Just turned 30 today. I feel like a loser. I served 8 years in the Air Force. This is not really how I pictured my life at 30. I have an associates in Mathematics(I know worthless) and I want to go back to college but I don’t know what for. Giving how awful the economy is I may go back into the Air Force.

I make 18 an hour. I work between 35-40 hours a week. I just paid off my car so I’m debt free. I’m kinda lost. My friend is getting married in May and he’s buying a home in July. We’re around the same age.

So I haven't worked in, going on two weeks this coming Tuesday. My boss just says there's no hours to give, but, I am the only one who is getting literally nothing right now. For context, I work for CVS as a Pharmacy Technician In Training. I make $16 an hour. I have an offer letter saying

"Expected hours per week: 40"

What can I do? I have rent and stuff to pay.

im sorry if i make any grammar mistakes im not a native speaker i always suffered in poverty in my life because of a fucking lawsuit that drained my family's savings my dad works in a shop which barely leaves any profit my mom can't work because of my 2 and 7 years old siblings im living in a 3rd world country and getting a scholarship from government which worths like 70 dolars once a month i tried buying my some stuff in dark web to card with my last scholarship and ended up getting scammed my family desperately needs that money now and i can't explain this to them i feel like a damn disappointment my morale has been really bad for the past days and my boyfriend just left me for "ignoring him" i don't know what to do i never considered suicide before so it hits way worse and i can't think of a way to survive till my next scholarship without selling my pictures isn't there any way?

I'm a sophomore in college. I'm at a tough spot in my life. But I need to find a way to budget $48 until early May when I get start working at my internship. Is there anyway of budgeting the $48 for the next 4 weeks for food? Anything I should buy in bulk? I don't mind skipping a meal every other day if that works since my body can use some fat instead. It's also exam season.

I've also looked at the food banks near me and I got 500 grams of pasta and small snacks. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

I don't have vision insurance and my glasses are more than 10 years old so I stupidly went to America's Best to get an eye exam. Well they fucked it up. The second visit there to try on my new glasses involved them arguing me for half an hour that I could see through them. My vision was worse with them than they are without glasses, my vision was doubled, they kept telling me I just needed to adjust. They finally redid the exam (visit 3) and said yup, they fucked up, sent them out to have them redone. They come back in on the 4th visit and one pair is right and I was just so damn relieved that it worked that I didn't notice the second pair is fucked (also I can't wear these because the lenses are so thick they won't stay up because I didn't pay for the $400 lenses). The whole time I just wanted the damn prescription to order a pair of glasses and damn if they didn't fight me tooth and nail on it. Now I ordered some glasses (from zenni) with the prescription they gave me and I'll be damned if they aren't fucked. Can't see out of the right lense at all which is frustrating because the left one is fine. So now I've got a pair of glasses I can't see out of, a prescription that doesn't work, and I'm out about $300 so far. This is why my glasses are so old.

A law firm sent me this. Would they really go this far for $127? $127 is a lot for me but I know it’s nothing for them.

You can then use them on your own and pay for any amount over that GC with cash or debit. This gets you past the membership checkers at the door without a lot of hassle especially if you wanted to but their cheap $1.50 hot dog + drink special or use their pharmacy.

EDIT: Some of these kinds of comments remind me of why /r/povertyfinance broke away from /r/personalfinance to begin with.

We have encouragement in a world of haves/have nots, resources for getting assistance and most importantly, actionable ways to save money.

My favorite of these anti-povertyfinance comments so far (you're a winner!):

"ProTip: If you can't afford $60 per year to shop at Costco, you shouldn't be shopping at Costco."

Guess what? I'd encourage someone on SNAP to shop at Whole Foods too if they can get some better per unit costs on fresh fruits or proteins over their usual stores. We're not assigned to Aldi's and Dollar Tree bc we don't use our autopilot EVs for grocery runs.

replacement for this to save money?

Guys i need a job, my situation sucks.

I know ambition is the key to achieving success in life but i don’t have it. How do i go about this?

I don’t even know how to go about applying, i dont have a bank account, i have nothing, no transportation either. I know absolutely nothing.

How do gain ambition?! Im lowkey scared cuz my dad has no ambition and he’s amounted to nothing his entire life.

My interest is real estate, i want own an apartment complex one day.

My goal with the money is to make sure me and my family(if i have one) are well, and then the rest is to be given back to the community through donations to charites, community events and that sort of thing.

Tried to put gas in the car this morning. My husband needs to drive a couple hours today, he is working at another site this week.

Card I had been using was a $50 hold on gas pumps. Had to borrow money from my mom so he could get down there this week. It's garunteed overtime with per diem so it is worth it. But he doesn't get any of that till like next week.

The card with the money held all $103 dollars, didn't let me get any gas, and it won't come back till at least tomorrow.

I have a little cash that I can send him with but I am so frustrated. At least give me some gas if you're going to hold the entire amount.

I am a third year biology student and ever since I enter college, I funded all the things I needed including food and bills.

I work as a virtual assistant, and it has been really hard, but I persevered. But now, I got fired from work due to time constraints as I am getting to work for my thesis. Finding new job has been really difficult for me. Especially now that I am going to have the OJT sooner or later and think about how can I afford the expenses.

Now I'm at my lowest point in life. I am financially, physically, and emotionally drained. I wish I have the privilege as other people. I wish I didn't have to go to school thinking about how to get through a week.

But no. I don't have everything in a single platter. I don't have parents to support me with my expenses. And I now I don't have the means to support myself.

Maybe I should drop in college..

So a little backstory, I (49 M) lost my job in Jan of 2024 and have been looking for work ever since. I use a cane due to an arthritic left knee, arthritic ankles and edema in both lower legs. I have applied for disability but it is currently in appeals. Job interviews are few and far between and they are not impressed when I come in using a cane. I have been evicted from my apartment due to non payment of rent now going on 6 months. Have tried to get housing assistance but since I am under age 52 and have no kids, they don't even really want to talk to me. Technically I am suppose to be out by this weekend with no place to store what stuff I do have. It seems like my own family has completely abandoned me, hell can't even seem to get them to help me move out. I am at my wits end

I will try to be concise. A year and a half ago my sibling and their partner were living separately from my mother. My sibling became disabled and the two of them fell extremely behind on rent (11k) and somehow by the grace of something we’re not evicted and only asked to leave. A few months ago the partner dumped my sibling which has sent them into an incredibly suicidal spiral. On top of that my sibling and their service animal are now currently living with my emotionally abusive and clinically depressed mother. She’s been unable to hold work her selves and is constantly on the verge of being evicted herself.

My sibling has been doing their best to seek medical treatment (virtually impossible on the state Medicare) to get themselves into a position to work again and improve their situation but it’s been extremely slow going. They spend most of their time in their car trying to escape our mother.

Two days ago the car was repo-ed and they’re on the hook for 12k to get it back. Not a single person in our family has that kind of money and now they have nowhere to be, no way to get to doctors appointments, get around in general. Their disability prevents them from being able to do much. (Severe nerve damage)

We’ve come to the conclusion that they need to get away from our mother and extended family wont help until they can get away from our mother due to her past history of abusing their financial help.

What are their next steps? They can’t drive anywhere because the car is gone. They can’t go to shelters because of the service animal.

I don’t have any resources or space. I live in a tiny apartment with credit too bad to get another one and with my own pets. I also live paycheck to paycheck with a huge backlog of issues just waiting to ruin me.

What plan can I make with them to help them get their life back on track. I’ve already been helping them a tiny bit with money for food. Letting them figure it out themselves will result in them dead as they already have absolutely no will to live and things keep getting very tangibly worse.

TLDR: mother is abusive irresponsible and uncooperative. Suicidal Sibling had their last resource (car) repo-ed and we have no other familial resources to draw on.

Editing to add that I live a few states away. Please help we are at a total loss.

Edit: adding that they’re on the spectrum and have bipolar on top of all of this which adds extra levels of difficulty.

This past year, I was able to save up 6k. Half of it went into my savings account. Yesterday, my AC went out in my car. Right now it’s not even entirely fixed, and I’ve been quoted at 980 dollars total. Life really blows sometimes

I was also about o move cities this month so it hurts

Hey y’all! My husband and I are both plus size and already have a hard time finding clothes since we aren’t straight sizes. Places like DXL, Bloom Chic, and Stitch Fix are 100% cost prohibitive. Anyone have recommendations on where to reliably find clothes that don’t cost between $50-100 for one article of clothing? We are working on changing our size but in the meantime hoping to at least not feel like complete shit when we go to family events like Easter.

ETA: I am 2x, my husband is 4x.

I'm not sure what to do in this situation. My single mom is 61 with bad knees and requires a walker to get around. She's worked retail (Walmart) for the last 15 years. She recently got let go for shorting someone at the register and she has no real savings. With her struggle to get around I'm not sure how to help her especially when her skills are limited. She is running out of money and I'm not sure where to start as far as support goes. She doesn't believe she will get unemployment because she was let go from her job. Any advice on how to navigate this situation would be greatly appreciated. I found a similar post like this from before so I hope this is the right place to ask. In their situation their parent had more skills and was not as sedentary.

I figured I’d share my experience with Sky Blue Credit Repair since I’ve seen a lot of people asking about it and not a ton of recent, detailed posts. I signed up with them about six months ago because I had a few charge-offs, a collection, and some late payments that were dragging my score down big time. I didn’t have the energy to deal with the bureaus myself and liked that Sky Blue didn’t lock you into a contract and charged a flat monthly fee. At first, I was impressed — they were super responsive, and the sign-up process was easy. They started sending disputes pretty quickly, and I saw a couple of minor things removed in the first two months. But after that, things kind of plateaued. The major negatives — like the collection and charge-offs — stayed put, and I kept getting generic updates that they were “continuing dispute efforts.”

To be fair, I don’t think any service can magically erase legit items, and I knew that going in. But I guess I hoped they’d do more than I could do on my own. I ended up canceling after five months. Not because it was terrible — it just didn’t feel like it was moving the needle anymore. I’m now back to doing some DIY stuff with certified letters and seeing if I get further. I’m not mad I tried Sky Blue, but I’d say if your report is messy with legit debt, temper your expectations. Has anyone else had better results with them, especially for tougher accounts?

So for a bit of background my dad has multiple problems in one of his shoulders. Arthritis, fluid in his joint, torn muscles, and one other thing I can't remember. He can manage the cost of the surgery, but he can't afford to take 6 months off work to heal. My stepmom works two jobs and makes money but it's not enough. I am a 16 year old attending early college, so he spends quite a bit on that. Is there anything I can do for my dad? I offered him money from my job but he declined. His current plan is to hold off the surgery for as long as possible.

If you are in Renton WA area, Luther's Table on Soth 2nd has a free breakfast every Saturday from 8am to 10am. Also has a small free pantry for food and diapers.

I’m trying to fix my credit after years of damage from medical bills and some bad financial decisions when I was younger, and I keep seeing ads for CreditRepair.com. At first glance, it looks legit — slick website, detailed progress tracker, and the promise of customized dispute plans. But when I started looking deeper, I saw a bunch of people asking the same thing I’m now wondering myself: is CreditRepair.com a scam? Some reviews say they helped get collections removed and boosted scores, but others are calling it a total waste of time — saying they just send out automated letters, don’t follow up, and bill you monthly with no real results.

I’ve already been burned once by a different credit repair company that took my money and did basically nothing, so I’m really hesitant to jump in again. I get that no one can legally guarantee results or erase legit debt, but I’m not paying just to feel like I’m doing something — I actually want to see progress. Has anyone here used CreditRepair.com recently and seen real improvements? Like score increases or tough accounts removed? Or is it just another dressed-up subscription service that rides the line between legal and sketchy?

All these loan sites are not looking so great to me, does anybody know a good place or site to get a loan. I’ve had to take out multiple credit cards during a family emergency but things are a bit more stable now so I would feel a lot more comfortable paying off a lump sum per month instead of trying to split payments into multiple cards. Any advice on the matter would be greatly appreciated.

I’m in the middle of trying to clean up my credit and have been researching different services that can help. I came across The Credit Pros, and they seem to be one of the more well-known names in the credit repair world. Their site looks legit, and they claim to offer everything from unlimited dispute letters to credit monitoring, identity theft protection, budgeting tools, and even access to FICO-certified professionals. Sounds great, but I’ve learned to be skeptical.

Their pricing is on the higher side compared to other services I’ve looked into—anywhere from $69 to $149 a month, plus an upfront fee. That’s a big chunk of change, especially if I’m not seeing results in the first couple months. I’ve read mixed reviews. Some people say they saw big improvements in their scores within a few months. Others say the service was more automated than personal, and they didn’t see much difference after months of paying.

I get that no credit repair company can wave a magic wand and erase legit negative marks from your report. But if they can actually help clean up inaccurate info, guide you through the process, and speed things up a bit, I’d be willing to invest. I just don’t want to fall into another overpriced subscription that ends up being all talk and no progress.

So, has anyone actually used The Credit Pros recently? Were they responsive? Did they do more than just send form letters to the credit bureaus? And most importantly—did your score improve?

I’ve disputed twice now and both times they have moved the late payments up a year screwing my credit every time, it’s from moneylion and I’m wondering if I should sue or if there’s any other options I have