r/poor

Let me start by saying I am NOT a recruiter, just a curious soul. Everyone’s probably heard jokes about joining the military if you don’t have much left, but I looked into it and it doesn’t seem terrible. Assuming you pass basic, you have a consistent source of income which also won’t be taxed as heavily, gov’t covers part of your expenses if you live on a base, and performing well leads to guaranteed pay increases.

Drawbacks would be losing a few of your freedoms (you have to be careful with what you say, your superiors might relocate you somewhere unfamiliar, etc), ethical issues if you have them, and the sadly nonzero probability of getting deployed the the Middle East.

Wha do y’all think?

I often see people crying about feeling less than others and feeling like they feel guilty for existing and being poor and owe society this and that, and that theyre doing everything correct but feel behind...

And then I see people from the poorest neighborhoods who do what they want, dont obey authority and have an idc attitude towards society, are unemployed and even leech of society and sometimes are earning more than people from higher social classes

I utilize the food pantry when I can. I want to apply for food stamps, it would really help us. We are both on the lease. We have one child. But he thinks the city will force him onto child support if I apply with both of our information, because that’s what happened with his first child. (I know that won’t happen but there’s no convincing him otherwise, he does not trust it).. but idk what else to do. There’s no way to apply using our lease.. with his name on it.. without them asking for his financial information. Just want to see if I’ve exhausted my options. (And yes i am looking for a new/better paying job)

a little bit of info: we haven't been eating much, maybe one half-meal a day IF that, so i forced myself to spend money i didn't really have to spend and got some frozen stuff the other day. gas got shut off this morning because dad let the bill go too long without any payment and didn't communicate that with me, so now all that food can't be cooked because it's oven only, no microwave. we don't have money to get anything else, either.

churches and local food banks near me only give us stuff we need a stove to cook. the rest is either snacks, stuff expired by over a year (lol), or cat treats (can't really eat those). we don't even have bread that's how bad off we are.

i haven't eaten today. i'm so hungry. (tmi) it's the time of the month, so i'm crampy and moody and now i'm so nauseous because i haven't eaten in 24 hours. what, realistically, are my options here? because he won't be able to get it turned back on until september... that's like 2 weeks. he ripped the notice up and refuses to call and talk with a rep about payment options, plans, or explain our situation. i can't do it because the account is in his name. what am i supposed to do?

please also don't suggest going to those reddit threads for help. every single one i have turned to have quickly turned me away for one asinine reason or another. one literally told me that because the amount i needed went over their maximum you could request (despite me saying the max request would do a decent chunk), i wasn't allowed to post a gofundme. i can't post on another for even just a meal because i "wasn't active enough", others have said "you only ever ask for help on this account" as if struggles have an expiration date, etc. i don't get why you need to fulfill requirements to ask for help, and it makes me feel like i'm being shamed for being forced into a situation i didn't ask for thanks to my family's selfish decisions and lack of communication. asking for help has always been a shameful thing to do in my household, and constantly getting turned away has made me feel even worse about finding the courage to reach out.

moving out isn't an option. i don't make enough money, i have so little to my name, and none of my friends have room / the ability to help me move out. i'm not blessed with social media popularity to get a help thread going, and even then i feel guilty asking because there are people worse off than me.

i'm completely out of options and feel so hopeless. i work for a college, 17 hours a week at minimum wage. nobody else wants to hire me, and it's summer break: i haven't been paid since may 16th, and won't get paid until october because of how the semesters work. i didn't qualify for any unemployment or snap benefits, either, and i'm just so defeated and tired. I AM NOT ASKING FOR MONEY, i need advice. please help me.

I’ve never experienced this before and it was shit off without notice. All of a sudden some guy knocks on my door demanding money I don’t have and then about 30 mins later our power goes off. I need $300 to turn it back on and I’ll have it Friday, but if anyone has any tips on surviving without power lmk because this has never happened to me before and it’s kinda… traumatic? I’m aware that it could be much worse I was homeless in 2022 so I am grateful to have running water and gas at least. NOT AKING FOR MONEY. I just need tips on how to survive 3 days without power.

I’m 20 and know it’s a big risk and super dumb but I haven’t eaten a meal in 2 days.

I’m willing to go into more debt if it means not starving to death.

Also ebt says I make too much so they won’t approve me yay!

What do yall think?

Hi all, I'm about to start college but have literally no storage. I share a room with my mum (with a partition) so my space is incredibly small - I have a bed and desk and barely have room to walk around. I'm already incredibly stressed trying to figure out where to store clothes let alone any of my college work.

I was storing all my highschool work in a laundry basket because I had nowhere to put anything which was so disorganised and stressful. I'm taking 5 subjects (3 is standard) so I'll have even more books and binders to deal with.

I worry that its cruel to ask to swap sides of the room with my mum because her side is bigger. Although she has a double bed which likely wouldn't fit in my side.

My brother has his own room which is the size of both my mums side of our room and mine combined. He's not even going to college. Although, he has a girlfriend who is constantly around who also happens to be my bestfriend 🥲 so I don't want her to have to share a room with my mum when she's over in the case that me and my brother swap.

I'm stuck on what to do. I have an anxiety disorder and with such a tiny space I feel super trapped and frustrated.

I hate that I have to say this but my DMs are off so anybody who was particularly drawn to the age in the title don't even bother. If you feel the need to DM advice don't. That's what comments are for.

I know a lot of us are busy and drowning and struggling due to poverty so is the education thing just a talking point for everybody else?

Educators have so much to say but those of us living in poverty, especially with kids, are saying not much. TBH, I don't know whether it's that many are too overwhelmed to care or just expect 'teachers' to do all the work.

Like do you ensure your kids have enough to eat bc it's hard to study or care when you're hungry? Do you share out responsibilities between adults 'before' putting that on teens so 'they' can study, do extracurriculars or whatnot? Do we 'actually' read to out kids?

Like how do we know what's possible, literally, for us in just managing if we never talk about it?

School is starting any minute now--and has all ready for some. What are we doing differently this year? Let's get the convo going since 'we' know our situations best and 'want' the best for our kids.

what the hell do i do with all that money. just got the call that im getting 6k, my partner was with me and has worse injuries so im assuming they’ll get equal or more. open a HYSA or what?

I currently make around $1 million/yr with my 9-5 & personal business.

I am in no way bragging or shaming anyone, so let me be direct and transparent.

I've worked extremely hard to get where I am today. I've lost

everything at least 10 times due to divorce and drug rehab.

Been able to restart/bounce back so many time. From working at slaughter house to executive positions, so you see why poverty in America seems crazy to me.

How are so many struggling? I really need yo understand.

My daughter is turning 21 soon but I can't afford to buy her a gift or take her out anywhere. I'm going to cook her favorite dinner and make a cake to eat at home and have her boyfriend and a few relatives over, but that seems so lame for such a milestone birthday. What else can I do that's free or very low cost to make her feel special? I also grew up very poor, feeling worthless and deprived and really don't want my child to feel that way too. In such a materialistic culture where wealth is worshipped and poor people are shunned, it's a really terrible feeling that destroys your self esteem.

I used to work in construction in really wealthy areas where the most rich stay people with generational wealth and apart from the obvious things like being super clean, big and beautiful houses, big pools, nice cars most of those people live with their families all their lives and build wealth together, for them its nothing wrong with having a 40yo son or daughter living with them and these people have all the money to move out, they tend to live with their sons, their parents all in the same house, while poor people or more middle class people have the idea of moving out buying a house and being independent while not earning that much in a regular job

I'm 22 and lived with roommates the past 4 years since I was 18. I lived in a somewhat high cost of living area (city in the northeast) where the average rent for a 1 bedroom was 1200 on the low side. Up to 2k+ if you wanted to be fancier. As college students, we just rented out the big houses with 5+ rooms together. That 3500 dollar house suddenly only became 700 a month+ utilities when you have 5 people. Then everyone leaves after senior year to suddenly forget how to be a roommate and complains about renting their own place for 1600 a month. Like??? Why did we as young adults forget that roommates are supposed to be normal. Friends the tv show literally had 30 year olds still being roommates and renting together. Why is everyone so insistent on living in their own place? Yeah roomates can suck. But I'd rather split the price of a more expensive house/apartment to something manageable than have to pay for an expensive studio myself. Like I genuinely believe so many of my peers forgot that you don't have to live on your own in a nice place! I was doing just fine living in a city with roommates only making like 12 an hour. Was the place fancy? Absolutely not. It was an old house, paint chipping, no central ac, barely furnished. But I didn't dislike it because it was cheap. My senior year of high school I also rented out a room in someone's house for only 400 a month.

Now I'm thinking about moving to another city where 3 bedroom houses are around 2k a month. Split 3 ways is 667 a month. Super affordable! It drives me crazy everyone has stopped being willing to have roommates!!

To feel like all the bills are covered and you have enough left to save and go out a couple times a month. Nothing crazy, just simple - whatever that would look like for you, a weekly income.

Me and my husband (late 20s) are friends with a couple (also late 20s) who have a lot of money. One of them is a trust fund baby and the other one's just "lucky".

It's silly but it's so embarrassing to hang out with them sometimes because we are so fcking poor. We have rent unpaid, bill collectors knocking on our doors and our clothes have holes in them. We can't even afford a car right now, I've been walking to my minimum wage job (which I'm probably getting fired from soon). Meanwhile our friends, they travel all the time and buy whatever they want whenever they want to. They don't work because their parents are paying for everything. This week they just got back from France and are leaving to go to Greece again next week. They asked what we've been up to and it's like...nothing? We've been rotting home, trying to survive. I feel like I've failed as an adult, always having to borrow money and needing help from others. It's humiliating to decline invitations because we can't afford to go anywhere. They're always bringing us stuff from abroad and I absolutely love them for that but it's so sad because I wish we could do that too. It'd be nice to pay for their dinner sometimes. It'd be so nice if I could just decide to go on vacation with my husband without it ruining our lives financially. I've never been abroad and I genuinely don't think I ever will. Seeing the world feels like a pipe dream.

I know it's ridiculous to compare myself to people whose rich parents pay for everything but being around them it's hard not to notice all the areas in our own life where we lack basic things. I keep telling myself that at least we still have a roof over our heads, we always manage to have food in our bellies and a bed to sleep in at night. It just sucks that every time I open the mailbox my heart drops when I see a bill. It shouldn't be like that.

There's plenty of normal people in poverty but not everyone is trying to act tough or hard. I don't know if these people have it worse or if its more of a persona . Maybe everyone reacts differently to being poor. I'm just curious.

Nobody can rob you 😎

Been kinda wondering about that myself because of the well known fact that many people on the autism spectrum have a very hard time holding down a job(70~80% unemployment rate for autistic adults) and getting fired for their behaviors. Does that contribute to extensive poverty?

A lot of poor kids go undiagnosed throughout life as well with zero supports.

I have $236 for every bi-weekly check (give or take each paycheck) lump sum - after bills and maybe putting $100 in savings, if i can. i feel like i'm barely making it work. how do you budget your weekly allowances? I get paid in two days and right now I only have $30 in my account :/

this $236 also includes expenses for "fun" (which isnt really happening lets be honest) groceries, and unexpected small charges (like maybe I ran out of something early, my pets need something, etc). I unfortunately live in a high-cost area.