u/Major_Skill_4427

I thought this may be a safe place to talk.

I'm struggling right now- financially much like everyone else. I went from not worrying much about money... I had good credit, I was getting coffee every day, paying all my bills on time, not looking at gas prices, leasing new cars every few years, going on vacation and feeling calm and at ease- to absolute chaos and stress.

I live with my boyfriend, our 5 year old and our cat. Our cost of living (housing/utilities..) has trippled in the past 2 years. We both work full time and I have an etsy shop as well. We get paid and can't afford food for the week. We can't afford to leave the house.

I made a drastic change in living. I don't even get 1 coffee a week where it used to be every day. We don't go out to eat. I put all my credit cards on lock. I cancelled all our subscriptions. We're late on bills and our credit has dropped a lot. We went down to 1 car and now that car needs brakes and whatnot... we can't do it. We can't even afford 1 car.

We went from being content and comfortable to in constant panic over trying to feed ourselves or keep our lights on. I wanted different for my daughter. I feel sad all the time. I'm depressed. She's on summer vacation and bored. I can't afford gymnastics or camp. I can't afford new toys. It's just her and I in the house all day and my constant thought is money. I have a hard time being a mom and playing with her because I'm wondering how much longer we can keep going like this. I don't want her to see me sad all the time.

I'm so used to life being comfortable- and don't get me wrong, I was VERY picky on our budget, but everything got so unaffordable. I get raises but rent has skyrocketed. I'm told we pay a good price for rent but we can't afford it. I can't find anything cheaper. I feel like I failed and failed my daughter. She's growing so fast and I feel like I'm missing so much time worrying. I just wanted to vent. I don't know who else to talk to anymore. I have a therapist and she even suggested I check myself in for a week stay for some mental help because it's that bad- but honestly that'll cost me money I don't have lol.

My boyfriend got paid yesterday. I paid rent and we had .05 left until Thursday. A few years ago I had almost $20k just in savings. We have nothing now. The cost of living is killing us. We can no longer afford food. We can't pay our utilities. 2 full time working adults and we just can't do it anymore.

We were already priced out of our city and had to move, but it's now at the point where we still can't afford anything. I want to give up. I hate living in this constant stress and fear. I don't want to do it anymore. I failed my daughter and I failed at life.

I feel like I am losing my mind. I feel suffocated. My mental health is draining. I'm spirling being in survivor mode all the time and all the chaos of politics right now.

My partner and I both work full time. He's hardly home and I'm a WFH/SAH mom. We have a 5 year old but I'm feeling like a lot of my mental health right now is coming from our daughter. I have ADHD. I get overstimulated very easily... and I like it quiet. She seems to want constant... CONSTANT stimulation and she's very clingy. The whole time I'm trying to work, she sits right next to me, playing on my phone, constantly moving and saying "look-it, look-it!" I can't focus on anything. She just got into music and has music playing- loudly. When I ask if she could just go over to the couch, I feel guilt. When I ask her to turn it down, she will fight me. We've had fits- screaming- throwing... all during times I'm supposed to be working. I'm falling behind and I hate it. I have to mute myself all the time in meetings and I'm starting to feel a little resentful. I love my job and I take a lot of pride in what I do. When I talked about this before, someone told me her needs weren't being met. I'm literally just trying to do my job that I'm being paid to do. When she's not playing on the phone, she'll set up toys and ask me to come play with her. Again the guilt kicks in.
I can't afford summer camps, a babysitter or daycares. I'm barely just surviving right now.

I feel like my overstimulation and her need for stimulation are not working together. Her dad had the day off today but she was still so clingy with me. Every time I went in a different room, she was there. I kept trying to pull her dad in the other room for a conversation about my feelings today, but she was RIGHT there the whole time. I felt as if a panic attack was coming on. How normal is this?

I'm not trying to look for cures (wouldn't that be nice?) or ask medical advice..... I also know this effects everyone differently, but I'm wondering what does RA feel like for everyone?

I know there is a lot of fluid in my knee right now. I don't know if this is RA or or not, but my right knee is terrible. It's not so much the actual joints, but it feels like the muscles around the area. My claf muscle for example is horrible. If feels like a constant Charley Horse. I'm wondering how normal this sounds for RA? I'm preparing to talk to a doctor so I'm just trying to build a little knowledge.

I was also curious to know if massages help? Like if I had a really good, professional massage, would that break up some of the fulid and feel better? Or work the muscles in some way?

Again, not medical advice, just curious how others feel.

Life has been pretty rough for me the past year but I'm trying to look at things from a more positive standpoint lately. Ever since I started being more positive, I've noticed the 2 friends I'm closest to seem more toxic.
I like to consider myself a good friend who cares about others' feelings and what's happening in their lives, but it feels difficult lately.

One is going through a breakup. I check in with her often to let her know I'm here for her. I WANT to be there for her but she keeps telling me things he says to her and I get angrier. He seems extremely abusive. Come to think of it, she has never said a good thing about him to me; it's just been negative. I wrote to her the other day and told her something about me... her response was, "yikes. Anyway my ex told me....." Whatever I say is completely dismissed and it's all about her breakup.

My other friend feels like a total vent friend. She vents about everything. She's hit many roadblocks in life and from an outside perspective, they've mostly been her own doing. It's become draining. She thinks doctors are out to get her. She won't go to a therapist. She won't seek any type of help. I have stepped in and tried to help many times and she won't do anything to better herself, she won't take advice. Nothing. I feel like she almosts wants to live miserably, but I also feel like that's unfair to say. Lately she says things like she wants to go to sleep and not wake up or "I don't want to live anymore". I can't even talk to her about anything good going on with me because she makes little comments that feel weird. So sometimes I keep good things to myself.

I feel stressed and tense when I talk to my friends. It feels heavy. It feels deep. I want to talk to people and not feel this way. I sometimes wonder if I attract this type of person. I don't know.

I hope I could get some help here. I just got an Etsy shop violation. It was for "Intellectual Property Policy". I had a 3d printed item that I made. I tried digging around on Etsy to understand the 'why's', but I still don't understand. It's my actual product.

They have "shop violation" in red and yellow banners all over my page like I committed a crime. I've had this for months and sold several. I'm honestly confused. I wish I could truly have this side hustle without all the rules :( and fees lol

I feel like this should almost be asked in a finance group but it's still relatable. Times are tough financially. I'm thankful my store has been going like crazy, but I feel like when I get a payout, it goes literally to feeding my family. I've sold out of a couple things and can either put the money back into the store, or eat. My shop isn't just about income, it's a hobby and has given me purpose.

How do you all handle your sale money? Separate account for it to go back to supplies?

HI there!

I'm going to be honest, my last home was a mess. I have ADHD and Rheumatoid Arthritis. I also struggled from depression in my last home. When we were moving and I was packing up my home I really noticed my mental health collapse.
I'm in a new home and have a child. I try to keep up as best as I can. I just don't feel like my home is "fresh" and I feel a little defeated from it actually. It feels stuffy and stale... I notice a slight odor. The carpet is 9 months old but already looks run down (I'm planning on renting a carpet cleaner).

I vacuum every day, and today I went to go clean out my vacuum and I noticed a worm in it by one of the screws (not necessary sucked up). I feel gross honestly. I'm trying hard but it's almost like I don't know HOW to clean. Can I get some kind of advice? Anything positive?

I got my first negative review and I'm taking it harder than I thought lol. I've made over 100 sales in 4 months. I put my all into the items and packaging. I give hand-written notes and freebies. I've only gotten 5 star reviews. Some of the reviews have stated "smaller than expected" but still give the 5 star. That annoys me because I post the item size in every description in centimeters AND inches just so it's clear. I always keep my responses super positive though.

I just got a 2 star review. She said it's a lot smaller than the photo. This is so frustrating. Photos are obviously zoomed a little for detail. I checked the description- the size is there. I measured the item myself just now and it's correct. The bought the exact same item that was in the photo. How do you respond to these reviews without saying "why can't you read?" because seriously, it's so annoying.

So I just got a ton of orders this weekend but my printer stopped connecting to my computer... I can't seem to get it to work and I have all these shipping labels that need to be printed. Where can I go or what can I do, so I can get these orders out?

Hello, I live on the West side but tomorrow I'm taking a little family drive to East GR. I want to drive around and look at neighborhoods- I live for older homes/neighborhoods and beautiful architecture. What are some roads I should drive around? Any cool buildings or things to see? Also looking for a place for brunch that's open on Sunday. Would love to hear from some of you 😄

Moms, I'm tired. My cost of living doubled this past year. I'm making $26 an hour and not even surviving anymore. I'm feeling a crazy amount of mom guilt right now. My daughter is off school for the summer and she's already bored. I WFH so it's hard. I want to get her into something like camp, dance lessons, gymnastics, swim, anything, but I simply can't afford it. We can't afford a vacation. We can't afford dentist visits. We can't afford anything "extra". I've been looking for other jobs but can't seem to find a job over $25. I tired doing other things- I have a small etsy shop. I tried making money with socials. I feel like I don't have a lot of time to put into things because I'm in survival mode. I'm feeling constantly angry, stressed, my mental health is slipping. I feel like I'm always focused on surviving vs having fun with my daughter. Has anyone felt like this? What did you do?

*I'm not asking for money* I'm too prideful for that lol

I saw a home for sale that went up in value by 333%. Meanwhile, I got a 1.5% raise. I got paid today. With the cost of housing taken out of my check, it leaves me with $200 to make it through another 2 weeks, pay my utilities, my car payment and a loan payment. I feel like I'm not making enough, but then anytime I browse jobs, they seem to be a couple dollars less than what I'm making. My boyfriend is bringing in $400 a week and currently applying to anything else, but he can't even get an interview. I'm feeling smothered to the point I can't breathe and like there is no hope. I started applying to 2nd jobs but we also have a 5 year old and life is so overwhelming. How are we surviving?

I'm new to the whole GR area. My boyfriend and I live in 1 city but he want to move to the other. We have a 5 year old. What are the differences? I want to make this decision before she really gets involved in school. Let me know all that you know!

I paid an attorney for my boyfriends expungement. She seemed very willing to help him but then completely flipped. When we first hired her, instead of her telling him all the things he needed to do, she sent him 20-something pages of legal text- which him and I don't understand. He didn't comply with something he needed to from the legal text that she sent and he had to go to court for it(this is not what he was getting expunged). He went to court and they basically disposed the case. We were expecting to hear from her after this court date, but didn't. 6 days later, I decided to write her. I sent her a text and asked if the 3 of us could have a phone conversation as his expungement date was approaching. She said no. She then went on to tell me that because my boyfriend let 1 thing slip, that he didn't seem interested. She said he can re-apply for expungement in 3 years.
His expungement date is in a week. It still shows that he's going. So I questioned her about we need to know what's going on for that. She did not respond to me. She then wrote to my boyfriend and told him if we keep "harassing" her, she's going to block both of us. This is the first I've talked to her in 2 months. He hasn't texted her either.

She's telling him he has to wait 3 years. His court date is still showing active. Now we can't get answers on what we need to do. It just feels like she's taking our money and running. I understand her being annoyed with him if he didn't do something he needed to, but I also feel like this is where she should have went over it all instead of emailing it all. My boyfriend and I both suffer of trauma with things that have happened to us the past 2 years. We are in desperation mode and not thinking clearly. I'm just looking for insight on this. I'm not looking for legal advice, but just want to see how this sounds

I talked to someone recently who said she was struggling with credit card debt after a divorce, so she called her credit cards and they lowered the interest from 22% to 6%. So I called today and asked if my interest could be lower. The person I spoke with said they don't do that because rates are set by the federal government. There was no budging at all. I've ALWAYS paid my dang bill and on time, I'm just high up by the credit limit. I asked him if Capital One offers any kind of help for people struggling and he just said 'No'. Cool.

I've had my shop open for 4 months now and I've made 82 sales. I think it's decent... I'm pretty happy with it. I've noticed some items though get a ton of views but no sales. I'm wondering why this could be? I feel like I put a lot of research into pricing, so I feel like they are prices right. I take the same type of photos for everything. I'm just wondering if anyone has insight on tons of views but low sales on an item.

It's so weird because the things I told myself would definitely sell, have not moved. I've actually been shocked at what's selling.