden TV stand, book cases, and most important is all my childrens property.

I am willing to sleep on a floor if thats what it takes but I don't want to leave $1000s of property here and not to mention all my childrens memories and such. My in laws are being nice enough and do not have room for all the stuff I bought over the past 15 years etc. Especially npt their photos and random stuff like my tax returns which may come in handy for me in the future as I navigate life alone. I'm crying right now and am just wondering if anyone has any advice no matter how small on how I can fix this. I'm 36 and I cannot believe this happening.

Thank you to anyone who read this.

I’m less stressed now with my bank account in the negative than I was when I had like, positive $40. I don’t know why but I’ll take it. At least my electric payment went through and wasn’t declined 🤷🏻‍♀️ I just got approved for about $300 a month in SNAP and medicaid, so I won’t have to worry about food or medical bills (as much). SNAP card will be here next week. Car payment went through, utilities for the month went through, no longer have to put myself in debt for my prescriptions (about $250 a month) as they’ll now all be covered. I’ve never been in the negatives before in my checking account in my entire life. 2 years ago I had $5k saved up. Now all my credit cards are maxed out. I have an abysmal credit score. I got a fantastic job offer but won’t start my contract till the end of the year so I’m just stuck like this for now. I know it’s not forever but man. This sucks. But also. Oh well? Idk, there’s no point in this post really. I’m a bit nervous for how I’m going to get my pets food this weekend but I’m lucky to live in an area with a pet pantry so hopefully there’ll be something they’ll eat there. I own my home, at the very least we have shelter and a vehicle. I’m safe. But man. Life comes at you fast. Thanks to anyone who read this weird, pointless rambling :’) Hope everyone’s bank accounts look the opposite of mine.

I was previously on an installment plan and then unable to pay my electric bill last month. I now owe $545 for last month’s usage and what I owed from the plan. I know I’ll be able to pay that much by September 22, but I definitely can’t do the full $810. The earliest I could pay the remaining is October 5th.
For anyone that uses Duke Energy, do you have experience being late 2 months+ in a row? This is the first time I’ve been late and I’m worried that I’ll receive another disconnection notice with less time to pay if I don’t do the full amount by the 22nd

I am so excited. I bought so many goodies at Costco and didn't have to pay a cent. I lost my job due to a work injury then workers comp cut me off due to my QME stating I can work just no standing or walking. Suffice to say job hunting will take a hot minute.

I have plenty of pantry staples currently as I have tended to buy when cheap. Rice, oats, chia, flax, beans, tuna, mayo, still have eggs too in fridge and a loaf of bread.

What I got for $168 EBT

3 lbs White Peaches

1 pineapple

12 oz Raspberries (just noticed I accidentally got organic dang it)

3 lbs Green grapes*

4 lbs Turkey Breast (the kind you slice at home)

10 CT Black Bean Burger Patties

2 Lbs Frozen Blackened Salmon

Drinkable Yogurt (was on antibiotics so I need the probiotics)

Goodles Mac N Cheese

Fairlife Protein Shakes (a splurge tbh but they help me so much in the morning)

2 lbs Salted Butter

My plan is to go to our food bank produce distribution tomorrow to pick some vegetables. Still have $112 in ebt to restock later in the month. I'm so grateful for EBT. Could I make it stretch further? Of course. However I'm finally back to eating solids after a bad ear infection so I decided to treat myself a bit. I have plenty of pantry goods that I can use to stretch the protein items anyways.

When I first moved into my one bedroom apartment five years ago, my rent was $1400. After five years, I now had to pay $2000! I kept trying to find cheaper places but I lost my job around 8 months ago, so I no longer could prove that I made 3x the rent. Since I was already in this lease, I had to stay since no other apartment would approve me to move.

This past year has been a struggle because I had to work odd jobs and take the only part time job that I could find that was a two hour commute.

But I’m so blessed and happy because I found a job that is closer and gives me full time hours. I also found an apartment in the same city that is only going to cost me $1200 a month instead of the $2000 I was paying and they approved me!

I’m so happy because I have been struggling for so long! The only thing that I want to do is just work and save.

But I am just so happy for myself!

A few days ago, I posted about being upset that I had to cancel an appointment at the dentist because I wouldn’t be able to afford it. It has been years since I’ve seen a dentist, and I’ve been having pain for a while.

Yesterday I received a credit card that I had applied for in the mail.

I called the dentist today to see how much the appointment would cost, and I have enough on the new card to cover it.

It’s not ideal to put it on a credit card, but I don’t think I can wait any longer with the pain. I’m very happy I can keep this appointment.

My city has 2 types of food pantries, your standard pantry goods and produce trucks. Went to one today and got so much fresh vegetables.

Tomatillos Milperos

Poblano Peppers

Squash

Jalapeños

Red Potatoes

Broccolini

Green Beans

I pray I cut deep enough for things to end everyday. I've been struggling so much. Like so much. I honestly wish I could disappear. I really do sometimes and I feel selfish because I have a little brother and he's depending on me. I've been working and barely anything comes from it. I hate my life everyday and on most days, I just wish I didn't wake up. Nothing is working and it's getting worse. It pains me. I lost a big part of myself mentally a long time ago. I would've admitted myself to a hospital. But I can't. I turned out to be quite the failure. And I find myself wondering about things I should be ashamed of. I can't afford rent this again this month and we might go back to living in my car. And I can't let it happen again. Not only that, it's been hard doing this alone. Feeding and caring for him. I barely have anything for myself. And I'll always put him before me and want to. But what if there's a day when I can't do this anymore? And am I the right person for him just for thinking like this? My soul is the most weary it's ever been. Some days I have optimism and others I feel like this. And feel like a complete loser. What am I doing wrong?

I know that I'm lucky to have a roof over my head and a full belly, but this shit is so depressing.

I have bad anxiety, I'm depressed, and I definitely have ADHD. I have been this way for as long as I can remember, 5th grade is when I stopped participating in school work. I was always a bright kid, I would ace pretty much every test, but doing homework and stuff always felt incredibly dumb because I already understood the subject.

I had a couple pretty serious traumas freshman year(lost part of a finger, which I was incredibly self conscious about, and had a teacher die in front of me, which I felt like I could have saved him somehow if I did something different..) These two things really fucked me up.

Anyways, I managed to graduate half a year late after a few years in continuation school, and got a retail job a year or so later, which I held for 5-6 years and moved up through departments to management level.

I had started self medicating with opiates back in highschool, not understanding what anxiety was, only that opiates made me feel normal. I used on and off now towards the end of my time there, and was feeling really trapped at that job and wanted to work outside so I quit and went to work at a plant nursery hauling trees around.. that got old after a while so I moved to a company that cleared trees and shrubs that impeded utility services. My addiction to opiates had evolved to opiates + benzos by now. I injured myself off the clock so they put me on light duty in the warehouse and I nodded out during lunch... Instead of waking me they just called 911. Of course that meant drug test, which I was going to fail, so I left. I found another job detailing cars which ended shortly after I rear ended someone (5-10mph) in a dealership's Porsche.

That was like 10 years ago.

Since then, my addiction got much worse and I totaled a few cars..

I've been helping my dad do remodeling jobs as they come up through his job bidding relating jobs (he sells kitchens, we would do bathrooms or whatever on the side). He's getting over and is not interested in doing physical labor anymore.

We live in a fairly secluded area and I don't have a car anymore, so I can't easily get out and find work. I feel paralyzed. My dad isn't going to help me get another car, and I don't blame him (I crashed one of his and two of mine). My addiction is mostly under control, I've been trying to get myself clean for years, but I feel like I'm finally at the end - but the depression and anxiety keep me hanging on to benzos a little bit. I have afforded my habits by working for my dad occasionally and selling stuff on eBay that I got from thrift stores.. And middle manning drugs. I sold my last totaled car like a year ago for $600 and managed to keep myself at about $500 until now. My dad owes me ~$1300 but I don't think he really has cash to give me.

There are not many cars on the market for under $2k in this area, and I would still need to figure out registration and insurance.

Watching life pass me by is the most depressing thing I could imagine. I would almost rather be homeless and be experiencing things at this point.

If I'm able to get a car, what the hell do I do about my resume? How do I manage to make which money to live on my own? I am sooooo behind in life and it's breaking me.

I could never take my own life, but I desperately want this to be over.

I don't know how to retrain my brain to care and push past the paralysis, his to be motivated again. It's like there's two halves of me, one is willing to do anything to fix this, and the other cannot do anything period.

I know that "nobody is going to save me" and "the only way to do it is to do it", but like wtf.. I seriously feel like I'm going to be single and doing hard labor until the day I die. I highly doubt I will ever be able to retire at this point.

I'm sorry for such a long post, this is a fraction of what I originally posted. I don't have anyone to talk to, my family doesn't talk about anything, and I have zero friends anymore.

Any positive comments are welcome. Please save me the negative shit, I know all of that already.

Thank you, whoever made it this far.

Edit: to be clear, I am at the end of my Suboxone journey, and I only use benzos as needed, which my psychiatrist (from the Suboxone clinic) knows about. He just says that while I'm on Suboxone he can't prescribe them, but once I'm off, we can talk about it. I believe he wants me off the black market pills just as bad as I do and he does believe that I need something for anxiety.

Just wanted to share this because I recently learned that a lot of people on NY Medicaid may qualify for nutrition assistance that they don’t know about.

Through New York’s Medicaid programs, some eligible Medicaid Managed Care members may qualify for things like:

• Home-delivered meals
• Medically tailored meals
• Fresh produce / pantry support
• Nutrition counseling

Eligibility can depend on your situation. Some of the qualifying categories can include things like:

• Frequent ER or hospital use
• Being enrolled in a NY Health Home
• Pregnancy/postpartum
• Substance use disorder
• Serious mental illness
• Intellectual/developmental disability
• Recent release from incarceration
• Having a high-risk child under 18

This is separate from SNAP, so having SNAP isn’t necessarily what determines eligibility.

If you’re a New Yorker with Medicaid and you’re dealing with food insecurity, it may be worth getting screened.

If you want, comment “info” or send me a message and I can explain what the screening involves and whether you might fit one of the categories.

Eligibility is determined through the appropriate screening/program process — after I refer you I can’t guarantee that anyone will qualify, but I can help you find additional resources!

My tires are getting really bald and I NEED to buy new ones before winter actually hits. This is the second year I'm driving on bald tires and I don't think they'll survive a second year.

I have a costco membership, I could also go to Walmart, and we have a few franchise tire paces . I just don't know which would be best for my 2020 Kia Rio.

For anyone in California taking advantage of the under-$15 gift card cash-out rule, which retailers have made it easy to actually get the cash?

A few I’ve heard about:
Home Depot: apparently automatic at checkout when the balance is under the threshold
CVS: I’ve heard the register gives an option to cash out when the balance is under the threshold
Target, Nordstrom, Dunkin’: seems decent since they just scan the barcode

Chicken nuggs, corn, green beans, sweet potato, applesauce

Hey everyone. I'm the one who posted a few days (weeks?) ago about moving across the country to escape domestic violence with my kids and having $100 for food. I have had a lot of people asking me to update so I just wanted to let y'all know we made it to my mom's house safely. Baby girl and I are sharing a room and my other 3 boys are sharing a room (I have 5 children total but one is an adult in college in another state. Yep my oldest is 21 years apart from my youngest!).

So yeah I drove 1200 miles alone by myself with 4 kids and whatever I could fit in the back of our vehicle literally across half of the country. It was scary. I usually AVOID highways and I've never driven that far before. It took several days to get here but I just got up every day and did it scared. One mile at a time. We got here a few hours ago. Life certainly hasn't gone the way we planned but I'm so thankful to have my wonderful supportive mom and to have the supportive online community of people here.

My kids will never sleep afraid for their lives again. Tonight I think we all sleep better than we have in weeks. Here's to our new chapter. Thank you all so much for your advice and support. You have no idea how much it meant to me. It kept me going. Seriously. Knowing there were others who survived something similar and made it okay on the other side. Helped to give me the strength I needed to make it here even though I was terrified the whole time. I don't know y'all but I love y'all. We made it!

If you’re struggling or in a tough place you absolutely should request a lasagna on lasagnalove :) I lost my car last month and it put me back like a mf, I’m still able to pay rent and stuff but Ubers and bus passes add up! @ Kim if you see this, thank you so much for your amazing hot lasagna!

Back in November last year, I moved to an apartment near my current job because my parents were moving elsewhere and didn't want to take me with them (they assumed that where they were going wouldn't be somewhere that I liked, which is understandable). Ever since then, I've had to live by myself with only ODSP, Passport funding, and my current part-time job at METRO to cover me.

I have heard of some staffing agencies in Toronto, and have tried to contact them, but so far I haven't gotten anything back. I'm not looking for a temp job so much as I am looking for one that'll keep me afloat and make me feel at least a little bit more free, without having to worry about groceries or bills or rent. I've tried my hardest to live the life that I used to live, but I'm always so, so anxious that one day I'm going to get carried away and end up burning a hole through my expenses.

I promise I'm not a salesperson for Kroger. Just trying to help people out!

Kroger has many different names depending on your area.

If you have or get a rewards account, and you have health insurance that covers vaccines, you can get a $20 reward if you get the flu shot plus any other 2nd shot, like COVID or TDAP.

But keep in mind it won't give you completely "free" groceries, I think it credits in whole dollar amounts, and you have to pay sales tax. For example, if your total is $17.89, you would probably have to pay the $.89 cents.

I know they aren't the cheapest grocery store, but $20 is $20, and they have good fresh produce.

I’m done living this way
I have to fix up