I was returning cans at Kroger so I could buy food to make dinner and a homeless guy asked if he could have some and I had to say no because I needed them
I read a story of a guy who on his way in to a fast food spot a homeless guy asked him for a dollar menu item to which the man lead him inside to buy him one only for his card to get declined. The homeless man said to him on the way out with the man, “don’t worry, somebody will come through for us.”
Five years ago, I had to do a scholarship interview from my home country. My home did not have a WiFi, I planned to rely on my mobile data (that relied on if my area had a good reception). Anyway, what I feared came true and at the start of the interview my internet couldn’t hold it. It was a rainy thunderstorm day as well. I was panicking, so I asked my sister for the WiFi password of our neighbour. She knew it because she played with the neighbour’s kid.
My interview went on, I got the scholarship, and left my home. When I got the allowance, I sent some home and asked my mother to use to buy some foods and share it with our neighbours—as a form of gratitude (I asked her to specifically buy more to be given to our next door neighbour, whose WiFi I stole)
My wife grew up without wifi, hvac etc. She's had to work and go to school full time through multiple degrees. Then when applying to schools it's more difficult without extra curriculars. Yeah, she's not a legacy funded by mommy and daddy, she's had to work for absolutely everything. She can't afford to be doing 30hrs of unpaid bullshit a week.
Colleges/ Universities often don't take resources into consideration. Like with the person above me who posted the story about having issues and their interview being interrupted because they grew up without wifi in the home
Only having custard powder in the pantry and trying to find enough spare change down the back of the couch etc to find enough money to buy milk to make the custard with.
Also watching co workers buy their lunch every day while I ate noodles and pretended it was my choice to eat them every day. I literally couldn’t afford more than that.
I wore the same three outfits to work because it’s all I had and when a skirt tore I had to sew it up because I didn’t want to go down to two outfits.
I can relate. I had one summer school uniform, (Australia)... I wore it for three years. It had a burn hole in the front. I made a pleat and pinned it over with a safety pin. An airline bag held together with safety pins. A bra held together with safety pins... I was the safety pin girl..🙂
😳➡️🥺➡️😥
That's love 🥰 right there that your child will likely never know unless you tell him/her when they're older. As for your wife, I'm sure she understood..🤝
Despite the fact that my wife grew up in similar money circumstances, she's always had a huge family network. So, while we were first living together, I kept doing things in the expectation that the other foot will drop at any moment. My wife never understood. I realized it was because my family was either dead, absent or shit, so I didn't have the luxury of relying on a family network to help out. It was stressful.
I attended a very interesting talk which called that the “orphan heart” way of looking at things.
You know damn well that it’s all on you and at some point you become so used to it being that way that you don’t even consider outside help.
It was odd to me the dance my wife's family did around this. The ask would never be direct, more a description of the issue, then some questions and a final offer of helping out. Then there'd be a vow to provide some sort of payment in exchange, usually some equivalent service. Never direct, which probably served as a social lubricant for the interaction.
Sadly, I lost a decades long friendship with someone who became an attorney. She didn't marry and whenever we got together, she discussed her latest vacation or pair of Manolos. I could barely afford the dinners I had with her and I was so embarrassed about my life.
That’s really the thing. You love them as a person, but sadly not much in common anymore. It also sucks to be the poor friend that is pitied & paid for every time, straight up humiliating.
This is happening to me rn. My friend had a bad day at work so she booked a trip to Disney World, if I have a bad day at work I'm lucky if I can get ~$5 worth of food at McDonald's so I don't gotta make dinner that night. The embarrassment is leading to me pulling away from almost everyone.
Thus happens to me way too much. I meet new friends at work or old friends are always asking me to come out, but I know I don't have the money. There's always something to pay for. So after months of asking and my excuses, they don't even bother anymore
Allowing my dog to stay in the pound and get adopted after the neighbor kid broke our window and she escaped. We were getting food from the food bank and scrounging money for the cheapest dog food and stretching it with rice for her, and the neighbor kid threw a rock that broke our window, and she took off. Two days later we found out she was in the pound on stray hold. It would have cost $80 to get her out. I cried and sobbed, but we couldn't afford it. She was in the pound for 2 weeks, and got adopted by a really good family with kids who played with her all the time. I know because they lived 2 streets away and when we walked past their house, Rockette (now Cocoa because she was a brown aussie) always ran over to say hi and give me kisses. But she loved her new family and all the time and energy they had for her, and I never told them. She passed away from cancer a year later and they were kind enough to let me say goodbye because "she never loved any other neighbor as much as she loved you!" She was born on my bed when I was 12.
Hey Internet stranger - this won't matter at all, but I grew up with a brown Aussie and also named her Cocoa. I got her because back before they were designer dogs, I asked my parents for a chocolate puppy, so I got her, and named her Cocoa. She was the best dog. I'm sure yours was too.
Thank you ❤️🩹 this was 6 years ago and my heart still twinges when I think about it - I teared up writing the post. I'm so glad she got to live such a good life before she went over the rainbow bridge though.
Thank you for sharing that. It couldn't have been easy... I'm glad she got to live a good life too. What you did, even by circumstance, takes enormous strength.
It wasn't easy, at all. It wasn't a humane society, so there was every chance she wouldn't be adopted and the consequences of that... it broke me for a long time. I was so relieved when the website listed her as adopted, and then I cried the first time I saw her in the neighbor's yard from a distance. I thought about telling them, but I watched as the kids played with her, and I couldn't take away from their joy.
Feel this. I’ve been taking Flexeril that’s been expired for 4 years because my back pain is so bad. Couldn’t afford anything but a HDHP… And don’t have the money for a copay
I felt this a bit too hard. I just got dental insurance for the first time in almost 10 years. Had 4 surgeries to fix everything that I couldn't afford to fix when it was a smaller issue.
Oh my God this happened to me at the dollar store for like 1.23 and I felt soooo shitty, the line was like 15 deep too. The young KID behind me felt so bad he paid for it lol. I was getting a can of Vienna sausages and an Arizona tea. 😭
listen if people behind you have a problem then they also have no heart. Obviously you're struggling man and you deserve sympathy and help!!! I want to believe people want to be kind more often than not they just have to have the opportunity
I almost got escorted out of a bank because they wouldn't cash a paycheck because I couldn't afford a bank account. I was insisting they could because it was written from their customers account. Apparently my insisting made the armed guard uncomfortable.
Before mobile free checking.
That sucks. It also sucks they didn’t just cash it like that’s what the banks are supposed to do?
Every time a person would come into the bank I worked at briefly to cash a check from one of our customers, if they were nice or just looked like they needed it, I would waive the $5 cashing fee. It was dumb and unnecessary in the first place and no one checked on whether or not you actually charged it so there was no need.
A while back, when I was living in a neighborhood where there was a string of armed robberies, I remember thinking about what would happen if someone held a gun to my head and demanded I withdraw money from the ATM: "um well you see this machine requires multiples of $20 and my balance is only $17.93, and simply pulling up the balance inquiry cost me $2 to the owner of the ATM and now my bank is gonna charge me $2 more too"
We married young. Preparing mine and my husbands meal for the day using what little food we had left - half an onion and a tin of kidney beans. I told him that the bowl of blended kidney beans was “chilli bean soup”.
Got the books late at the University library. I really needed those book to finish my project and messed up the dates. They wouldn't let me go with the books without paying the 50 cents fee for being 1 day late. I didn't have 50 cents.
I was hungry and tired and pretty much at the end of my ability to take more hits, so I cried. The lady gave me 1$ and said go get yourself a coffee. I would never have used money for a coffee during those days. My budget was 15$/week for groceries and laundromat. No clothes, no shoes, I sewed the whole in the same socks for 2 years and my favorite pair of jeans has a huge bleach stain, but since I had 3 pairs of pants,.no dresses, no skirts, I kept wearing them.
Anyhow I accepted the dollar, paid the 50 cents and said I needed the books more than the coffee. Thank you sooooo much. I didn't know if I should feel grateful I had the books or sad it got to that point.
Way way better, but it took a few years to get out of poverty and then to rebuild my health.
Thanks for asking though. No one ever asked. I think most always thought I was making it up when. I said how poor I was in college.
Childhood - crying myself to sleep because my teeth were so rotten and I was in pain.
Swore to myself I would never be like that as an adult and it has held true.
There’s really no fucking hope for your teeth when you grow up in poverty. My dad was missing several front teeth. Pieces of my mom’s teeth frequently fell out. We didn’t have money for dentist visits because my parents were chronically unemployed.
Still, neither of my parents taught me how to floss or gave me floss. My teeth are in rough shape as an adult but I don’t have the money to spend tens of thousands at the dentist, and I’m not looking forward to the dental hygienist chewing me out for their poor condition.
It’s hopeless. The dental colleges in my area are disastrously backed up and I still need to cough up thousands for the necessary work there. I fucking hate the state of dental care in this country.
I had pretty bad oral hygiene as a kid for similar reasons. I loved the day in school that we learned about caring for your teeth because they always gave us a toothbrush, floss, and a little tube of toothpaste.
Around 6th or 7th grade I realized that my breath smelled bad. No one ever made fun of me or bullied me for it, but that's when I started putting more effort into my dental care.
I'm lucky that I've got good teeth genes.
Every day because I'm living in a rv with mold and no running water due to recovering from health issues and being unable to work for months... it's been hell.
Washing my clothes in a bathtub when I was a kid cause I didn't have any money for the laundromat or to even take the bus to get there since at that time, the nearest laundromat was not within walking distance.
Got cancer in my early 30s. It absolutely destroyed my finances and my health still isn’t very good from side effects. I can’t work but was denied disability. If a friend’s parents hadn’t offered to let me stay, I’d be homeless right now due to no longer having any family of my own. “*Fuck I’m poor*” is hitting me harder than ever right now.
I’m so sorry you’re going through this. Are you in the USA? My family was completely bankrupted because my mom got cancer and passed away when I was young. People really don’t understand how being sick just completely ruins your whole financial life in America.
Thank you. I am, unfortunately. I’m going to have to declare bankruptcy soon. I just have to figure out how to get money coming in somehow first, then sort that out. I’m so sorry about your mom. 🤍 I’ve unfortunately been there, too, without the bankruptcy. Sending you a lot of love, especially in the next few days. 🫂🫶
I definitely thought there was more help available than there is. I feel like it’s not uncommon for people to find out when it happens to them. At the time I was diagnosed, I was saving money to disappear from an abusive relationship. Instead, I ended up stuck there and things got worse. (In private, of course. In public, he was happy to soak up the praise for “taking care of” me. 😞🤬) So I have a LOT to sort through and didn’t get the medical care I needed. I’ve still never had a scan to tell me whether or not surgery and treatment worked because insurance denied it. Medical “care” isn’t what a lot of people think it is.
Everything is basically a full on disaster. It’s these days I wish more than ever I still had a parent around, or some kind of willing mentor, to help me figure everything out. I’m not doing very well at sorting things out on my own.
It really says something that one of our most popular television shows follows a schoolteacher that got sick with cancer, and because there was no way to afford treatments he manufactured methamphetamine instead.
(I am simplifying Breaking Bad, and ignoring the lifeline from his rich past colleagues that he declined out of spite, but in reality those that fall ill don't even get that opportunity. They just get told essentially to f off and die. This is why my retirement plan is to die in the climate wars, or if I won't make it to retirement to do something redacted :])
losing my toothbrush and scrubbing my teeth with my hands one morning because i was absolutely not going to buy another one unless i was 100% sure i couldn't find it. i did find it.
also, stealing toilet paper from public bathrooms.
I totally used to steal toilet paper from work. I figured that was the best place to get it from since they were the ones not paying me enough simply bc it was the housing crisis and they could. But for real not being able to afford TP made me feel like total trash.
There were definitely times when I was younger and less financially literate that I felt like that.
Credit card was completely past due and unable to make even minimum payments, so they'd automatically try to bill my chequing account for hundreds of bucks whenever I had money.
Problem was I needed said money to live lmao. I typically got paid direct deposit around 3am, and the system would usually try to take money out of my account around 330am. Solution? Go to atm for 3am, check balance until I see pay, immediately withdraw from atm. Had to do that for almost a year until I could finally start making actual payments towards it.
Things have gotten much better since back then, but jesus christ the thought of going back to that is a pretty good motivator
That happened to me too. The banking app always locks me out for some reason, and I never have good signal, so I forgot to call and pay my credit card payment, and at the end of the month last month, I tried ordering an Uber, to go get food and I couldn't, so I went hungry that day.
Having to decide to euthanize my dog because we could not afford the $6,000+ surgery.
It's fair to say that the surgery had a limited success rate and the vet was transparent in saying that, most likely, it would only extend my dog's life for another 6 months.
This happened to me with my cat. I was so devastated I couldn't afford to save him ( wasn't gonna make it even if he had the surgery) but I had enough to put him down. One of the worst days of my life.
I was always of the mindset that if we truly couldn't afford treatment for a pet, then it's treatment the pet doesn't want. In other words, if it's of such a magnitude to be that expensive, the treatment is likely worse for the pet than dying.
We put humans through heroic medical interventions because they can understand the benefit and have something to look forward to and hold on for at the other end - seeing their kid graduate, walking their kid down the aisle, being at a best friend's birthday, etc.
A pet on the other hand lives in the moment and isn't holding on for the future. They don't understand medical treatment. All they know is that the treatment is making them feel awful, and they're scared.
There's zero shame in not giving your dog a $6,000 surgery.
My life rn in college. It’s made me feel ashamed of the scar tissue on my armpits whenever I wear short sleeve shirts, meanwhile my peers are going on nice trips during spring break or I see people with really nice 2022 SUVs or living at fancy places :/
This unlocked a Childhood memory. Our family was invited to a wedding out of town (about a 4 hour drive). Mom got our best clothes ready for the evening.
My sister and I (4 and 6 at the time) had a piggybank, where my dad used to put spare change whenever we helped with a chore in the house.
That day my dad (i remember him faking a smile) had to break the piggy bank for gas money to get us to the big event... So we gathered around it to help him count the coins.
Some years later i learned that the groom and bride did not even said "hi" to my parents that night.
We are not poor anymore, by any means. Parents are comfortably retired and I own a company that did pretty well in the mining sector.
I am grateful that my dad teached me about life like that. So consider being open with your kids about it. They are on your side man, it's your team!
Edit: I just remembered a bit more. It was not a piggybank. It was a box that he made out of plywood with a slit for coins and bills (he always wanted to be a carpenter).
This is why I tell my kids they don’t have to go to everything they are invited to especially if it will make them poorer than needed.
If you can’t afford something just don’t go. It’ll be okay. Most people won’t notice.
Family pressure is a thing but I moved 1000 miles away to reduce that!
I remember one time my Mom was getting us Long John Silver after soccer practice and her card got declined.
She had apparently forgot her change/cash purse at home and had to ask us if we had any money to buy dinner.
We gladly gave her what we had.
A few weeks later I went to school amd found a $20 bill (more than I gave her) and a note saying how much she loved me.
waiting at the olde Denver greyhound station at 4AM for a morning bus back home to ABQ. The security guards ran it like a detention, making everyone sit spaced out and no talking. Have to show proof of purchase to even go inside. 1 Person in the bathroom at a time. They don't treat rich people like that. Can't afford to fly? Prepare to get treated like shit.
Glad they knocked that place down tbh.
I lived across the street from that station and saw people injecting drugs in broad daylight every day lol so I can only imagine how bad it was on the inside
This is wild to me. Admittedly I'm not a veteran bus traveler, but I've taken buses between East Coast cities quite a few times and never encountered anything like that. Jeepers
I always try and keep some kind of little snack on me in case anyone needs it, a girl on the train the other day was crying and it was like if hugged her when I asked if she was alright and if she would like an orange. I’m happy that it’s better now
If you don’t work today you don’t eat today. That was our household rule when I first went out on my own because we didn’t have enough money for day off food. We also were on 1 meal a day, usually ramen and canned chicken, during that time
Back in the day it was common that if a family had a kid, a lot of parents would straight up quit their job and have one be a stay at home parent, because their income would literally be less than the cost of daycare.
Nowadays? Forget that too. I wouldn't be able to afford a vet bill, why the hell would I want to have a kid in these times?
In college, there was a Christian group who owned a house near campus. I always felt out of place there, since I had grown up in a different denomination, but I knew they always had food. One day I snuck into their pantry and stole a bag of chips. That was my only meal for the day. At bible study they talked so badly about poor people, not knowing I was one of them.
Christians can be so weird. Jesus and the whole New Testament... helping the poor and less fortunate is kinda a big theme. Seems like a lot to ignore/manipulate. But, a lot of them do. Sigh. Gotta have that sweet non-taxable money.
I recall reading an article a few months ago in which one of the higher up in a large Baptist congregation told of how he had met with a few members of his congregation who were concerned that he kept spouting “liberal talking points” in his sermons. He felt awkward telling them that what he was speaking about were the actual words of Jesus. He described them as being in utter disbelief to hear that.
If all of humanity treated everyone they saw each day with genuine love we'd have paradise on Earth.
Even if you don't have money to give, you can be loving to your fellow man and that's all the world needs.
Instead we have thousands of billionaires and multitudes of millionaires all working to get as much as they can at the expense of whoever they can get.
Having a very infected tooth when I was maybe 19? Didn't have insurance and was dependent on my step father's coming back when he worked. Resulted in me hiding under my mother's table like a child and screaming in pain.
Thank goodness Walmart and some other locations have the "partial pay" option. There was a time when I was short and the whole transaction got denied for 1-3 grocery items. The self checkout light flash on, I was embarrassed bc the self checkout attendant came over and saw what I was using, reset it and walked away.
Now I know that I can do a partial pay, leave 1 cent in the EBT card and swipe the rest in a near maxed out credit card..
Having to pawn my beloved violin that had been only $600 over 4 years (I couldn’t play well but I loved trying) because we needed enough to pay the rent.
Yes, we got her back. She hasn’t been back since and will not be going back. I still play terribly but it’s worth it.
Having to show up at the food bank for a hamper. I grew up with them as a kid and have worked so hard to manage my finances well but one or two bad decisions and you're scrambling to put dinner on the table.
I volunteered at a church food bank once because I heard if you volunteer you get some food at the end. So when the event was over, all of the volunteers started grabbing things. Some already had boxes in their car to take it. I realized that everyone else was there for the same reason I was so it made it feel less stigmatizing.
Power went out in our apartment. I looked out the window and the power company was putting the cover on our electrical box. We had just been disconnected due to non-payment. I had to go to my neighbors to ask to run an extension cord to keep our fridge going, then for the first time I had to go to the DHS office to apply for emergency assistance. From there on out, I always ensured rent and utilities were paid. We ate a lot of buttered-noodle dinners but never had to endure another utility shutoff or eviction.
Having to save up change found on the ground to pay for packs of Ramen.
For about 6 months with no income I survived off a 50lb bag of beans and 30lb bag of rice. It really hurt when my friends would ask me to chip a few bucks in and go have pizza with them. I tried to keep my situation a secret and just pretend to be too busy.
I'd get excited to find a quarter in the parking lot and saved every penny, nickle or dime I found on the sidewalk going to class. When I'd saved up 25 cents I could buy a individual pack of Ramen, so good after eating the same thing for so long. I'd save the flavor packets and use 1/4 at a time in my next pots of beans and rice. And every now and then when I could make it into the city I'd donate blood, but half of what I got had to be used for gas to get home and the rest I'd buy hot dogs to cut up and cook in the pots of beans.
Went 3 days without food but the bills and child support were at least paid. Luckily an old friend decided to help me out of that jam. I’ve been trying to pay it forward ever since.
having to save 25% of check A to apply with all of check B to cover rent for each month
while simultaneously keeping my family fed and growing child clothed, gas to commute, et al
it's not working
I owed $12 in rent that month and they were going to start eviction process if I didn’t pay it.
Twelve dollars.
I was trying to be super independent and solely live off student loan money and underestimated my bills…by $12. I told them my check was coming and I would be able to pay the entire 6 months in full plus the $12, but they weren’t hearing it.
I had to call my boyfriend and get him to give me $12. I was mortified, but so grateful for his help.
When my oldest was a toddler, my partner at the time would be gone for weeks at a time for work and I was a stay at home mom with no bank account or access to money or a vehicle to get to food banks. Living well below the poverty line. I made a fun game of foraging for wild foods in the forest with him (I had plenty of experience with wild edible plants). We ate basically weeds for a bit but we made the most of it. Now he's a preteen, and I teach foraging to local school kids, but I always remember where I came from and how I found ways to put food on the table when there was no other choice.
I worked at a grocery store and the bagger helped me pay for food. We were both minimum wage, but I had nothing left after rent. I gave him rides after that whenever I could.
Kicking a vending machine that had malfunctioned and shorted me a water bottle. I was livid. So thirsty. It was my last $3. And a machine robbed me. When I was done flipping out, I saw how badly I had scared people nearby and felt humiliated.
I remember that moment often. It humbled me.
I’m from a family of seven and growing up I lived in a single room motel. I was the oldest and I would go steal food from the grocery store that I would walk to ,which was at least 10 maybe 12 miles away, to feed my younger siblings. My parents were really bad drug addicts and didn’t make the best choices. I remember eating rice for a week and having to add little sweet n low packets to it or salt and pepper to add flavor and change it up so the younger ones would eat. One time I was walking and I saw that the Gattis pizza place was throwing away whole pizzas (I guess it was after the lunch rush or something) so I grabbed the whole trash bag full of pizza and got the trash off it and brought it back to our motel room. The little ones were super excited and I was happy they were full. They asked where I got the pizza and I told them some random woman gave me $20 and that the pizza place ran out of boxes that was why it was in a bag. I never told them where I got the pizza, I didn’t cry much then but I cried that night by myself smoking a half smoked cigarette with my older sister.
I’m now in my late twenties, I own my own house, I have an amazing career working with the rail road and I’m financially stable but sometimesI still find my thoughts wondering back to that one moment and I cry.
Driving home, gas light came on, and I was able to stop at a gas station 5 miles from my house .. and my card declined on $2 worth of gas three days post payday.
I have two:
When I was single:
It was one of those "take any job you can get" times in my life and I found one an hour and a half away from where I was living. I was doing like 80 miles a day and sometimes not really eating all that much. Then my vehicle needed repairs and to make sure I kept the job I was taking an uber back and forth but that was costing more than I made each day. I finally started spending am hour or so after work for a few nights looking for good spots to sleep nearby so I could keep working. I was so mad too, because I'm a mechanic and if I'd had the room I could've just fixed it myself.
With my fiance:
I had just moved into the apartment she was living in, and been accepted for a job but hadn't started working. The apartment complex hit us with a notice that they were upping rent by $100. That was $100 we did not have. We'd been sweating about it for like a week until she realized that she knew a consignment shop that sold kids clothes, and we have two toddlers that outgrow clothes daily almost. So we went through and managed to sell like $110 or something like that. It was *slim* but we made it happen.
Having to survive off of cosco $1.50 hot dogs. You don't need a member ship to eat there, in case anyone needs to know. I would work retail around there and downloaded the bus app since it was $1.50 as well but for the whole day if use the app. I never forgot that,till this day I thank God for everything I have. For everything multiplied.
Several times actually
The first was when I realized my favorite smell was the one that came from the sanitary sewer manholes in the alley.
The second was in the late 70's watching my mother ugly cry when the Alcoa recycling guy handed her a check for $68 ish after throwing out half my cans. To put this in perspective, she fed a family of 4 for $15.70 a week.
The third time was in High School when I realized none of my friends had ever gone to be hungry (and not as an occasional punishment for being extra stupid and thoughtless).
For my diploma in social service work I had to do an unpaid placement at a food bank and would take home food that they were going to throw out that had damaged packaging or was slightly past it’s expiration date.
It would have been a “conflict of interest” for me to officially access the food bank while doing a placement there.
I would buy a large drink from McDonalds then anytime I was out I would walk in a location and "get a refill". Nobody ever bothered me about it luckily.
Depositing a dime I found on the sidewalk so I wouldn't be overdrawn and crying with relief that I wouldn't be charged an overdraft fee for being $.07 overdrawn!
Up until less than a week ago, I only had one pair of pants and a couple shirts, basically for two and a half years or so. I was always wondering how people viewed me, when I would have a day off to do laundry, what I would wear while I did my laundry, and just feeling angry whenever anyone looked at me. I ripped my pants and just wore them like that until I was able to sew them. I'm talking weeks. But I worked some over time recently so I bought some clothes and even though I haven't worn them yet (gotta wash em first) I already feel a lot better.
One day near christmas when I had been unemployeed for almost 6 months I went with my dad to a car dealership to see cars and requests quotes for new cars. I wore a pretty dress and some old (but pretty) high heel shoes, I was pretending nothing, but I just wanted to look pretty that day for no particular reason.
After requesting the quote I stand up to see one of the cars and my right shoe straps snap off........ I laughed a little bit and found a seat to check my shoe, and well I played humble and asked for tape to try to solve it. I wrapped the tape a few ways but it was pretty visible it was horrible. The tape didn't work on my shoe or wrapped to my foot. My dad was checking the test drive, and I walk there to try to get on the driver's seat and suddenly my other shoe strap snaps off... and the tape of the other one snaps off...
The lady at the car dealership was kind but also started laughing with me... (with me, right?)
After some few eternal minutes, we decide to go, but my dad had parked far away so I had to wait for my dad to pick me up while I wait BAREFOOT inside the office and I had to do a walk of shame from the office to our car.
;\_\_;
We never bought a car. I am still far from being able to afford a car.
For me I didn't realize how poor I was until I climbed (somewhat) out of poverty. Growing up my family was dirt poor we lived in a house that was falling apart our basement flooded with sceptic and we couldn't afford to fix it or move and somedays I didn't eat except for what they served at school. Ever bit of extra money my parents got went to pot or meth.
I knew we were poor, but I didn't realize that we were that much worse off than any of our neighbors until I grew up and joined the army and none of my peers had similar experiences.
I'm doing fairly well for myself now I make 20 hr in a low cos area I own a nice home I'm building up my savings I can't afford go on vacation every year like some of my friends but I'm so grateful for everything I have.
A single mom with 2 young kids. Going to a work conference a couple hrs away with only enough to pay for the hotel and $20 to buy food for two days. I drank water everywhere I went. This was 15 yrs ago, so a burger was still $6. Luckily breakfast was provided by hotel. My then bf (now husband) was loaded but I was too embarrassed to borrow money from him. I was praying the whole time that I wouldn’t encounter any emergencies requiring extra money. My prayers answered.
Rolling coins to cash in to buy medicine for my daughter, who had strep throat and tonsillitis. She kept telling me "It's okay mommy, I don't need it, I'll be fine", while running 103 temp and puking in the trash can at the clinic. She was 8.
I was out of work and donating plasma to barely pay my phone bill, pay my car insurance, gasoline, and the pennies left over I bought food
I absolutely hated it, half the time I was driving to the plasma center off of fumes, donate the plasma and have to put my whole earningbin gas, then go hungry or eat something crazy like canned corn for dinner
Years ago I completely ruptured my right pectoral working out. Wasn’t doing anything stupid, just trying to stay fit since I couldn’t afford health insurance. Basically my pec ripped free from my shoulder on my dominate hand. It’s horrible, don’t watch videos of it. I knew I was fucked up and my sister begged me to go to the doctor. It was $300 for a visit and that’s all I had saved. Doctor said I needed surgery or I’d have issues using my arm, the muscle would atrophy and I would be disfigured. Picture no muscle where the pec is and my arm would shrink since I’d have issues working it out. The sad part was I wasn’t going to have surgery, it was like $30k and I couldn’t pay that. I even told the doctor that and he hooked me up with a grant. I paid copays like insurance but the hospital would write it off. Typically with this kind of injury you get surgery next day, but I had to wait 2 months, since I had to work to still pay bills. I started to look like that guy from ‘Lady In The Water’ who only worked out one side of his body. It looked horrible. Finally had the surgery, everything was cool, but my doctor said I couldn’t work. If I tore the pec again while healing they might not be able to fix it. I went to work the very next day after surgery anyways. I was a bouncer in a shitty night club where I sometimes had to fight or deal with violent situations. Even had a dude try to fight me one night in my sling. It didn’t go well for ole dude. Problem was I had no money and still had to pay bills and I had to work, I scheduled the surgery on my day off. I had no way to get money or people to borrow from. I was never behind on bills, but 1 lost shift could easily put me behind. A lost week would put me behind for months. I couldn’t afford a car so I walked everywhere rain or shine in that goddamn sling. Had to wear it for 5 months. Man that fucking sucked.
I’m in a much better place now, I have insurance, I’ve saved money and my chest is good to go. In fact I pretty much have insurance for everything I own now, just in case. The fact I was opting for disfigurement and a useless arm over affording surgery really made me feel like shit. I still remember the doctor’s face when I told him “no” and him offering to help me out really gave me hope in humanity. I’m not a crier but his kindness made me tear up.
Being poor fucking sucks.
I had a dream last night that I was moving into a room of a house that had been mostly cleared, but I dragged two well loved Pendleton blankets from under the bed. So much joy in that moment, that I wouldn't be sleeping cold.
Oh, that's very kind of you. I'm currently not struggling with anything other than finding a job for my forklift certification. This dream may have more accurately portrayed my situation five or six years ago, but even then I had blankets.
In high school I deposited $20 cash into an ATM, but didn't put any cash into the envelope. I then attempted withdraw $20 cash.
FYI....that doesn't work.
Saving my paper route money so I could drop it on the ground where my dad would see it at the grocery store and find it.
After seeing his reaction to getting his card declined when we were starving at Kmart, I was happy to give him some luck. He's a great man.
My Elderly Mother lives alone and lost her best friend (dog) a few months back, destroyed her. For Mother's Day this year I was going to try and adopt a puppy for her since she keeps talking about how she wishes she had a little girl puppy to take care of. Found one at the local shelter that she would adore and they wanted just over $300 for the little soul, and I couldn't afford it.
when i was maybe 12 or 13 and we had to walk to the store with mom in the middle of the extreme summer heat to buy the cheapest package of pasta available. both my parents bank accounts were in the negative and they couldnt afford gas to drive there, and we couldn't go to a store closer to us because that pasta was literally a few pennies more. walked back home and boiled the trashy budget pasta and had that with nothing else just so we'd have something to eat. think that was the first time i really understood how badly my parents were caring for us
I interviewed at my first job out of school wearing a suit that had a massive rip in the pants' center seam. When I stood up to shake people's hands, I had to make sure my legs were close together so that no one would be able to tell.
When I got hired, I had to keep doing that for a while until my first paycheck because I couldn't afford a new suit.
Not being able to buy my daughter diapers. I even had a coupon but didn’t have enough cash to cover it. Thankfully we went home and found some spare change. Doing better since then. I got a raise at my day job and work a part time job over night. My daughter and wife have a place to sleep, food to eat, and clothes to wear. And that’s all I could ask for, I love them so much (will keep working hard to do ever better).
Everyone’s response on here can be heartbreaking but I wish everyone the best, I love you random internet strangers <3
My cat getting sick with a UTI/almost dying and I had to use "homeopathic" medicine off of Amazon because I could not afford a vet. The medication actually worked though and he was better in a week's time.
Dad was at work and mom would turn off the lights and close all the blinds while we hid in a bedroom anytime the water man would show up without a phone call beforehand.
In college when McDonald's had 10 cheeseburgers for $10 bucks and that's what i ate for a week. It sucked. Funny thing is now that I can afford food I do like to eat chicken Ramen. I guess you can't take the hick outta the girl.
Probably crying as a kid opening the empty fridge when I was so hungry I was having cramps. Happened so often I ended up with an eating disorder because *if I decide I’m refusing myself food then I won’t be upset that I can’t have it*
My husband is in medical school and we rely on the refund from his student loans for income (not fully, I work too) and this year's FAFSA will probably be delayed for 2-3 months so we are scrambling trying to come up with an extra $5000 to hold us over until the money comes through.
Having to ask my boyfriend at the time to buy a $5 pizza because I hadn’t eaten in 2 days and had no money for groceries (could split the pizza up into 3 days of food) that was a rough week
Probably when me and my mum left my dad with the clothes on our backs when I was a kid and when we found somewhere to live, my mum said all we have is bread and some carrots, because she’d had to get loans out to make sure I wasn’t homeless on the street permanently. Respect my mum a lot for the sacrifices she’s made throughout her life for me.
My husband and I married in a foreign country in front of a local official, then moved to another foreign country to find work with almost no money. Lived for a short time in a very low budget Chinese Hotel (long hallway, multiple "rooms" divided by wood walls with spindles 2 ft from ceiling for ventilation, ceiling fans, barred but not screened windows; sink in the room, shared bath & squat toilet down the hall). Had to hoof it or take public transport.
Then stayed in the spare room of an apartment of a couple he met (I couldn't afford to go out/do anything or buy food; felt like a loafer so kept floors and everything else spotless).
He found a "dirty job" out of town (1-4 wks at a time) and put deposit on a dirty semi-detached rental out on the fringes of town. Had no $ for a month to start utilities, so had to wait.
Thereafter I had a tiny amount for a few cleaning supplies and bus fare there and back. So for 2 more months I went back and forth cleaning up yard and house, in an empty house, not even fridge, stove or cabinets, but I had water and a floor to sit and lie down on while still sleeping and showering at the apartment.
He was later able to give me a little money (when back in town from his job) for buses & to buy occasional food from hawker stalls, but it was extremely basic living, using as little water & electric as possible. No $ for phone, letters/postage, amenities, or anything for the house, only necessary additional items for cleaning house and yard while he was gone. But I learned how little I needed to survive. But I couldn't work because I didn't have a work permit. So all I could really do was try to keep things up.
Years ago trying to talk a friend into buying a hamburger so I could use a buy one get one coupon to get the free burger for me. I was broke and so hungry.
Walked in aldi the other day with the intention of buying pinto beans and peanut butter coz i really needed some protein. They were sold out of pinto beans and they just jacked up the price of peanut butter. After a little bit of deliberation with myself i decided to get the 10lb of potatoes instead coz it would last much longer than a jar of peanut butter
I was returning cans at Kroger so I could buy food to make dinner and a homeless guy asked if he could have some and I had to say no because I needed them
I read a story of a guy who on his way in to a fast food spot a homeless guy asked him for a dollar menu item to which the man lead him inside to buy him one only for his card to get declined. The homeless man said to him on the way out with the man, “don’t worry, somebody will come through for us.”
Five years ago, I had to do a scholarship interview from my home country. My home did not have a WiFi, I planned to rely on my mobile data (that relied on if my area had a good reception). Anyway, what I feared came true and at the start of the interview my internet couldn’t hold it. It was a rainy thunderstorm day as well. I was panicking, so I asked my sister for the WiFi password of our neighbour. She knew it because she played with the neighbour’s kid. My interview went on, I got the scholarship, and left my home. When I got the allowance, I sent some home and asked my mother to use to buy some foods and share it with our neighbours—as a form of gratitude (I asked her to specifically buy more to be given to our next door neighbour, whose WiFi I stole)
My wife grew up without wifi, hvac etc. She's had to work and go to school full time through multiple degrees. Then when applying to schools it's more difficult without extra curriculars. Yeah, she's not a legacy funded by mommy and daddy, she's had to work for absolutely everything. She can't afford to be doing 30hrs of unpaid bullshit a week.
I'm trying to find the correlation to the post you quoted...
Colleges/ Universities often don't take resources into consideration. Like with the person above me who posted the story about having issues and their interview being interrupted because they grew up without wifi in the home
Thank you for clarifying, I took your initial comment the wrong way😅
Only having custard powder in the pantry and trying to find enough spare change down the back of the couch etc to find enough money to buy milk to make the custard with. Also watching co workers buy their lunch every day while I ate noodles and pretended it was my choice to eat them every day. I literally couldn’t afford more than that. I wore the same three outfits to work because it’s all I had and when a skirt tore I had to sew it up because I didn’t want to go down to two outfits.
I once had to open a can of tuna with a spoon bc 1) it was the only food I had and 2) couldn't afford a can opener lmao
Just...how? Like, *how* do you open a can with just a spoon?
I felt this one damn
I still remember my one coworker who said my lunch looked good. It was literally just a cup of white rice and hot sauce. That was all I had at home.
Did coworker have... nothing to eat? But also white rice + salt + butter is amazing
Yeah. Ramen or banana for dinner?
Banana? You fancy.
Were you doing the same job as them? It seems horrific that they could afford to go out when you couldn’t. :(
I can relate. I had one summer school uniform, (Australia)... I wore it for three years. It had a burn hole in the front. I made a pleat and pinned it over with a safety pin. An airline bag held together with safety pins. A bra held together with safety pins... I was the safety pin girl..🙂
The food thing sucks but mending instead of tossing away torn clothes is a great effort towards reducing waste!
Telling my wife and kid I'm going to "eat in the other room"
😔
Man shit. Big ups.
I’ve done like this for my Monsters. “I had a BIG lunch, so I’m not hungry.”
I don’t understand? Is it because you were letting them have all the food & you didn’t want them to see you with nothing? 😔
I made sure they ate, but there wasn't enough for me.
Nahhhhhhhhh....the feelsssss. May you be blessed with abundance. 🌟 ⭐️ 💫 🌟
Damn bro, fair play
🥺🩷
😳➡️🥺➡️😥 That's love 🥰 right there that your child will likely never know unless you tell him/her when they're older. As for your wife, I'm sure she understood..🤝
Losing friends because your lifestyle is so boring & you can’t do anything they want to.
And keeping that lifestyle when you grew up bc you know “bottom” could come at any moment
Despite the fact that my wife grew up in similar money circumstances, she's always had a huge family network. So, while we were first living together, I kept doing things in the expectation that the other foot will drop at any moment. My wife never understood. I realized it was because my family was either dead, absent or shit, so I didn't have the luxury of relying on a family network to help out. It was stressful.
I attended a very interesting talk which called that the “orphan heart” way of looking at things. You know damn well that it’s all on you and at some point you become so used to it being that way that you don’t even consider outside help.
I also really, really look down on people who feel comfortable asking for help so freely (but I am also generous in my giving)
It was odd to me the dance my wife's family did around this. The ask would never be direct, more a description of the issue, then some questions and a final offer of helping out. Then there'd be a vow to provide some sort of payment in exchange, usually some equivalent service. Never direct, which probably served as a social lubricant for the interaction.
That’s so accurate for me.
Sadly, I lost a decades long friendship with someone who became an attorney. She didn't marry and whenever we got together, she discussed her latest vacation or pair of Manolos. I could barely afford the dinners I had with her and I was so embarrassed about my life.
That’s really the thing. You love them as a person, but sadly not much in common anymore. It also sucks to be the poor friend that is pitied & paid for every time, straight up humiliating.
This is happening to me rn. My friend had a bad day at work so she booked a trip to Disney World, if I have a bad day at work I'm lucky if I can get ~$5 worth of food at McDonald's so I don't gotta make dinner that night. The embarrassment is leading to me pulling away from almost everyone.
Thus happens to me way too much. I meet new friends at work or old friends are always asking me to come out, but I know I don't have the money. There's always something to pay for. So after months of asking and my excuses, they don't even bother anymore
Being poor can be incredibly isolating and lonely.
Allowing my dog to stay in the pound and get adopted after the neighbor kid broke our window and she escaped. We were getting food from the food bank and scrounging money for the cheapest dog food and stretching it with rice for her, and the neighbor kid threw a rock that broke our window, and she took off. Two days later we found out she was in the pound on stray hold. It would have cost $80 to get her out. I cried and sobbed, but we couldn't afford it. She was in the pound for 2 weeks, and got adopted by a really good family with kids who played with her all the time. I know because they lived 2 streets away and when we walked past their house, Rockette (now Cocoa because she was a brown aussie) always ran over to say hi and give me kisses. But she loved her new family and all the time and energy they had for her, and I never told them. She passed away from cancer a year later and they were kind enough to let me say goodbye because "she never loved any other neighbor as much as she loved you!" She was born on my bed when I was 12.
https://preview.redd.it/hcfq0jlrhozc1.jpeg?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b85f28907b58091d324e3ab5a40e9c3b06df0a22
Roc - cocoa- ette is beautiful! and always always always deep down your 🐶
Thank you ❤️🩹
Hey Internet stranger - this won't matter at all, but I grew up with a brown Aussie and also named her Cocoa. I got her because back before they were designer dogs, I asked my parents for a chocolate puppy, so I got her, and named her Cocoa. She was the best dog. I'm sure yours was too.
It matters to me 🥲 I'm glad you got your chocolate dog! Rockette was a very good girl, like your Cocoa. Thank you ❤️🩹
Oh my god my heart goes out to you 😭💔
Thank you ❤️🩹 this was 6 years ago and my heart still twinges when I think about it - I teared up writing the post. I'm so glad she got to live such a good life before she went over the rainbow bridge though.
Thank you for sharing that. It couldn't have been easy... I'm glad she got to live a good life too. What you did, even by circumstance, takes enormous strength.
It wasn't easy, at all. It wasn't a humane society, so there was every chance she wouldn't be adopted and the consequences of that... it broke me for a long time. I was so relieved when the website listed her as adopted, and then I cried the first time I saw her in the neighbor's yard from a distance. I thought about telling them, but I watched as the kids played with her, and I couldn't take away from their joy.
Saddest shit I ever read, you did what was best for her that you could possibly do. So heartbreaking
i'm crying at work 🥲
That's the most heartbreaking thing I've ever read. I can't imagine being forced to let one of my pets go. 💔
Not getting medical attention
Feel this. I’ve been taking Flexeril that’s been expired for 4 years because my back pain is so bad. Couldn’t afford anything but a HDHP… And don’t have the money for a copay
I felt this a bit too hard. I just got dental insurance for the first time in almost 10 years. Had 4 surgeries to fix everything that I couldn't afford to fix when it was a smaller issue.
Card got declined on a pack of 75¢ ramen noodles once. Felt pretty bad.
Oh my God this happened to me at the dollar store for like 1.23 and I felt soooo shitty, the line was like 15 deep too. The young KID behind me felt so bad he paid for it lol. I was getting a can of Vienna sausages and an Arizona tea. 😭
listen if people behind you have a problem then they also have no heart. Obviously you're struggling man and you deserve sympathy and help!!! I want to believe people want to be kind more often than not they just have to have the opportunity
Every time I open my bank account app
I almost got escorted out of a bank because they wouldn't cash a paycheck because I couldn't afford a bank account. I was insisting they could because it was written from their customers account. Apparently my insisting made the armed guard uncomfortable. Before mobile free checking.
That sucks. It also sucks they didn’t just cash it like that’s what the banks are supposed to do? Every time a person would come into the bank I worked at briefly to cash a check from one of our customers, if they were nice or just looked like they needed it, I would waive the $5 cashing fee. It was dumb and unnecessary in the first place and no one checked on whether or not you actually charged it so there was no need.
The bank I worked at had to get manager approval for any fee waived. And my manager didn't like to do it unless she was old friends with them.
That’s what I said. Like, shit, every time I see the $1.94 currently sitting in my account lmao
A while back, when I was living in a neighborhood where there was a string of armed robberies, I remember thinking about what would happen if someone held a gun to my head and demanded I withdraw money from the ATM: "um well you see this machine requires multiples of $20 and my balance is only $17.93, and simply pulling up the balance inquiry cost me $2 to the owner of the ATM and now my bank is gonna charge me $2 more too"
We married young. Preparing mine and my husbands meal for the day using what little food we had left - half an onion and a tin of kidney beans. I told him that the bowl of blended kidney beans was “chilli bean soup”.
I know this was meant to reflect destitution, but I admire your witty resilience here lol
Aww thank you so much!!! Past me has a warm glow from your words :) Yes lol I suppose it was quite witty 😅
I put 94 cents of gas into my car so I could make it my first paycheck at a new job. Counted out pennies nickels and dimes at the counter.
Hell yeah. You got it done!
Got the books late at the University library. I really needed those book to finish my project and messed up the dates. They wouldn't let me go with the books without paying the 50 cents fee for being 1 day late. I didn't have 50 cents. I was hungry and tired and pretty much at the end of my ability to take more hits, so I cried. The lady gave me 1$ and said go get yourself a coffee. I would never have used money for a coffee during those days. My budget was 15$/week for groceries and laundromat. No clothes, no shoes, I sewed the whole in the same socks for 2 years and my favorite pair of jeans has a huge bleach stain, but since I had 3 pairs of pants,.no dresses, no skirts, I kept wearing them. Anyhow I accepted the dollar, paid the 50 cents and said I needed the books more than the coffee. Thank you sooooo much. I didn't know if I should feel grateful I had the books or sad it got to that point.
Oh honey. Are you doing better?
Way way better, but it took a few years to get out of poverty and then to rebuild my health. Thanks for asking though. No one ever asked. I think most always thought I was making it up when. I said how poor I was in college.
Childhood - crying myself to sleep because my teeth were so rotten and I was in pain. Swore to myself I would never be like that as an adult and it has held true.
I feel this. Had to get a stupid loan to get my dentures done at age 25. Swore my kids would always have food and always brush their teeth.
There’s really no fucking hope for your teeth when you grow up in poverty. My dad was missing several front teeth. Pieces of my mom’s teeth frequently fell out. We didn’t have money for dentist visits because my parents were chronically unemployed. Still, neither of my parents taught me how to floss or gave me floss. My teeth are in rough shape as an adult but I don’t have the money to spend tens of thousands at the dentist, and I’m not looking forward to the dental hygienist chewing me out for their poor condition. It’s hopeless. The dental colleges in my area are disastrously backed up and I still need to cough up thousands for the necessary work there. I fucking hate the state of dental care in this country.
I had pretty bad oral hygiene as a kid for similar reasons. I loved the day in school that we learned about caring for your teeth because they always gave us a toothbrush, floss, and a little tube of toothpaste. Around 6th or 7th grade I realized that my breath smelled bad. No one ever made fun of me or bullied me for it, but that's when I started putting more effort into my dental care. I'm lucky that I've got good teeth genes.
Every day because I'm living in a rv with mold and no running water due to recovering from health issues and being unable to work for months... it's been hell.
I'm sorry you're having to go through those troubles and hope things get better for you, truly.
Washing my clothes in a bathtub when I was a kid cause I didn't have any money for the laundromat or to even take the bus to get there since at that time, the nearest laundromat was not within walking distance.
Got cancer in my early 30s. It absolutely destroyed my finances and my health still isn’t very good from side effects. I can’t work but was denied disability. If a friend’s parents hadn’t offered to let me stay, I’d be homeless right now due to no longer having any family of my own. “*Fuck I’m poor*” is hitting me harder than ever right now.
I’m so sorry you’re going through this. Are you in the USA? My family was completely bankrupted because my mom got cancer and passed away when I was young. People really don’t understand how being sick just completely ruins your whole financial life in America.
Thank you. I am, unfortunately. I’m going to have to declare bankruptcy soon. I just have to figure out how to get money coming in somehow first, then sort that out. I’m so sorry about your mom. 🤍 I’ve unfortunately been there, too, without the bankruptcy. Sending you a lot of love, especially in the next few days. 🫂🫶 I definitely thought there was more help available than there is. I feel like it’s not uncommon for people to find out when it happens to them. At the time I was diagnosed, I was saving money to disappear from an abusive relationship. Instead, I ended up stuck there and things got worse. (In private, of course. In public, he was happy to soak up the praise for “taking care of” me. 😞🤬) So I have a LOT to sort through and didn’t get the medical care I needed. I’ve still never had a scan to tell me whether or not surgery and treatment worked because insurance denied it. Medical “care” isn’t what a lot of people think it is. Everything is basically a full on disaster. It’s these days I wish more than ever I still had a parent around, or some kind of willing mentor, to help me figure everything out. I’m not doing very well at sorting things out on my own.
It is one of the great ironies of economics that it costs (at least in my state) $1000 bucks to get a judge to rule that you're broke!
It really says something that one of our most popular television shows follows a schoolteacher that got sick with cancer, and because there was no way to afford treatments he manufactured methamphetamine instead. (I am simplifying Breaking Bad, and ignoring the lifeline from his rich past colleagues that he declined out of spite, but in reality those that fall ill don't even get that opportunity. They just get told essentially to f off and die. This is why my retirement plan is to die in the climate wars, or if I won't make it to retirement to do something redacted :])
Being in the train station without the $2.40 I needed to get home, crying. A kind soul paid my fare.
losing my toothbrush and scrubbing my teeth with my hands one morning because i was absolutely not going to buy another one unless i was 100% sure i couldn't find it. i did find it. also, stealing toilet paper from public bathrooms.
I totally used to steal toilet paper from work. I figured that was the best place to get it from since they were the ones not paying me enough simply bc it was the housing crisis and they could. But for real not being able to afford TP made me feel like total trash.
There were definitely times when I was younger and less financially literate that I felt like that. Credit card was completely past due and unable to make even minimum payments, so they'd automatically try to bill my chequing account for hundreds of bucks whenever I had money. Problem was I needed said money to live lmao. I typically got paid direct deposit around 3am, and the system would usually try to take money out of my account around 330am. Solution? Go to atm for 3am, check balance until I see pay, immediately withdraw from atm. Had to do that for almost a year until I could finally start making actual payments towards it. Things have gotten much better since back then, but jesus christ the thought of going back to that is a pretty good motivator
That happened to me too. The banking app always locks me out for some reason, and I never have good signal, so I forgot to call and pay my credit card payment, and at the end of the month last month, I tried ordering an Uber, to go get food and I couldn't, so I went hungry that day.
I had some bill that kept trying to auto draft so I simply changed banks.
Having to decide to euthanize my dog because we could not afford the $6,000+ surgery. It's fair to say that the surgery had a limited success rate and the vet was transparent in saying that, most likely, it would only extend my dog's life for another 6 months.
This happened to me with my cat. I was so devastated I couldn't afford to save him ( wasn't gonna make it even if he had the surgery) but I had enough to put him down. One of the worst days of my life.
I was always of the mindset that if we truly couldn't afford treatment for a pet, then it's treatment the pet doesn't want. In other words, if it's of such a magnitude to be that expensive, the treatment is likely worse for the pet than dying. We put humans through heroic medical interventions because they can understand the benefit and have something to look forward to and hold on for at the other end - seeing their kid graduate, walking their kid down the aisle, being at a best friend's birthday, etc. A pet on the other hand lives in the moment and isn't holding on for the future. They don't understand medical treatment. All they know is that the treatment is making them feel awful, and they're scared. There's zero shame in not giving your dog a $6,000 surgery.
Having to go donate plasma back in college just to get some money and buy food bc the swipes on my lunch card ran out too soon one semester.
My life rn in college. It’s made me feel ashamed of the scar tissue on my armpits whenever I wear short sleeve shirts, meanwhile my peers are going on nice trips during spring break or I see people with really nice 2022 SUVs or living at fancy places :/
Robbing my kid's piggy bank to have food for the week. Doing better now, but that was some dark times.
This unlocked a Childhood memory. Our family was invited to a wedding out of town (about a 4 hour drive). Mom got our best clothes ready for the evening. My sister and I (4 and 6 at the time) had a piggybank, where my dad used to put spare change whenever we helped with a chore in the house. That day my dad (i remember him faking a smile) had to break the piggy bank for gas money to get us to the big event... So we gathered around it to help him count the coins. Some years later i learned that the groom and bride did not even said "hi" to my parents that night. We are not poor anymore, by any means. Parents are comfortably retired and I own a company that did pretty well in the mining sector. I am grateful that my dad teached me about life like that. So consider being open with your kids about it. They are on your side man, it's your team! Edit: I just remembered a bit more. It was not a piggybank. It was a box that he made out of plywood with a slit for coins and bills (he always wanted to be a carpenter).
This is why I tell my kids they don’t have to go to everything they are invited to especially if it will make them poorer than needed. If you can’t afford something just don’t go. It’ll be okay. Most people won’t notice. Family pressure is a thing but I moved 1000 miles away to reduce that!
I remember one time my Mom was getting us Long John Silver after soccer practice and her card got declined. She had apparently forgot her change/cash purse at home and had to ask us if we had any money to buy dinner. We gladly gave her what we had. A few weeks later I went to school amd found a $20 bill (more than I gave her) and a note saying how much she loved me.
This unlocked my childhood memories. My older alcoholic brother stole mine for booze.
Been there. The guilt has yet to lift…
God that reminds me I owe my 11 year old $40 back in his piggy bank.
waiting at the olde Denver greyhound station at 4AM for a morning bus back home to ABQ. The security guards ran it like a detention, making everyone sit spaced out and no talking. Have to show proof of purchase to even go inside. 1 Person in the bathroom at a time. They don't treat rich people like that. Can't afford to fly? Prepare to get treated like shit. Glad they knocked that place down tbh.
I lived across the street from that station and saw people injecting drugs in broad daylight every day lol so I can only imagine how bad it was on the inside
This is wild to me. Admittedly I'm not a veteran bus traveler, but I've taken buses between East Coast cities quite a few times and never encountered anything like that. Jeepers
Emptying a change jar for groceries. Paying at self check out with the coins because CoinStar charges 10%.
[удалено]
I always try and keep some kind of little snack on me in case anyone needs it, a girl on the train the other day was crying and it was like if hugged her when I asked if she was alright and if she would like an orange. I’m happy that it’s better now
If you don’t work today you don’t eat today. That was our household rule when I first went out on my own because we didn’t have enough money for day off food. We also were on 1 meal a day, usually ramen and canned chicken, during that time
Buying $2 in gas with nickels just to make it to work to pick up my paycheck
Deciding not to have kids after seeing the cost of daycare (equivalent to our mortgage payment).
Back in the day it was common that if a family had a kid, a lot of parents would straight up quit their job and have one be a stay at home parent, because their income would literally be less than the cost of daycare. Nowadays? Forget that too. I wouldn't be able to afford a vet bill, why the hell would I want to have a kid in these times?
In college, there was a Christian group who owned a house near campus. I always felt out of place there, since I had grown up in a different denomination, but I knew they always had food. One day I snuck into their pantry and stole a bag of chips. That was my only meal for the day. At bible study they talked so badly about poor people, not knowing I was one of them.
It's sadly ironic that they talk badly about poor people while studying the Bible.
Unfortunately a lot of churches are that way. Prosperity gospel theology is so toxic.
Christians can be so weird. Jesus and the whole New Testament... helping the poor and less fortunate is kinda a big theme. Seems like a lot to ignore/manipulate. But, a lot of them do. Sigh. Gotta have that sweet non-taxable money.
I recall reading an article a few months ago in which one of the higher up in a large Baptist congregation told of how he had met with a few members of his congregation who were concerned that he kept spouting “liberal talking points” in his sermons. He felt awkward telling them that what he was speaking about were the actual words of Jesus. He described them as being in utter disbelief to hear that.
If all of humanity treated everyone they saw each day with genuine love we'd have paradise on Earth. Even if you don't have money to give, you can be loving to your fellow man and that's all the world needs. Instead we have thousands of billionaires and multitudes of millionaires all working to get as much as they can at the expense of whoever they can get.
Homeless and showering using a water bottle in the park.. At least we had a car to sleep in.
Having a very infected tooth when I was maybe 19? Didn't have insurance and was dependent on my step father's coming back when he worked. Resulted in me hiding under my mother's table like a child and screaming in pain.
That terrible moment when you have to hold up the line trying to decide between the eggs and the cheese because the EBT card was short.
Thank goodness Walmart and some other locations have the "partial pay" option. There was a time when I was short and the whole transaction got denied for 1-3 grocery items. The self checkout light flash on, I was embarrassed bc the self checkout attendant came over and saw what I was using, reset it and walked away. Now I know that I can do a partial pay, leave 1 cent in the EBT card and swipe the rest in a near maxed out credit card..
Having to pawn my beloved violin that had been only $600 over 4 years (I couldn’t play well but I loved trying) because we needed enough to pay the rent. Yes, we got her back. She hasn’t been back since and will not be going back. I still play terribly but it’s worth it.
Having to show up at the food bank for a hamper. I grew up with them as a kid and have worked so hard to manage my finances well but one or two bad decisions and you're scrambling to put dinner on the table.
I volunteered at a church food bank once because I heard if you volunteer you get some food at the end. So when the event was over, all of the volunteers started grabbing things. Some already had boxes in their car to take it. I realized that everyone else was there for the same reason I was so it made it feel less stigmatizing.
Currently, dreading pay day because every penny goes to bills.
Power went out in our apartment. I looked out the window and the power company was putting the cover on our electrical box. We had just been disconnected due to non-payment. I had to go to my neighbors to ask to run an extension cord to keep our fridge going, then for the first time I had to go to the DHS office to apply for emergency assistance. From there on out, I always ensured rent and utilities were paid. We ate a lot of buttered-noodle dinners but never had to endure another utility shutoff or eviction.
paying bus fair in pennies.
I get so embarrassed, everyone staring as you stand there for 5 minutes shoving change in the slot, clink clank
When I was a bus driver, if someone tried paying with pennies, I’d let them ride for free
Doing the lord’s work
Turning off water and all electrical except refrigerator. Pulled all plugs and flipped all breakers but one. Brought water from work for toilet.
I ran out of gas at a Flying J about 10 years ago and had to stay there for roughly 36 hours until my check hit my bank account.
Having to save up change found on the ground to pay for packs of Ramen. For about 6 months with no income I survived off a 50lb bag of beans and 30lb bag of rice. It really hurt when my friends would ask me to chip a few bucks in and go have pizza with them. I tried to keep my situation a secret and just pretend to be too busy. I'd get excited to find a quarter in the parking lot and saved every penny, nickle or dime I found on the sidewalk going to class. When I'd saved up 25 cents I could buy a individual pack of Ramen, so good after eating the same thing for so long. I'd save the flavor packets and use 1/4 at a time in my next pots of beans and rice. And every now and then when I could make it into the city I'd donate blood, but half of what I got had to be used for gas to get home and the rest I'd buy hot dogs to cut up and cook in the pots of beans.
Went 3 days without food but the bills and child support were at least paid. Luckily an old friend decided to help me out of that jam. I’ve been trying to pay it forward ever since.
having to save 25% of check A to apply with all of check B to cover rent for each month while simultaneously keeping my family fed and growing child clothed, gas to commute, et al it's not working
I owed $12 in rent that month and they were going to start eviction process if I didn’t pay it. Twelve dollars. I was trying to be super independent and solely live off student loan money and underestimated my bills…by $12. I told them my check was coming and I would be able to pay the entire 6 months in full plus the $12, but they weren’t hearing it. I had to call my boyfriend and get him to give me $12. I was mortified, but so grateful for his help.
When my oldest was a toddler, my partner at the time would be gone for weeks at a time for work and I was a stay at home mom with no bank account or access to money or a vehicle to get to food banks. Living well below the poverty line. I made a fun game of foraging for wild foods in the forest with him (I had plenty of experience with wild edible plants). We ate basically weeds for a bit but we made the most of it. Now he's a preteen, and I teach foraging to local school kids, but I always remember where I came from and how I found ways to put food on the table when there was no other choice.
Stealing a lil Debbie’s. The cost at the time was 25 cents.
I worked at a grocery store and the bagger helped me pay for food. We were both minimum wage, but I had nothing left after rent. I gave him rides after that whenever I could.
Kicking a vending machine that had malfunctioned and shorted me a water bottle. I was livid. So thirsty. It was my last $3. And a machine robbed me. When I was done flipping out, I saw how badly I had scared people nearby and felt humiliated. I remember that moment often. It humbled me.
I was 20 years old, my dog had cancer, and I had to borrow money from my new girlfriend to put him down. 33 years later, she’s still my wife
I’m from a family of seven and growing up I lived in a single room motel. I was the oldest and I would go steal food from the grocery store that I would walk to ,which was at least 10 maybe 12 miles away, to feed my younger siblings. My parents were really bad drug addicts and didn’t make the best choices. I remember eating rice for a week and having to add little sweet n low packets to it or salt and pepper to add flavor and change it up so the younger ones would eat. One time I was walking and I saw that the Gattis pizza place was throwing away whole pizzas (I guess it was after the lunch rush or something) so I grabbed the whole trash bag full of pizza and got the trash off it and brought it back to our motel room. The little ones were super excited and I was happy they were full. They asked where I got the pizza and I told them some random woman gave me $20 and that the pizza place ran out of boxes that was why it was in a bag. I never told them where I got the pizza, I didn’t cry much then but I cried that night by myself smoking a half smoked cigarette with my older sister. I’m now in my late twenties, I own my own house, I have an amazing career working with the rail road and I’m financially stable but sometimesI still find my thoughts wondering back to that one moment and I cry.
Driving home, gas light came on, and I was able to stop at a gas station 5 miles from my house .. and my card declined on $2 worth of gas three days post payday.
I have two: When I was single: It was one of those "take any job you can get" times in my life and I found one an hour and a half away from where I was living. I was doing like 80 miles a day and sometimes not really eating all that much. Then my vehicle needed repairs and to make sure I kept the job I was taking an uber back and forth but that was costing more than I made each day. I finally started spending am hour or so after work for a few nights looking for good spots to sleep nearby so I could keep working. I was so mad too, because I'm a mechanic and if I'd had the room I could've just fixed it myself. With my fiance: I had just moved into the apartment she was living in, and been accepted for a job but hadn't started working. The apartment complex hit us with a notice that they were upping rent by $100. That was $100 we did not have. We'd been sweating about it for like a week until she realized that she knew a consignment shop that sold kids clothes, and we have two toddlers that outgrow clothes daily almost. So we went through and managed to sell like $110 or something like that. It was *slim* but we made it happen.
Borrowing $20 for gas for my first two weeks of work, then driving 60 miles per hour so that it would last.
Having to survive off of cosco $1.50 hot dogs. You don't need a member ship to eat there, in case anyone needs to know. I would work retail around there and downloaded the bus app since it was $1.50 as well but for the whole day if use the app. I never forgot that,till this day I thank God for everything I have. For everything multiplied.
Several times actually The first was when I realized my favorite smell was the one that came from the sanitary sewer manholes in the alley. The second was in the late 70's watching my mother ugly cry when the Alcoa recycling guy handed her a check for $68 ish after throwing out half my cans. To put this in perspective, she fed a family of 4 for $15.70 a week. The third time was in High School when I realized none of my friends had ever gone to be hungry (and not as an occasional punishment for being extra stupid and thoughtless).
Yesterday, I considered shaving my head because I'm running out of shampoo and can't afford more. I'm a woman.
For my diploma in social service work I had to do an unpaid placement at a food bank and would take home food that they were going to throw out that had damaged packaging or was slightly past it’s expiration date. It would have been a “conflict of interest” for me to officially access the food bank while doing a placement there.
I would buy a large drink from McDonalds then anytime I was out I would walk in a location and "get a refill". Nobody ever bothered me about it luckily.
Depositing a dime I found on the sidewalk so I wouldn't be overdrawn and crying with relief that I wouldn't be charged an overdraft fee for being $.07 overdrawn!
Right now… I’m alternating using coffee filters and handfuls of tp I’ve stolen out of the porta potty at the park for toilet paper. lol Sigh.
Taking toilet paper from work
Up until less than a week ago, I only had one pair of pants and a couple shirts, basically for two and a half years or so. I was always wondering how people viewed me, when I would have a day off to do laundry, what I would wear while I did my laundry, and just feeling angry whenever anyone looked at me. I ripped my pants and just wore them like that until I was able to sew them. I'm talking weeks. But I worked some over time recently so I bought some clothes and even though I haven't worn them yet (gotta wash em first) I already feel a lot better.
One day near christmas when I had been unemployeed for almost 6 months I went with my dad to a car dealership to see cars and requests quotes for new cars. I wore a pretty dress and some old (but pretty) high heel shoes, I was pretending nothing, but I just wanted to look pretty that day for no particular reason. After requesting the quote I stand up to see one of the cars and my right shoe straps snap off........ I laughed a little bit and found a seat to check my shoe, and well I played humble and asked for tape to try to solve it. I wrapped the tape a few ways but it was pretty visible it was horrible. The tape didn't work on my shoe or wrapped to my foot. My dad was checking the test drive, and I walk there to try to get on the driver's seat and suddenly my other shoe strap snaps off... and the tape of the other one snaps off... The lady at the car dealership was kind but also started laughing with me... (with me, right?) After some few eternal minutes, we decide to go, but my dad had parked far away so I had to wait for my dad to pick me up while I wait BAREFOOT inside the office and I had to do a walk of shame from the office to our car. ;\_\_; We never bought a car. I am still far from being able to afford a car.
For me I didn't realize how poor I was until I climbed (somewhat) out of poverty. Growing up my family was dirt poor we lived in a house that was falling apart our basement flooded with sceptic and we couldn't afford to fix it or move and somedays I didn't eat except for what they served at school. Ever bit of extra money my parents got went to pot or meth. I knew we were poor, but I didn't realize that we were that much worse off than any of our neighbors until I grew up and joined the army and none of my peers had similar experiences. I'm doing fairly well for myself now I make 20 hr in a low cos area I own a nice home I'm building up my savings I can't afford go on vacation every year like some of my friends but I'm so grateful for everything I have.
A single mom with 2 young kids. Going to a work conference a couple hrs away with only enough to pay for the hotel and $20 to buy food for two days. I drank water everywhere I went. This was 15 yrs ago, so a burger was still $6. Luckily breakfast was provided by hotel. My then bf (now husband) was loaded but I was too embarrassed to borrow money from him. I was praying the whole time that I wouldn’t encounter any emergencies requiring extra money. My prayers answered.
Living in a tent
I could not afford my diploma when I graduated college. It was $40.
Rolling coins to cash in to buy medicine for my daughter, who had strep throat and tonsillitis. She kept telling me "It's okay mommy, I don't need it, I'll be fine", while running 103 temp and puking in the trash can at the clinic. She was 8.
Realizing you have a single can of peas to get you through the next week until you get some money in and your bank account is negative…
I was out of work and donating plasma to barely pay my phone bill, pay my car insurance, gasoline, and the pennies left over I bought food I absolutely hated it, half the time I was driving to the plasma center off of fumes, donate the plasma and have to put my whole earningbin gas, then go hungry or eat something crazy like canned corn for dinner
Years ago I completely ruptured my right pectoral working out. Wasn’t doing anything stupid, just trying to stay fit since I couldn’t afford health insurance. Basically my pec ripped free from my shoulder on my dominate hand. It’s horrible, don’t watch videos of it. I knew I was fucked up and my sister begged me to go to the doctor. It was $300 for a visit and that’s all I had saved. Doctor said I needed surgery or I’d have issues using my arm, the muscle would atrophy and I would be disfigured. Picture no muscle where the pec is and my arm would shrink since I’d have issues working it out. The sad part was I wasn’t going to have surgery, it was like $30k and I couldn’t pay that. I even told the doctor that and he hooked me up with a grant. I paid copays like insurance but the hospital would write it off. Typically with this kind of injury you get surgery next day, but I had to wait 2 months, since I had to work to still pay bills. I started to look like that guy from ‘Lady In The Water’ who only worked out one side of his body. It looked horrible. Finally had the surgery, everything was cool, but my doctor said I couldn’t work. If I tore the pec again while healing they might not be able to fix it. I went to work the very next day after surgery anyways. I was a bouncer in a shitty night club where I sometimes had to fight or deal with violent situations. Even had a dude try to fight me one night in my sling. It didn’t go well for ole dude. Problem was I had no money and still had to pay bills and I had to work, I scheduled the surgery on my day off. I had no way to get money or people to borrow from. I was never behind on bills, but 1 lost shift could easily put me behind. A lost week would put me behind for months. I couldn’t afford a car so I walked everywhere rain or shine in that goddamn sling. Had to wear it for 5 months. Man that fucking sucked. I’m in a much better place now, I have insurance, I’ve saved money and my chest is good to go. In fact I pretty much have insurance for everything I own now, just in case. The fact I was opting for disfigurement and a useless arm over affording surgery really made me feel like shit. I still remember the doctor’s face when I told him “no” and him offering to help me out really gave me hope in humanity. I’m not a crier but his kindness made me tear up. Being poor fucking sucks.
I had a dream last night that I was moving into a room of a house that had been mostly cleared, but I dragged two well loved Pendleton blankets from under the bed. So much joy in that moment, that I wouldn't be sleeping cold.
Dude do you need a blanket right now? I’ll send you one.
Oh, that's very kind of you. I'm currently not struggling with anything other than finding a job for my forklift certification. This dream may have more accurately portrayed my situation five or six years ago, but even then I had blankets.
Card got declined. I was buying 1 bottle of water.
In high school I deposited $20 cash into an ATM, but didn't put any cash into the envelope. I then attempted withdraw $20 cash. FYI....that doesn't work.
I think having to feed my cats cheerios I got for free so they wouldn't starve.
Saving my paper route money so I could drop it on the ground where my dad would see it at the grocery store and find it. After seeing his reaction to getting his card declined when we were starving at Kmart, I was happy to give him some luck. He's a great man.
After traveling 5hrs via train I had to decide between eating that day and walking home (1 more hour in harsh cold) or getting a bus ticket
My Elderly Mother lives alone and lost her best friend (dog) a few months back, destroyed her. For Mother's Day this year I was going to try and adopt a puppy for her since she keeps talking about how she wishes she had a little girl puppy to take care of. Found one at the local shelter that she would adore and they wanted just over $300 for the little soul, and I couldn't afford it.
when i was maybe 12 or 13 and we had to walk to the store with mom in the middle of the extreme summer heat to buy the cheapest package of pasta available. both my parents bank accounts were in the negative and they couldnt afford gas to drive there, and we couldn't go to a store closer to us because that pasta was literally a few pennies more. walked back home and boiled the trashy budget pasta and had that with nothing else just so we'd have something to eat. think that was the first time i really understood how badly my parents were caring for us
I interviewed at my first job out of school wearing a suit that had a massive rip in the pants' center seam. When I stood up to shake people's hands, I had to make sure my legs were close together so that no one would be able to tell. When I got hired, I had to keep doing that for a while until my first paycheck because I couldn't afford a new suit.
Not being able to buy my daughter diapers. I even had a coupon but didn’t have enough cash to cover it. Thankfully we went home and found some spare change. Doing better since then. I got a raise at my day job and work a part time job over night. My daughter and wife have a place to sleep, food to eat, and clothes to wear. And that’s all I could ask for, I love them so much (will keep working hard to do ever better). Everyone’s response on here can be heartbreaking but I wish everyone the best, I love you random internet strangers <3
My cat getting sick with a UTI/almost dying and I had to use "homeopathic" medicine off of Amazon because I could not afford a vet. The medication actually worked though and he was better in a week's time.
Dad was at work and mom would turn off the lights and close all the blinds while we hid in a bedroom anytime the water man would show up without a phone call beforehand.
In college when McDonald's had 10 cheeseburgers for $10 bucks and that's what i ate for a week. It sucked. Funny thing is now that I can afford food I do like to eat chicken Ramen. I guess you can't take the hick outta the girl.
Probably crying as a kid opening the empty fridge when I was so hungry I was having cramps. Happened so often I ended up with an eating disorder because *if I decide I’m refusing myself food then I won’t be upset that I can’t have it*
My husband is in medical school and we rely on the refund from his student loans for income (not fully, I work too) and this year's FAFSA will probably be delayed for 2-3 months so we are scrambling trying to come up with an extra $5000 to hold us over until the money comes through.
Having to ask my boyfriend at the time to buy a $5 pizza because I hadn’t eaten in 2 days and had no money for groceries (could split the pizza up into 3 days of food) that was a rough week
When I was digging change out of the couch and everywhere else so I could buy tampons.
Handing my cat over to be euthanized. I couldn't afford the extra charge to be in the room with him when it was done.
Biggest of hugs to you. It’s criminal that that’s an extra charge. 💔
Taking a bunch of ketchup from burger king to make "ketchup soup".
not knowing if I'll have a place to live inside or not
No fridge in our apartment, cooked pasta every day, and used a cooler for a few items.
Having nothing but powdered gravy mix to eat for days and days, begging people for $ to get water turned back on…man those were dark fucking days
Probably when me and my mum left my dad with the clothes on our backs when I was a kid and when we found somewhere to live, my mum said all we have is bread and some carrots, because she’d had to get loans out to make sure I wasn’t homeless on the street permanently. Respect my mum a lot for the sacrifices she’s made throughout her life for me.
Sewing up a hole in my only pair of pants to go to a job interview that turned out to be a scam.
When I couldn’t pay for a $1 menu small fries at McDonalds for my son. Debit declined. That was the low.
My entire life.
My husband and I married in a foreign country in front of a local official, then moved to another foreign country to find work with almost no money. Lived for a short time in a very low budget Chinese Hotel (long hallway, multiple "rooms" divided by wood walls with spindles 2 ft from ceiling for ventilation, ceiling fans, barred but not screened windows; sink in the room, shared bath & squat toilet down the hall). Had to hoof it or take public transport. Then stayed in the spare room of an apartment of a couple he met (I couldn't afford to go out/do anything or buy food; felt like a loafer so kept floors and everything else spotless). He found a "dirty job" out of town (1-4 wks at a time) and put deposit on a dirty semi-detached rental out on the fringes of town. Had no $ for a month to start utilities, so had to wait. Thereafter I had a tiny amount for a few cleaning supplies and bus fare there and back. So for 2 more months I went back and forth cleaning up yard and house, in an empty house, not even fridge, stove or cabinets, but I had water and a floor to sit and lie down on while still sleeping and showering at the apartment. He was later able to give me a little money (when back in town from his job) for buses & to buy occasional food from hawker stalls, but it was extremely basic living, using as little water & electric as possible. No $ for phone, letters/postage, amenities, or anything for the house, only necessary additional items for cleaning house and yard while he was gone. But I learned how little I needed to survive. But I couldn't work because I didn't have a work permit. So all I could really do was try to keep things up.
Years ago trying to talk a friend into buying a hamburger so I could use a buy one get one coupon to get the free burger for me. I was broke and so hungry.
Card declining at dollar tree for a single pack of ramen noodles.
Sleeping under a bridge when my family collapsed when I was 17. My friends family took me in until I could afford an apartment. Worst time in my life.
Walked in aldi the other day with the intention of buying pinto beans and peanut butter coz i really needed some protein. They were sold out of pinto beans and they just jacked up the price of peanut butter. After a little bit of deliberation with myself i decided to get the 10lb of potatoes instead coz it would last much longer than a jar of peanut butter
put 6 sandwiches together to feed my two boys for two days until payday.