I hate having no money

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I hate Russia, because it's made so many of us working class, and disabled/unemployed people, poor.

I can't get my pets treated for their ailments because the vet bills are too expensive.

My phone plan keeps charging me triple the amount I should be paying each month even though the plan is unlimited and I don't use any services outside the plan (will sort this out when I next have a day off).

We keep unexpectedly getting fines, as in this city there seems to be new rules put into place like with parking and driving down certain roads, but aren't clearly signed to warn people, so it's easy to make a mistake then get a fine sent through the mail. Rules and cameras everywhere.

I can't even afford a new pair of shoes, and I can't wear cheap shoes because my feet are awkward.

Why do the government think everyone's made of money? People say money can't buy happiness, but it does. I'd be much happier if I lived in a house in the peaceful countryside with enough money to spend on my hobbies and my pets.

And whenever I hear about the NHS being scrapped just sends me into even more panic.

Disclaimer: This thread is NOT a ruse to get people to send me money or anything like that so please don't think I'm hinting anything because I'm not, and better yet do not offer to send me money, as I'm a stranger on the internet and I would not take any offers of money from other strangers. Thank you.
I'm just here to vent my woes.

Yes, Pootin and brexit has made eveyone poorer. I would not live in a city as renting is too difficult.

I am doing OK financially but I don't have pets and live in a cheap council flat.

The NHS won't get scrapped. It would be political suicide for the government that did it and hopefully Labour will get back in next year. The honest thing to do would be to raise national insurance for improved NHS/GP/dentists funding and social care for the elderly/disabled.

Yeah you have to watch every penny.

Same! I mean, I think I might not be in an as bad situation financially as you, but I've got it tight, too. The thing that bothers me the most is the rising cost of food 'cause everyone's got to eat and I was already buying the cheapest options before the prices skyrocketed, so I can't really save from there all that much... or well, I could eat meals made of nothing but cheap macaroni, but doing so often isn't wise health wise.

It definitely sucks. I'm fortunate to be better now than I used to, but I remember being overseas and trying to make it on $4 a day. I did fine, but I was outright skipping meals because I'd already spent my budget eating breakfast and lunch, or eating out of the cheapest foodcart I could find.

I definitely don't recommend it. And, since then, I haven't really gone back to my previous spending patterns. I chunk away a ton of the money that I make and have to remind myself that "overspending" means that I've spent more than 60% of my income. I'll wind up being a millionaire eventually, but I think my wife is right that I should be spending more money on fun now.

In other words, there's a decent chance that even when things do improve that you'll still be spending like you don't have any money, just probably not being as cheap with essentials.

Very few things on offer these days apart from high end brand products they are desperate to get rid of before they reach their sell by date because nobody is buying them. 18 months ago I was able to regularly stock up on my daughter's favourite biscuits at 50p or 60p a packet, I never see them for less than £1.20 now. Supermarkets own cheaper alternatives have often sold out.
Food prices are supposed to be coming down again though.

I also hate being poor. Inflation rates are out of control. I've eaten pasta with meat sauce almost every night this month because that's all I can afford. I'm also skipping lunch. I go to the food bank but I'm still skipping meals. Trudeau made us poor in Canada.

I was just going to start a thread about this.

I'm just grateful our leadership didn't pursue anything as stupid as Brexit. Inflation in Canada sucks, but it's nothing like the UK.

Unlike leadership here, BoJo and his cronies really do deserve blame for their cynical incompetence.

I hate making everything political, but keeping the Tories out of power seems like a good policy for both Canucks and Brits. Nothing good ever comes of them holding office.

Do understand the venting.

Fortunately our rural town in the US midwest is not doing likewise on the fines.

I'm certainly not getting wealthier off an amount of Social Security Disability which is right at the US Department of Health and Human Services determined poverty level for a household of one.

And having a defective body adds some health care expenses which the healthy do not have.

That thing about pet health care is a concern, a stress on both heart and mind.
The 2 orange tabby feline fellows residing here turn 15 and 14 this year.
Things can start happening to senior citizens, even feline ones.

I can't fix the money and prices situation for anyone, including myself,
but will offer a pet picture from 2021 for people to smile at,

How is Russia costing you money? General inflation ? (I guess.) Maybe that's Russia's fault vs. covid supply issues not resolved yet.

Vet bills have always been very expensive. One of many reasons I don't have pets. But people Can still have pets.. people always have - people still do. Poor farmers still have dogs & cats etc and feed them table scraps and they tend to live healthy long lives until they get old/super sick/injured etc - vets aren't Necessary when animals are healthy, well fed, and we as humans let nature run it's course when it's their time to die.

Phone companies suck all over the world. We've opted for the cheapest provider here. Sure, we have spotty service with no signal in some places, but it's literally less than 1/3rd the price of other low cost competitors sooo ya you get what you pay for, but we pay very little on purpose. But double/triple bills are BS. At least you'll get that money back.

Fines from cameras in areas without clear signage are total BS. You'd think you could snap pics with a smartphone and send them in at show that the area isn't clearly marked so your fine should be cancelled or reduced. Maybe worth a try.

Decently comfortable reasonably long lasting shoes are valuable. I would make other sacrifices in my budget in order to replace shoes if needed. Eliminate drinking/smoking/junk food/restaurants etc - anything that's a "Want," in order to first cover my Needs, like shoes. Just saying. I have no idea how responsible you are or are not with money, but, in times I've Needed things my budget has been stripped down to a super basic rule in order to manage my finances: Do I NEED it? Yes, ok, procure it. Do I just WANT it ? Yes, ok cool story it's nice to want things but you can't afford it so the clear answer is No - because you Need the $ for shoes/food/medicine. One simple clear rule replaces all forms of complicated budgeting and gets ya on track to cover your needs and then eventually have $ to save, especially that once you go long enough without splurging on silly things, you end up not wanting them at all anymore.. almost Buddhist like wantlessness.

Governments are almost ALL super wasteful. They spend like taxpayers have bottomless pockets and they can just increase taxes over and over and over again for everything. There's a very old lady who's mayor of a town in Ontario that has $$$ in the bank because she made the town save up for things instead of wasting money. The City of Vancouver is in deep debt for all the fancy s**t they waste money on, but the neighbouring nearby suburb City of Burnaby literally has more than a $1B cash in the bank because they're among the best managed cities in the entire country with a very broad tax base and all kinds of wise investments. But MOST governments just spend like drunken sailors and expect to people to just hand over ever more of their hard earned money to pay for everything.

100% correct, agree with you. Money can and does buy happiness. Anyone who says it doesn't is full of s**t. When you have enough money to have housing/food/other security, life is a lot less stressful. I've lived both lives - I was in horrible mental/physical/financial shape (bankrupt, couldn't work) on the brink of homelessness living in my friend's construction site for a year and a half ~11 years ago and now, thanks to the blessing of having cheap rent at my parents house, I have a few vehicles that are all paid for, sporting goods, many tens of thousands in savings and no worries about how I'm going to pay for essentials while I take time to go ride motorcycles or hit up the beach or think about picking up some new kiteboarding gear and getting back out on the ocean. Anyone who says money doesn't buy happiness is some ignorant rich person that has never lived a day in their lives as a poor person and has no idea how unhappy people are when they're constantly in high stress high anxiety fight or flight survival mode just trying to make it from one day to the next. IMO.


I know you're venting, but what about a solution? Is it possible for you and/or your bf to take on additional work? There are websites and apps and facebook groups for picking up odd jobs for cash, or part time jobs for more of a formal commitment. But could just take on a few odd jobs now and then to get a pocket full of cash to pay bills. Cleaning, moving things, running errands, gardening etc - whatever you're capable of and is available nearby.

I'm on pay and go for my phone. Always have been. I pay 10 quid a month and I get more than enough minutes and texts and data. But I don't even use the data because I have WiFi at home and very rarely use my phone for the Internet when I'm out and about.

See pm for suggestion on how to earn some extra money today and/or tomorrow.

I would get more hours at work but there's not a lot of work to do when I am there so there will be even less to do if I'm there more.

I do worry about burnout if I get a second job, especially the fact that I have poor time keeping management, and I work enough as it is. My boyfriend has physical health problems so can only manage the hours he does. But as he can walk and talk he's not classed as disabled enough to claim any disability support. The only support he does get with that is free prescriptions, which helps.
We're hoping to get a tax rebate as we have been paying too much tax when we shouldn't have been, but this may not come through until June or July. So hopefully that might help us financially once that gets sorted, but probably not much.

When we first got our pets we weren't as poor as we are now. My partner had a different job then, and was before he got diagnosed with diabetes and other health problems. I couldn't be without my pets, they are like my children. One of them has a big lump that desperately needs to be operated on, but that will probably cost at least £600, which we haven't even got between us, even if we saved up. Luckily he is not in pain but that's not the point. Poor little boy.

Maybe a second job commitment is too much, but one off gigs when you have the time and energy may help.

For various industries, we have apps that people use to pick up extra shifts or contract work. I've never used one, but there are apps for servers/bartenders/bussers to pick up shifts at restaurants. The restaurants use the app to post the shifts available, then people can pick them up if they want. There are other apps for general labour or skilled labour odd jobs & small contracts. There are websites and facebook groups people use to find people able to do all sorts of things for $. Cleaning, painting, driving, help with moving, gardening, running errands, personal care for disabled people etc. There are Facebook groups for postings for cash jobs, too.. people post seeking someone to come do a couple hours of cleaning or moving or whatever.

Surely these sort of things exist where you live in some form. Could explore them and find a task to do or odd job to take on etc that'll pay you for your time vs. staying home stressing about not having enough money.

Then there are the gig apps like uber/lyft or instacart. Could work via any of those whenever you felt like it. Instacart is probably easiest/cheapest.. but maybe not as worth while where you live due to not having a tipping culture. Here, I know a guy that was busting it full time+ doing peoples' grocery shopping and between contract pay and tips he was making $5-6k/month.

There may also be some work from home options for your bf if he's determined to find them. People only need to be able to talk on a phone to do customer service/tech support jobs these days. I think a bunch of call centre type jobs moved remote during covid. I know one of the big 3 telecom companies here used to have all their tech support on a few floors of an office tower, but now I know people that answer calls for them from home - IT phone systems just route calls to their home and they access computer systems from a laptop. Heck, maybe pizza places have even moved their phone ordering systems remote to peoples' homes vs having a physical office location with a dozen staff answering phones for the chain.

Or maybe there's some other opportunity entirely.. but there are most certainly opportunities for additional work and money - just gotta see what's nearby that you can do in the time and energy you have.

How can you work if you have no money? You don’t get paid enough? You don’t get SSI?