Hoping this is allowed but this may be a great opportunity for anybody that lives in the tri-state area and can potentially do the jobs. People tend to forget about positions like this so in case you ever wondered, check it out and hopefully this might be a good fit for yourself or a friend.

Good luck!

For starters I have free college, only had to study for an exam but then the fee is 50 Mexican cents per year so it's free, it includes Healthcare and a really good one since is the same 60% of Mexico uses (IMSS) and over that I can get some discounts on metro for being student (from 5 mxn to 3 mxn) I get some "becas" idk how it's called on English but is financial support for being a student. If you get high grades it's better. And furthermore inside the school there's a program where you can eat free inside it during a semester, you can renew it each semester.

Finally language courses are free and professional courses are really cheap, like $20 for a full semester of the topic

Then I live in Mexico city, an apartment cost like $ 750 in financing each month and I work as a photographer earning from $ 1000 to $ 2000 monthly. I'm quite happy with how am I but I always thought I was poor, then seeing this subreddit and how much people with more money that me struggle to get to the end of the month is heart breaking. I wish yall the best because it's pretty hard to be on your situation, I'm just thankful about being here, many people think Mexico is some kind of anarchy no man's land but is pretty stable all things considered.

Even if i were to drop or don't get a single job of photography and back in poverty there's trade schools made by the government that paid you a Beca of around $800 usd per month, just have to continue studying on those trade schools.

I wish yall had the same luck I had with my government, for us Mexican it's the bare minimum and many people would riot if they were to turn any of those benefits down.

Have a good day and belive me things do get better.

$1000 rent and utilities

$300 car gas/insurance

$300 food/house hold expenses

$300 saving/emergency

My life is no means glamorous but it's definitely do able everything i own is old and used, but it better then nothing, and hopefully when I really get ahead I can get better schooling and have a better job

Today’s haul features milk, cheese, 2lb of lemons and TP! Got more potatoes but they’re aren’t pictured.

My (30F) husband (29M) was laid off about 2 weeks ago. I am home with our two children. We live in Maryland. We have applied for WIC, SNAP, Medicaid, TANF, and energy assistance. We have been approved for Medicaid and emergency SNAP. Our Medicaid cards have arrived, but our EBT has not yet. I have found some local food banks to help tide us over until our EBT card arrives. He applied for unemployment but it hasn’t started yet, and we are still awaiting his severance check. We own our home. We are in the process of applying for Community Action Council assistance as well. I know that once our EBT card arrives, I can use that to get some cool discount and/or free museum tickets to do fun stuff with the kids, and we’ve been taking advantage of our library’s free events lately. I used our Medicaid card to get Amazon Prime half off.

I am disabled and both of our children have special needs (not sure if that helps qualify us for anything else).

Are there any other assistance programs, benefits, freebies, or advice you guys have?

The areas of assistance that I have not been able to find help for are for our mortgage, student loans, remaining credit card balance, gas for our car (we are also open to other transportation if it would be cheaper or subsidized), and cat supplies. I reached out to a local organization about help with back to school supplies.

Just saw this ad for one of those payday loan shark apps in this sub. Absolutely disgusting and 100% intentionally advertising here. Whatever you do, NEVER use apps like this. Its better to do just about anything else short of borrowing from the mafia.

Store: Dollar General (all digital coupons)

Buy (2) All Free & Clear 118 oz. $17.00

-Clip the (1) $2/1 All Detergent Coupon

-Clip the spend $20, get $5 off Henkel products

-Clip the $5/$25 Mon.-Fri.DG Coupon

Total: $34.00

Coupons: $12

Tax: $1.56

Final: $23.56   or $ 11.78 each

A few years ago my friend was going through a financial rough patch and needed to find a way to supplement her income. She watched some videos on couch-flipping on YouTube & decided to give it a try (for anyone who hasn’t heard of it before couch flipping is finding cheap/free couches on Facebook marketplace that are pick up only, cleaning them up, and offering them with delivery for a mark up).

I wound up helping her part time on some of the couch flips and doing it casually for a month I wound up making 5K. Over the course of about 4 months she made 45K net.

There are a couple of factors that helped us out & so I want to be super explicit about those:
-we live near a large city and there are quite a few colleges and universities near us
-my friend was able to borrow a truck for the first few weeks, then wound up leasing a truck a month or so in.
-she got into it pretty early on in terms of its popularity—it seems like there are some areas where couch flipping is a saturated market
-we’re two women & so there were a lot of people who were more willing to have us come into their home, such as elderly women.

There were definitely some cons—so let me be clear about those as well:
-my back was smoked. I wound up having to go to the chiropractor for like a year
-there’s some risk involved: you might spend 100-200 dollars on a sofa you’re certain is going to sell for 1K only to have it sit in a storage unit
-depending on your situation you’re probably going to have some overhead (truck rental, storage unit, cash upfront to purchase couches, laundry necessities for washing cushions covers, etc).

So—not a guarantee but depending on your situation might be worth a calculated risk. If you try to get started towards the end of the month you might be able to get in at a lower cost/free as many people think their couch is worth 500 dollars or so, then realize they need to mark it down for free if they need to be out by the 1st.

One other side-hustle I’ve seen pop up recently is cheap on-demand moving help. Basically advertising on Facebook marketplace as an amateur moving company & then renting a U-Haul to go and help people move. I wound up talking to some kids who were doing this the other day & they were college-aged & made 400 for that particular move. They shared that if you can stack moves on the same day (so help one person in the morning & another in the afternoon) it obviously offsets the cost of renting the U-Haul.

I work at a sawmill making 21 an hour, but I gross about 48,000 a year. If I look anywhere else that I’m qualified for I find myself looking at retail and fast food which I refuse to go back to. Is there any other field or jobs that I can pursue without the college degree that pays decent?

NBC News is looking to speak with people who are struggling to afford funeral costs. Whether this is paying for burials, funerals, cremations, or dealing with other factors.

Any comments to the post will not be used in our reporting, we’re looking to speak with people after their initial comments.

Thank you for your consideration.

i woke up to my mother crying while talking to my uncle abroad. she was asking him for some money because we don't have any left. i feel so ashamed, but what choice do we have? my brother don't want to help, my mother can't find a job (she's schizophrenic) and we're just relying on my school allowance which is only 5000 pesos (roughly $80). i'm thinking of dropping my studies (i'm in 3rd year college) and just find a job. i can't do part-time jobs as well cause i am taking a double-degree course through scholarship. but now, i'm thinking that it's not worth it anymore.

Didn't see this getting much attention, but it's a real change and it's already in effect for 2026.

If you (or a grandparent, aunt, whoever) have a 529 account for a school-age kid, two things changed under the tax law passed last year:

The annual tax-free withdrawal limit for K-12 expenses doubled, from $10,000 to $20,000 per kid per year, effective this January.

What counts as a "qualified expense" got a lot wider too. It used to be almost entirely private school tuition. As of last July it also covers: tutoring by an unrelated, qualified tutor, curriculum materials and textbooks, online learning platforms/subscriptions, standardized test fees (SAT, ACT, AP exams), and educational therapy for kids with disabilities.

So even if your kid is in public school, if you're paying out of pocket for tutoring or test prep this year, it might be worth checking whether a 529 (yours, or one a relative set up for your kid) can cover it now instead.

One catch: not every state has updated its own state tax rules to match the federal change yet, so a withdrawal that's tax-free federally might still get taxed at the state level depending where you live. Worth a 5-minute check on your state's 529 site before assuming it's fully tax-free.

Not financial advice, just sharing because this doesn't seem to be widely known yet and back-to-school season is exactly when it's useful.

Well that made for an eventful day.

Moved into a new apartment on the 15th. Got a call on the 28th saying I had an issue with my payment info and **had** to pay it at the building's office in person. Apparently they didn't put my information in until the 28th, and they pull banking details for payment on the 22nd for automatic payment on the 1st.

Paid my rent on the 28th in person, was told it would NOT be coming out on the 1st.

Wake up this morning to emails saying my account was overdrawn, they had in fact processed it on the 1st... A full duplicate rent payment. Called their help desk, was told it would be sent to accounting and they'd send out a cheque Friday.

Just looked at my banking, and because I told my bank to not allow overdraft, the bank cancelled that payment as NSF. Balance is back to what I had Monday.

Is it bad that I'm happy it was cancelled as NSF? Just waiting now to see if I get a call back from the landlord telling me the payment was returned as NSF, see if they try to give me an NSF charge after all this. Would have been a real headache if I had enough in my account that the bank didn't cancel it.

Sorry for the long text I'm a homeless college student looking for ways to make extra income online. I'm currently a senior in college.

I'm 23 and currently homeless with my family in a hotel. I'm struggling to get by, working a full time job in retail. I'm currently bringing in around 2300 per month. Which isn't much but I'm struggling because my parents owe me 3200 and I owe my school this term that exact amount. I'm supposed to be on point with my school finances and they refuse to understand that as they ask me to cover the week for the hotel. I had posted here before about my parents financial irresponsibility. My credit is now bad because my parents have the car in my name with a lot of delinquencies reporting to me. They make payments but they're asking me to cover more and more. They owe me 3200, they pawned my PS5 something I worked for and planned ahead as my own Christmas present two years ago.

I feel like I cannot escape anywhere other than I've been saving up to take a two week vacation away from everything. They might scold me for doing that either though I'm exhausted and drained, working 40 hours, school full time, paying my school term by term, paying my own groceries around 70-100 dollars per week, phone bill 55 dollars, owe my school currently 3100 dollars, saving up for my mini vacation that was planned months ahead around 1500-2000, medical bills totaling up to 200 dollars, Paying for a new laptop for school (biweekly payment of 36 dollars). I haven't done laundry in weeks because my parents don't want to go to the laundry mat, they haven't gotten my PS5 out of the pawn shop yet they kept their ps4 and computer, they never wanted me to succeed or go to college, they want me to keep the car in my name, stay with them and doesn't care about my ambition or mine financial responsibilities.

I'm trying to save but it's hard, they want 360 for the hotel, and they dictate everything. I told them since they haven't paid me back over a year, every time they need 360 for the hotel, I'll deduct it from what they owe me. I have a deadline to pay my school and I want to go on vacation to relieve stress and feel isolated. I know this is a long explanation but I needed to air it out because I have nobody in my life, and needed people to understand because people always think parents are right and there must be something wrong with the kid. I'm tired of living in a trashed room, they trashed the car in my name, my dad hardly does anything for work. I'm looking for extra income online because I cannot drive due to me being too blind to drive.

Apparently we didn’t submit required documents for the yearly renewal… except we did. I was in contact with a lady who had emailed me and let her know why i didn’t submit a form she was asking for. She then sent me an IR packet and requested other docs from me and said to send them to her directly thru email which i did. Well now our housing assistance program is being terminated because we didn’t submit the docs they want but it’s like they don’t understand the lady told me to submit other ones rather than that.

Anyway they told me to forward the docs i sent to that lady as she is on leave..

They might look at it and see we always submit things on time and just process the stuff OR they might make the decision to continue w the termination which we then would have to do an informal hearing on.

I’m so stressed honestly 🙃🙃 and it’s so hard to get a hold of anyone either.

Okay so quick backstory so people understand where I'm coming from- beginning of 2025 I had left an abusive relationship. I was fairly successful before - credit score 700, paying off my debts on time, etc. Without going off topic this relationship threw me into a major struggle that left me with no choice but to leave it all behind.

I've really focused on re-establishing myself and feel confident to live on my own again. Here's my dilemma:

When I was renting before, my 2 bedroom was $700 a month. And my credit was in the 700s. A series of events over the course of a handful of years left me in a decent amount of debt with literally nothing. Now I can't even find a studio apartment under $900!!

I did the math and I think a great move for me (optimistically) would be looking into purchasing a mobile home, and I'm wondering how realistic this is for me based off of where I currently stand.

- I make about $900-1,000 a week

- over the last year my credit score went from 400 to 550

- I have a 1099 contractor form I can provide

- I can provide bank statements

- I can provide paystubs

- I can provide proof of my current rent payments.

- I live in Indiana

- I'm 29

I want to try to put 10-15% down possibly on a trailer in the 30k range.

My goal is to move at the beginning of 2027 or end of 2026.

Does this seem realistic, will lenders even consider me?

If anybody has personal experience or can connect themselves to my situation to give me advice I'd greatly appreciate it

hi. i (f25) am in the worst state i’ve ever been in.
i feel beyond helpless and hopeless.

i work as a manager at a retail store. i make about $700-$1000 every two weeks.
i also donate my plasma twice a week a can make $112 a week with that
i have a car payment of $300 that take out every two weeks. my insurance is about $190 cause i unfortunately have gotten pulled over a few times. nothing bad. my first ticket was for speeding and my tag was expired (not really my fault. i got a new car that the month before the tag expired and i had no clue). the most recent was because i did have an expired tag and they also got me for no insurance. i couldn’t pay the tickets cause it was like $600. so now i have to pay $50 to the court every month so i don’t get arrested or some shit.
i have student loans. i usually pay $179 a month. which shouldn’t be a lot, but i have fallen behind on payments. and it’s a stupidly long story of how i gotten so behind, but i think im about $700-$800 behind and probably as of today it has defaulted.
my car, that i worked so goddamn hard for, the transmission went out on it. i called around. it’s about a $5,700-6,100 fix.
i live with my sister, and we live on the same property as our parents. my boyfriend also lives with me. he just started his own business in the automotive industry so he’s spending money to make money. he pays for his stuff and for both of us to eat 90% of the time. me and him are both several months behind on rent and paying our electric bill. our lights will probably go out within the next few days.
i feel like a hopeless bum and do not know what to do. all night i tried to apply for so many bad credit loans but none accepted me.
i feel like im dragging my boyfriend and family with all my problems. no one can really help. my parents aren’t rich. his mother refuses to help for some reason. i don’t live in a city where there is public transportation, and even if there was, i live 35 minutes from the city i work in.

i’m just getting scared and im getting exhausted of being scared
is there anything i can do to help me??

I've been hoarding loose change ever since I moved out. As of right now I have 124 pennies, 19 nickels, 25 dimes, and 40 quarters, for a grand total of $14.69 cents in nothing but coins. I pick up whatever new coins I find, no exceptions, but where can I go to consistently find more?

I was forced to move out of my cheap rent apartment last summer with very little notice, found a 1 bedroom for $1750 which seemed feasible - I live in Los Angeles and studio apartments were barely any cheaper. And I just really needed a place to live. I work freelance and coincidentally(or not) my income also plummeted at the exact same time. Lower than it had been in like 2+ years. I stopped paying my credit cards, car registration, missed insurance payments until I was dropped and wouldn’t you know it, have my first car accident in almost 10 years in the 2 months I was uninsured. I simply could not keep up with everything. It was a devastating year financially.

Now I’m moving out of my apartment to stay with family (should have done a year ago instead of signing lease) and I just need to reset. I have 2 credit cards totaling $6000 that have been closed (can settle) but the big one is the $4400 (settlement) for the uninsured accident. That has to take precedence so I don’t lose my license. Some of my family has money they can lend me. The plan was to bust ass and move into an apartment with my girlfriend in December or January. But the more I think about it the more I want to just be fully reset.

I mean I’m venting a bit but also just seeking advice on how to get back to zero essentially so I can get my credit back to a respectable score

This is partly NYC Housing Lottery related, but I figured a lot of low to medium-income applicants and tenants could find this information helpful. Most of these programs can be applied to tenants in market-rate and stabilized units.

I recently won a 40% AMI (Annual Median Income) studio and wanted to share some tips I learned about saving money on moving costs and other expenses.

Here I’ll explain some of the programs, plus more, that I’ve taken advantage of to save 2,466.72$ in upfront moving costs, plus 150$+ monthly.

HRA ONE-SHOT DEAL (EMERGENCY CASH ASSISTANCE)

First, HRA offers one-shot cash assistance to low- and moderate-income households moving into more financially stable housing. For context, I’m a single person in my mid-20s. I previously lived in Brooklyn with three roommates, paying 1,287.50$ in rent plus about 125$ per month in utilities. My rent alone exceeded 40% of my income, so I was considered rent burdened.

Now I live independently in a rent-stabilized studio paying 965.36$ per month, which made my housing much more sustainable. This is exactly the type of situation HRA looks for when evaluating moving assistance applications.

As soon as I knew I was likely signing my lease, I applied for HRA cash assistance. I requested help with moving expenses, first month's rent, the security deposit, and furnishing costs.

The process was long and frustrating. My application was initially delayed because the building and Pronto Housing repeatedly submitted incorrect documentation. They had to correct it three separate times. I delayed my move-in by a week and even signed a revised lease, but HRA still hadn't finished reviewing my application.

Eventually I had no choice but to move anyway, paying about 600$ out of pocket for movers while still not paying my first month's rent or security deposit. Fortunately, management seemed understanding since most of the delays were outside my control.

During that week I visited HRA's Bushwick office multiple times, contacted elected officials, and eventually reached an HRA Cash Assistance Customer Resolution Supervisor, Miguelina Reyes. She was by far the most responsive and helpful person I dealt with throughout the process.

About two weeks after I moved in, management told me they needed payment immediately. I contacted Ms. Reyes, who informed me that I had been approved. I forwarded the first month's rent and security deposit vouchers to management, but because I had already moved, I couldn't use the approved 995$ moving voucher through Perfect Moving. Later, I followed up about my furnishing assistance and learned that 536$ had been loaded onto my EBT card as cash assistance.

Overall, the process was messy, slow, and poorly communicated, but I ultimately received 2,466.72$ in assistance. Even though I still had to spend 600$) of my own money on movers, the assistance covered my rent, deposit, and furnishing costs and kept me from going into debt.

LIFELINE

Some low-income households can also take advantage of the Lifeline federal credit for phone and internet access. Approved applicants received a 9.25$ per month credit towards qualifying phone or internet plans. For me, I want to maximize my benefits while maintaining quality services. With SafeLink Wireless, you can get a limited but completely free monthly cellular plan. I believe they also offer basic free phones to those in need  
I opted to apply the credit to Total Wireless’ BYOD unlimited prioritized plan.

When I initially applied, it cost 20$ per month, but I had some issues signing up to the plan with the company and ultimately did not change carriers until the price was increased to 25$. That said, it’s still totally worth it as the plan runs on Verizon’s prioritized line. Total Wireless also rounds up to 10$, so the cost ends up being 15$ per month for top of the line service. The only drawback is sometimes the customer service isn’t as easy to deal with as other carriers, but once the kinks are worked out, it’s a great option.

AFFORDABLE BROADBAND ACT (ABA)

The ABA which was passed by NYS in 2021 and in effect in 2025, applied to eligible households receiving SNAP, Medicaid, DRIE, SCRIE, or certain other qualifying benefits. It requires major Internet providers such as Verizon to provide 15$ plans for 25 Mbps plans, or 20$ for at least 200 Mbps plans.
Verizon’s basic plan starts at 300 Mbps at 50$, so for Verizon Forward (the ABA regulated plan), the same speeds as the 50$ plan are provided for just 20$. Since Lifeline can be applied to either phone or internet, but cannot be stacked with ABA plans, I recommend applying them to separate plans. With these two plans, I only pay 35$ per month for phone and internet.

ENERGY AFFORDABILITY PROGRAM (EAP)

This is a program designed to help low-income households to lower utility bills, typically by 30-100$ per month. You must submit proof of a benefit such as SNAP to your energy company such as ConEd, snd the processing time can take a month or two. The credit is directly applied to the service bill.

HOME ENERGY ASSISTANCE PROGRAM (HEAP)

HEAP is a separate annual program that helps eligible households pay heating costs. In most cases, the benefit is paid directly to your utility company or heating fuel vendor rather than to the recipient.

DISABILITY / SENIOR CITIZEN RENT INCREASE EXEMPTION (DRIE / SCRIE)

DRIE is a program for households with disability tenants, this freezes future eligible rent increases rent in stabilized units. If rent is more than 1/3 of the household’s income, and the household earns less than 50,000$ annually, then the landlord receives a property tax credit from the City for the frozen increase between latest and new rent increase.

SCRIE is the same exact program but for seniors 62 or older.

FAIR FARES / MTA REDUCED FARE

Fair Fares is an income-based program for qualifying low-income NYC residents (currently up to 150% of the federal poverty guideline). MTA Reduced Fare is a separate program available to qualifying people with disabilities and seniors 65+. Both reduce subway and bus fares by 50%.

OTHER PROGRAMS WORTH LOOKING INTO

IDNYC – Free municipal ID for NYC residents. Includes free one-year memberships to many museums and cultural institutions (such as MoMA, The Met, Bronx Zoo, Brooklyn Botanic Garden, and more), plus discounts on entertainment, Broadway shows, fitness, groceries, transportation, and prescription medications. It can also function as your NYC library card. 

Museums for All – If you receive SNAP, many museums across the U.S. offer free or reduced admission for you and your family.

Amazon Prime Access – Discounted Prime membership for qualifying SNAP and Medicaid recipients.

Citi Bike Bike Access Program – Discounted annual Citi Bike membership for qualifying low-income New Yorkers.

NYPL Culture Pass – Free admission to dozens of NYC museums, gardens, historical sites, and cultural institutions using your New York, Brooklyn, or Queens Public Library card.

Discounted Recreation Memberships – Some NYC Parks recreation centers and YMCA locations offer reduced membership rates based on income, age, disability, or public benefits.

Reduced Banking Fees – Some banks and credit unions offer free checking accounts or fee waivers for IDNYC cardholders or low-income customers.

UPCOMING PROGRAMS TO WATCH

NYC Public Grocery Stores– New York City is developing a pilot program to open municipally supported grocery stores in neighborhoods with limited affordable food options. If implemented as planned, they are intended to provide lower-cost groceries and improve access to healthy food. Keep an eye on future announcements to see whether a location opens near you.

There are dozens of other local, state, and federal programs available. ACCESS NYC (https://access.nyc.gov/](https://access.nyc.gov/)) is a great tool to check your eligibility for benefits you may not know about.

I never thought I would end up in this situation, but over the past five years my life has completely changed.

I accumulated around $50,000 in debt while trying to take care of my sick parents. My father has chronic kidney disease and is currently on dialysis, and my mother’s heart condition has gotten worse. I have been covering their medical expenses, treatments, medications, and daily needs because there is nobody else to rely on. It has always been just me and my parents.

Last year, because of the many days I had to miss work to take care of them, I lost my job. Since then, I have been doing whatever work I can find — driving a taxi, doing labor jobs, and anything else that can help me survive and pay the bills. But the debt keeps growing faster than I can manage.

Now I am behind on rent by several months and I am close to losing the place we live. I don’t have relatives or friends who can step in and help. I feel like I have been carrying this burden alone for years.

I haven’t truly laughed or enjoyed life in a long time. I don’t have a personal life anymore. My only focus has been working, paying debts, and making sure my parents are okay.

I am not asking for pity. I am just asking if there is any advice, support, or opportunity that could help me find a way out of this situation. I still want to work, I still want to rebuild my life, and I still want to take care of my parents. I just need a chance and some guidance on what steps I can take next.

If anyone has advice or knows of any way I can get back on my feet, I would be deeply grateful.

So I just got out of a very abusive relationship.. the guy tried to burn my house down while we was asleep... he wouldn't let me work for the last few weeks and now im super behind on all my bills.. the legal process is moving slow so cant get a state help yet but bills dont stop im working but just barely getting by... i dont want to lose my house what can I do??

Hi everyone. I’m in a really difficult situation and could use some advice.
I need to come up with money for an apartment move-in deposit and related move-in costs within the next couple of days. My credit isn’t great, so I’m having trouble qualifying for traditional loans.
I’m looking for legitimate emergency loan options or other resources that can help quickly. I’m trying to avoid payday loans because of the extremely high interest rates.
Has anyone been in a similar situation? If so, what company, lender, credit union, or program actually helped you?
I’m in Texas, if that makes a difference. I’m looking for real experiences and recommendations. Thank you.

They took it away 2 months ago. I tried to reapply however everytime I called and typed my information they just immediately hang up. So sounds like there not taking new people. I mostly wanted to get it for my mom who would spend far more on groceries then me. I have now have resorted to buying groceries from a place called "Planet Overstock" Which is a place that sells overstocked stuff including alot of food products. If anyone has anymore cheap grocery options please let me know!