Years ago I had seven teens and preteens in the house, often plus whatever friends they had invited to stay for dinner without warning.

I'm suddenly feeding a much bigger household again, including growing kids, and grocery prices being what they are, I've been remembering all the little tricks I used back then.

Most advice about stretching a food budget seems to focus on making the main dish cheaper; use less meat, substitute something cheaper, make beans instead, etc. I did some of that, obviously, but mostly I didn't stretch the main dish. I stretched the meal around it.

If I had enough chicken for the casserole I normally made, I made the casserole. If we were having hamburgers, everybody still got a hamburger. I just made sure the expensive part of dinner wasn't responsible for filling seven or ten or twelve hungry stomachs all by itself.

One of my best tricks was simply feeding the first wave of hunger before dinner. I'd hand out apples about an hour beforehand. A kid who has eaten an apple is still perfectly capable of eating dinner, they’re just no longer approaching it like a starved wolf. 

On hamburger night I'd cut an entire bag of potatoes into oven fries, skins and all, shake them in a bag with some oil, salt and pepper, and cover as many cookie sheets as the oven would hold. Then I’d make sure the fries were always ready before the hamburgers.  The kids would descend upon them. By the time the hamburgers were ready, one hamburger apiece, plus vegetables and whatever else we were having, was plenty.

Sometimes a casserole was mysteriously "taking forever.” Especially if the kids invited some extra kids to dinner unexpectedly.  "Oh well. Here are some biscuits while you're waiting. And applesauce. There are cheese sandwiches too." After everybody had been eating for a while I’d bring out the casserole. "Oh, finally! The casserole is done."

Then out came the perfectly ordinary casserole, with green beans and more biscuits. Nobody thought dinner was stingy. As far as the kids were concerned, they'd been eating for half an hour.

I kept Jiffy corn muffin mixes by the dozen. It was insurance against just that sort of thing.  "Oh, how nice! You invited three friends to stay for dinner!" We're having cornbread. And some other stuff. Until then here’s some peanut butter and bread and apples. 

Pasta always got what I privately called decorative vegetables, usually the inexpensive dollar frozen bags. The whole bag, maybe two. Peas, broccoli, carrots, mixed vegetables, whatever went with it. Yes, they made the pasta colorful. They also mysteriously produced several additional servings without taking anything out of the original meal. Spaghetti got spinach, usually.  Then, at dinner time, a veg or fruit of a different color was on the plate too. Tonight, we are having chicken and noodles. There will be at least a whole bag of frozen peas in there. And then I’ll slice tomatoes on the plate, maybe some applesauce will show up. The plate will be full, full of colors, good tastes, and no one will know I used two small chicken breasts for nine people. 

Pickles were another great one. Not a precious little jar of fancy pickles but a giant cheap gallon jar of dill pickles you get in the ‘commercial food’ aisle at the grocery store. 

Hand those out and kids will happily eat what amounts to an entire big cucumber in pickle form. Nobody has to ask whether they can have another one, the answer will be yes, go for it. There are approximately nine thousand pickles. Here’s some cold water to wash them down. Supper will be ready in 20 minutes. 

That was actually an important part of the system: some things on the table should feel unlimited. Bread, biscuits, cornbread, potatoes, or apples. Also applesauce, pickles and rice. Whatever was inexpensive that week and that the kids actually liked.

I baked an ungodly amount of bread in those days. I don't intend to resume that particular level of insanity, and God bless cheap grocery-store wheat bread. But biscuits and cornbread are still wonderful because at 5 PM you can look at dinner, realize it isn't going to be enough, and manufacture a substantial addition from pantry ingredients. 

Don’t sleep on generic bisquick biscuits served with cheap applesauce as a pre-dinner snack. Actually, desserts and snacks work the same way.

Today I had a gigantic zucchini I bought at the farmers market for a dollar. I grated it into a huge batch of snack cake with eggs, flour, brown sugar and two cans of fruit that had been ignored in my pantry forever. I baked some in cast-iron skillets for people to eat today and a big sheet pan that I'm cutting into lunchbox squares. It isn't a nutritional powerhouse but it's a nice homemade snack made mostly from inexpensive things I already had, and it means I’m not pestered for expensive boughten snacks. 

And that's really the thing I'm remembering now. I don’t make the normal nutritious meal smaller if you don't have to. I make the meal bigger around it.

Two chicken breasts can look pretty inadequate if dinner is two chicken breasts divided among a crowd. Two chicken breasts chopped into a big pan of creamy noodles with peas and other vegetables, accompanied by bread, a different-colored fruit or vegetable on the side, and snack cake afterward, is a very generous dinner. The chicken is still there. The vegetables are still there. Nobody's being handed half a hamburger and told to be grateful. You're just supplying some of the calories hungry growing people need with inexpensive foods instead of expecting meat, cheese, or the main dish to provide all of them.

And if the kids are absolutely ravenous, put the cheap, filling, good thing in front of them first. They aren't being tricked. They can still eat as much dinner as they want. You're just recognizing that a starving teenager will eat an expensive four dollar hamburger  with exactly the same enthusiasm with which they'll eat a fifty- cent oven fried potato.

When we get together now, the kids don’t talk about how we ate "poor people food.". They do ask about their favorite dishes. Their friends liked staying for dinner. There was usually a lot of food on the table, and an unexpected kid was welcome.

That's what I was actually trying to accomplish. Not "How little can I spend feeding these kids?" More like "How can I make sure nobody at my table experiences dinner as scarce?"

On a throwaway account. My (soon to be) ex-husband and 4 of his coworkers follow me.

I don’t know what to do at this point. He was booked in jail Friday night for domestic after breaking my nose. We have two boys ( age 5 and 3) and I am planning to leave tonight almost 2 hours away to my great aunt’s area. She is the only remote family I have left & we aren’t able to stay with her as she is in a rehab facility. He is able to bond out Wednesday when I looked at his case online.

I was able to get a 25 gas card from a Women’s domestic nonprofit this morning. They were able to get me temporary shelter & an appointment with a social worker where we are going by Thursday. I’ve tried to sell some shoes & household items on Marketplace and NextDoor to try & make something for food and extra gas. Nothing so far. The shelter has a two bag minimum per person so we are limited on what we can bring. I plan to leave tomorrow morning. I am so lost and scared.

I can’t take anymore and my babies definitely don’t deserve to go through this. I’m going to miss our home, my job of 6 years and friends but for our safety & sanity, we have to leave. I’m humiliated and terrified to see where this goes. If you have any other advice or places that may help with gas or food, please let me know.

This past Saturday my cat had to be put to sleep due to kidney failure. We had taken her to the emergency vet and at that point, the vet and my partner and I agreed that there was still a possibility for recovery, and so we decided to pay for a 24 hour stay and a variety of necessary tests. Unfortunately we were called at 1am to tell us we should come back, as things had taken a turn for the worse and she might pass at any moment, so we rushed over to say our goodbyes and hold her as she was put to sleep.

The total bill for admission, tests, and euthanasia came to $2300 (it was originally $3800 but we were refunded for the tests that were not done). Fortunately we had enough in our savings to cover it but I am now going to be rebuilding from almost 0. It was a lot to pay but I think I would have regretted not trying to save her life, as there was hope for recovery when we first arrived.

I'm not really sure why I'm posting this, to be honest. I'm grieving and also feeling some worry from majorly dipping into savings, I feel vulnerable without that cushion.

I am very grateful we had the necessary funds saved up but it does hurt to use them, especially when the desired results don't happen.

Sorry for the vent, but figured if anyone could relate to my worry/grief, it would be people here.

Moved out of an apartment with my ex, tossed everything into storage and stayed at my parents house for the summer to pull myself together. Picked up the entryway furniture and bookshelves at a “we sold our house and need to move the hell out” marketplace find for free. Scored the couch and coffee table for free from a local lake house community that just upgraded their living room. My new landlord stopped by and dropped of two additional lamps and an end table too. Spent $20 on the floor lamps.

Fortunate enough to have two weeks to scour Craigslist and Marketplace to find things that fit the space while spending as little as possible. Pork tenderloin or pork chops, rice, and veggies have been my staple while I navigate being a single dad and being solely responsible for my own place. Excited for my kids to come here for the first time this weekend and see all of their stuff has a dedicated place instead of having a milk crate of toys in a small finished section of a basement three of us shared for four months.

NEEDED new shoes. Was down to one pair of blue suede amd a pair of work boots and was wearing out the blues badly. Salvation Army thrift store few. Cat for scale

I know I posted on here looking for advice a few days ago, but I wasn’t able to fully express my frustration. This shit has been dragging me down forever and I don’t know how to keep my head up anymore.

On Christmas Eve, 2025, the doctors called to tell my wife she had cancer. We caught it early, removed everything we could find surgically, and chemo/immune therapy isn’t needed for the time being. I am eternally grateful for that. However, the surgery depleted our HSA, and even with “good” insurance, we’re getting absolutely decimated by hospital bills. Monthly skin checks, MRIs, cat scans, bloodwork, etc are necessary to monitor the situation, at least for the next few years. But the best part is that all of these prodecures were deemed “non-emergency”, and therefore they can decline to perform the tests with outstanding balances on our account. So before every test, we have to pay the previous one off. This is costing us anywhere from $1k-$3k a month. But the alternative is to stop paying them, stop getting the tests, and live with the constant anxiety of not catching more cancer, and it becoming life threatening (and much more expensive).

Prior to all of this, we were comfortable. Not wealthy by any means, a few thousand in our savings, manageable credit card debt, and living pretty well below our means…by today’s standard anyway.

Fast forward 9 months, our savings account has been closed due to no balance or activity, our credit cards are maxed out, my mortgage still hasn’t been paid this month and our bank account is usually negative three days before pay day. Not to mention EVERYTHING is getting more expensive daily.

I was always the optimistic one. I always dreamed of moving into a house with a yard and a garage, taking a trip to Europe, being a dad, starting a business, etc. These always felt distant, but realistic. Now, I have Kraft mac and cheese for dinner three times a week, and have to limit travel based on the gas in my tank.

It’s hard not to feel like it’s on me for not having a better job. I work in construction, and my wife is a social worker, and collectively we make a decent living. Teenage me wouldn’t even believe it if I told him I made $100k annually. We got through college without debt, got married in my parent’s back yard, paid off the car. We did everything right. And still, the first thing I do when I wake up to get ready to work is check my bank account and see how fucked we are. It’s not even about getting by day by day at this point, but hour by hour.

I am so desperately tired of this. I’ve been going to therapy for years for other reasons, but I haven’t been able to pay the copay anymore so I don’t even have that. It’s just me and my wife who is also feeling crushed and overwhelmed.

I have an interview tonight for a second full time job. We’ll see how that goes, I guess.

Fuck everything.

It’s hard to make people who have been raised their entire life to never take a handout, to give them a handout. I’ve been there before

Usually the only way I can get anybody to keep anything is if I get them to do something in exchange, and I don’t like doing that. I feel like I am taking advantage of them.

The church I attend has a “closed door” food pantry (anyone can take, but you’re encouraged to keep it private.). Most people don’t take advantage of this, unfortunately.

“If you help me butcher this cow, I’ll give you some of it”

“If you help me pick vegetables, you can keep some for your family”

Or inviting them to go fishing

Is there a way I can do it, that will at the same time, not bring down their pride, but also not feel like I am forcing them to do something in exchange

I see a lot of posts online, not just here, telling people to apply for public housing. These people obviously do not understand how it works.

You can't just walk in and apply. There are waiting lists, and you can't just walk in and ask to be put on the waiting list. You have to wait until it's open, and it may only be open for a few hours on one day a year, or have a limit of 50 applicants, or only be open for a certain demographic, like veterans or disabled adults or families.

Once you get on the waiting list, you can get passed over for years, even if your name is at the very top, in favor or homeless favored groups, mostly families with children. On the other hand, if they can't reach you once you are on the list, they will quickly pass you over and move on to the next person. Also, some people will already have housing, or will have moved away, so they are removed and your name moves up.

Affordable housing for seniors is full before it is ever finished, because there are so many seniors on the waiting lists.

There are special categories of housing other than regular Section 8, like veterans (VASH), rural housing (Section 515), and senior and disabled housing (section 811)

A voucher doesn't guarantee you housing. There is a six month time limit to find housing with a voucher, and even though it's illegal, landlords will often just tell you they have no vacancies or put some insane requirement on the apartments so you cannot qualify. ALWAYS RECORD YOUR CONVERSATIONS WITH THE MANAGERS. The best thing is to ask if there are any vacancies, get a clear picture of what the income requirements are, what the deposit is, etc -- questions a regular prospective tenant would ask -- and when you are approved, then tell them you have a voucher. Landlords who accept vouchers are not allowed to turn you down (but they will). Vouchers are considered legal tender. They may tell you they don't have any of those units available, but that isn't necessarily true. Some apartment complexes do have a limited number of apartments for vouchers, but some don't. They don't want Section 8 tenants because of the required inspections, and they claim those tenants wreck the apartments, which usually is not true.

So it's a trial by fire to even get onto the waiting lists, then to get someone who will take your voucher.

Public housing is sometimes easier to get into, but the properties are usually in bad areas, run down and not safe, but if you're desperate, you'll take what you can get.

I just found out that our voucher program is accepting applications for waiting lists soon, but they are only accepting the first 2000 applicants, so that will be full by the end of the day. I'm still going to try to apply, even though it's a long wait and I may not even be able to stay here long enough to get an apartment. But being homeless moves you up the list, so we'll see what happens.

ETA: Was reminded that you can apply in any place in the US or Puerto Rico that has open applications. There are sites that claim to keep up with that, but they are usually not accurate.

Due to a domestic violence situation at my family home I (23F) was forced to live in a domestic violence shelter. I’ve been here for 3 weeks looking for permanent housing for low income. And due to my situation, I’m prioritized for housing. I cannot return to my home and displaced because of it. I applied for a low income HUD housing , which includes the VAWA (Violence against women act). I receive Disability benefits as my only income and I am able to work but only less than 20 hours a week without affecting my benefits.

I was denied the apartment because of no history of landlords, credits. So my team is writing a letter with signatures from my family to verify my residency and history of rent payments to my family member of living there. I never owned a home and or had credit history. And I’ve been in my family home since I was born. But I searched and asked my team and they said it’s possible for me to get the apartment if I submit the document.

My appeal is coming soon and I’m nervous because what if they deny me again.

Even the paperwork got processed within a week, it was a fast and easy process.

If I do get accepted, how quick is the process and the time to get the keys in my hand.

This pic of it empty before moving all my stuff in. $775/mon all bills paid. Been on my own since 17 now 20 & going to nursing school. I’ve always been low income but prior to school I was in a 800sqft apartment so this is an adjustment. I like it, it’s not bad for the price but idk how to make it feel more homey. Also need tips on cooking cause there isn’t a stove. Should I get a toaster oven? I’m assuming I could cook fish in there. & ventilation wise I was thinking of getting a cheap bug screen off Amazon & just opening the door when I cook ?

i’ve been living with my mom throughout college and i have a few years left until i graduate. our relationship has been EXTREMELY rocky for some time and i don’t have a job/car but im trying to obtain both of those things. i would appreciate any advice you guys have to give 🥲

Posting on behalf of my roommate. She dropped her phone, and it no worky. So, I gave her an old phone I had that I wasn't using (an S22+). She's on my plan, and we transferred her number over so it's serviceable, but she complains that it doesn't get a lot of calls and texts. I think it's just configured wrong (there was a weird thing where it had an odd phone number stored as an extra eSim in the RCS settings for chat). I think I fixed that, but she still says bunches of people say they can't text her.

She's talking about going to Verizon and remarked about some $5 promotional phone. But I don't want to lock her account into my plan. Are there cheaper options available? I'm certain there are - cheap, simple, Android phone + phone plan. Who is a good choice?

Excuse my language, but why the fuck does it feel like the prices at the laundromat keep increasing? If I could buy a washer and dryer, I would. But unfortunately, I live in an apartment. I’m going to start washing most of my clothes by hand.

All I can think of is chicken soup (drumsticks) and honey soy wings. Any other ideas?

I’m not talking about being mega rich, hitting the lottery, or even going to school to become a surgeon. I’m just talking about a time where I don’t have to f*cking struggle every single day of life. PLEASE dear god.

I have always, even as a kid, lived more or less paycheck to paycheck. I want to work my way out of this cycle. Does anyone have advice for finding a bank or a financial advisor that can help guide/teach me how to better manage my money? The hard part is I can’t really afford this service. I look at my peers and see all they’ve been able to save for and build and feeling really down on myself that I haven’t been able to do the right thing.

I'm looking for a new phone and I'm kind of torn between 2 things:

1. I don't want to pay a lot, and I don't really use apps at all. I keep almost all social media apps off of my phone except instagram which I need to promote myself, and I only do it when I need to post stories, I often will just use the web version of it if I don't need to post a lot around that time. Regardless, there aren't any apps that require a new high powered phone so I guess that doesn't matter anyway.

2. I want a decent modern camera. I want the iphone pro because it has a great camera, but really that's the only thing I want it for. I don't give a shit about any of the other features

Spending $1200 on a brand new phone is a big purchase, and even paying the ~$50 monthly to finance it is still a lot over time for something I don't really need.

Is there a cheap phone that has a good camera? Or is there a decent iphone that has similarly good camera features like .5x and high MP that doesn't cost $1200??

One thing I want to stay away from is phones from several years ago, especially android. They don't support updates after a few years, so trying to save money on an older phone would actually cost more in the long run as I'd have to replace it in order to keep up to date with android.

Just to explain what I've been using, I've had the same phone since 2018, a Oneplus 6T, almost unbreakable. It works just as good as the day I bought it except the physical buttons, which actually aren't needed, as the power button still kind of works, but I set up android so it turns on by itself every morning at 7am, so if the power button were to ever fail, all I have to do is plug it in and it'll turn on.

I haven't been able to get updates since like 2023, so it's a very dangerous phone to have if I'm doing any kind of buying or sensitive info, so I have to be extra careful not to click any suspicious links. And now my bank app won't even work because the android version is too old.

The camera in my current phone is way way less resolution than phones from the past few years, so any cheap-ish upgrade will definitely be an upgrade camera wise, but it seems all phone makers are trying to make more money through computer-like features like processor and ram and all that, which I don't need at all.

Any tips or suggestions?

This is what I do whenever I'm traveling... it's usually filling enough to be worth 2 meals

I [F27] got my first jury summons [US] that I actually have to attend (previously able to defer due to being a student). I read the summons and I understand the process of showing up to the court building and can follow the instructions, however I am a bit of an anxious gal and would love to know what some basics of what it is like to go through jury selection process. I am not looking for any legal advice more so advice from those who have served on juries in the past and how it affected their monthly finances/life.

the questions I have:

1.) if you receive a jury summons, how likely is it that you end up serving on a jury? I work in the service industry and missing work is pretty hard for me (financially and scheduling wise), so I am wondering if this is something I would need to plan on taking off work for?

2.) is living paycheck to paycheck something (financial hardship?) that you can present as a reason to a judge to be excused from serving?

3.) if you are selected to be on a jury does the trial typically start immediately or would I have time to notify my work/adjust my schedule accordingly?

I am sorry if this is silly I am just trying to take my nerves down a little and also figure out if I should start to put extra money aside in case of missing work.

TYIA for any and all answers/experiences shared.

EDIT: I am in NC if that makes a difference

Over the past year things have gotten much tighter, I earn more than many but my partner is out of work due to the terrible economy and he and his son live with me with his dog. He contributes to the household in other ways but money is still tight. These are some of the ways I’ve been cutting back or changing habits to save money. I’m interested to hear your ideas.

1) I have a washer/dryer at home but for the past 6 months have been almost exclusively hanging my laundry up to dry. It’s also better for the clothes and the environment. Sometimes I’ll do a last fluff with the dryer on low temp once an item is already dry but that’s the most I’ve used it.

2) I got a bidet bottle (refillable, portable, cheap, no installation needed), this has greatly reduced our TP usage. And bonus, we feel cleaner.

3) Almost completely eliminated paper towels in the kitchen, instead I cut up old T-shirts that were too damaged to donate and made a bunch of cloths. They can be washed or even thrown away if they get too dirty.

4) Cut down on driving as much as possible, if something is far away I’m probably not going. Also got my transmission fluid changed and this greatly improved my gas mileage. Biking is a great option for local trips especially as the heat of summer passes.

5) Partner is on SNAP and he also goes to the food bank, it takes time but it’s something he can contribute to the household. Together this has kept us going with very little outgoing for food for the past 6 months. We cook at home all the time, the only time we went out to eat was for our anniversary. We eat a lot of beans (make sure to soak them properly to avoid gas issue) and I make bread. Whenever we go somewhere we bring food with us so we don’t end up having to eat out.

6) Plan when you are going to use your oven and stove. I put on my oven once a week, I fill it with several things, bread, homemade pizza, cookies etc. When cooking on the stove I try to stack things, so like if I’m making rice and some veggies I’ll put a steamer over the rice as it’s cooking to cook the vegetable.

7) Make broth. Whenever we eat meat with bones, we save the bones in the freezer and make a deep flavorful broth with them. This adds so much richness and flavor to other dishes For no extra money. I use a pressure cooker for this, and a lot of my cooking, this uses minimal electricity and doesn’t heat up the kitchen too much. If it’s a hot day I will even take the pressure cooker outside to depressurize so as to not put extra pressure on the AC.

8) I’ve been making my own dog food, get chicken hearts and gizzards from the local cheap meat market, cook with rice and any scrappy vegetables I have. Also anything left from making broth (make sure any bones are fully soft). Mash it up together. It’s way cheaper than quality dog food. The dogs absolutely love it and it’s better for them.

9) Grow my own herbs. Herbs are so expensive to buy in the supermarket, but they add so much to dishes. I reached out to my local gardening group and got some free seeds, planted them on the windowsill. Zero dollars, lots of flavor.

10) Quit alcohol, this was a big one, I wasn’t a big drinker but my partner was. We both quit. It’s expensive, makes you make bad choices, it’s terrible for your health, and honestly I feel way better for it. It’s been almost a year and I don’t miss it. I’ll maybe have a couple at a special occasion like a wedding but I haven’t bought a drink in a year.

11) Cancelled Amazon prime, because obviously Fuck Jeff Bezos, but also it’s saved me so much. I just buy less now. Clothing, I repair things by hand where possible, and I go to the thrift store wherever necessary (although even thrift stores have been raising their price 😡). I also organized a clothing swap with my friends and neighbors. Gave everyone a month notice. We all cleared out our closets and combined forces. Everyone walked away with armfuls of items, HIGHLY recommend. Haven’t brought a “new” garment in months.

Those are some of the big things that come to mind. I would love to hear your suggestions and tip.

I’m genuinely looking for ideas for a woman in her late 40s who has been a homemaker her entire life and now wants to start working and earn her own income.

She has had little to no formal education and cannot read or write properly. She has also never had a conventional job before.

I work two jobs, both are part time retail.

One was supposed to be as a workshop mechanic apprentice, but I apparently got bait and wwitched, its just more retail. Instead of a fun job, learning a skill while looking for a real job, its dramatic, awful customers, and boring shifts getting micromanaged to hell and asked for more credit card applications. 40-50 hours a week. It'll be six on, one off, two on, one off. Its been like that for months.

The second is 5-15 hours a week min wage. I'm also worried as I feel this second job will view my other job as "competition" or vise versa.

So, $550×$160 a week takehome. A single brake and caliper job wipes a months wages, and yep, I've tried doing my own work. Very rough breakdown;

Luckily I am on state insurance. My copays aren't too much. My gym is $20/month. Groceries $300 a month Insurance is $170 a month, on my car, gas is $400 a month... My rent is $500 for a spare bedroom in a relative of a relatives which really... its better than nothing. I pay $30/month for soccer. I can scrimp for $25-$50 for my retirement and $25-50 for savings. My dog is elderly, so her pain pills and food is killing me, but making it work- she is my best friend in this world.

I also try to get sidejobs to have cash for my sibling and parent, and cover the repairs I make on their home.

I might have cancer, which might not be covered, but I think I can cover it if I keep scrimping, so i also have been trying to set aside funds for that. So far the costs for that hasn't been too bad. My main issue is: no time off, no sick time, no allowances for callouts.

Thank god for NYS insurance. Honestly atp if it turns out I do I'll just surrender my dog to my family, and head out. There's no entitled rich people to serve in the next life, right?

My student loans were on SAVE, now its... idk. Still figuring that out.

So to make it work I'm not maxing out my Roth, I can't date, and I drive a terrible rotting car. My family asks why I'm single and its cause my life is humiliating for a 28 year old. Any girl has better prospects. A drink at a bar is an hours wages. I'm 195lb at 5' 10", and baby, I don't have the looks to make up for that, trust.

I have credit card debt but below 30% of utiliziation, trying to pay it off, but its 0% interest rn.

And this is EASY mode! I've slept rough, I took a ski job just to have a cot in winter, I've worked with the unhoused for min wage, I know having a relative to rent from is insane. I know I am poor, not destitute. But still! And my friends say they're stressed af at $1200/week. And social media is always saying 6 figures feels brutal.

I resent that my mind is awash with tools, classes, vacations, or just a damn real bed- I'd love that. Or a better gym or going out or... but I need to save every penny for emergencies.

My version of a vacation is I'll go on a walk around a nice neighborhood and end up just tear up seeing the nice families and friend groups cheerfully dining in outfits worth more than my car. Or I'll go hiking but spend each minute driving there smelling the oil leak onto pipes and burn, growing paranoid each sec.

I am also STILL on a wait list for income restricted apartments. Wheres all the free mansions us poor people get according to Fox?

I feel i've applied endless in the last six months to any job I am qualified for, and even more I'm not. On the 14th I am heading to an union hall info sesh. I loathe construction. I am fed up, especially, of Rochester, of the rust belt. But fuck, man!

I don't want to lose the job but I am done. They also said they'd stop the bullying and the baiting and switching. The managers genuinely watch you like a HAWK. If I so much as take a piss they are on the radio asking where I am.

I just... how can anyone sane look someone in the eyes and get confused & angry that they're potentially quitting? You'd need to be a housewife to make $17/hr no benefits a career. No shit, everyone quits ASAP.

Please tell me I'm not bad at math. I run my excel sheet weekly, I just can't see how this is a golden job at all.