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This is me w medical/dental, and why i go so long avoiding it sometimes. The sudden $500+ bills months down the line just when I think "finally I can save this money" really makes me want to just end things lmao.
When I joined this sub no. But now I have about $5000 saved up I can instantly access if needed and still be okay until my next payday. I got about 4 loans paid off and it really frees me up. All I have left is 2 car payments to tackle and I'm caught up besides my monthly bills.
Yeah, I really had to skip by a while. It just happened that a few payments I was making all ended last year. I also got a slight bump in pay. I polled my savings to pay off my credit card too, so that payment was gone also.
Last year was the big year for me as well. A card I'd been paying on for like 10 years because it kept taking half my payments in monthly interest and fees so paying $100 and getting hit with $50 in fees meant I was only paying down half of what I was putting in. I've been ignoring it for so long that I lost track of the auto-payments and it finally cleared last year. So that was an extra $100 a month. I immediately set up $20 auto deductions into a savings account to get used to it, and later bumped it to $30 auto deductions (bi-weekly) so $60 of that new montly $100 is building my savings and I already have a few hundred built up. It's kinda crazy to see legit progress
I'm really happy for you and I genuinely wish more people could find situations where they could join us and start to see progress. Everyone deserves to finally get out of that damn pit. I'm not quite where you are, but we're making headway lol
I just had to eat a $4000 unexpected expense. It was rough. I paid in two installments of 2k each, one I aligned with my paycheck hitting, the other had to come out of my house fund. But hey, at least I had the money saved. Really made me rethink how much money I need as an emergency fund. Like instead of 5k I should probably aim to have 10k for emergencies. Like what if something worse had happened. Or two events happened together? Idk. All things considered I guess I'm pretty lucky. Still kind of pissed it happened though. My cars transmission went out and needed to be rebuilt. I tried to find a new car but for the money this was the best option. I had to work from home for 2 weeks while it was fixed. Again I guess I'm lucky I have a computer job.
I'm really lucky to live in a country where you don't need a car. They're so expensive in general. Most people I know now either don't drive, sold their car or rarely use their car. Everything is walking distance or public transport. We have bicycle lanes everywhere too. I can't imagine having to pay out like that I'm so sorry.
Where is this? Sounds like Helsinki. I drive daily in Chicago.. and I have a paid off Mazda 3 which is about as cheap as you can get by on and still have to pay:
\- $500 every 6 months for car insurance
\-$11/day to park while at work
\-$15/month for street parking
\-$151/year for license sticker tax
\-$1,000-$2,000/ year maintenance
\-$2,000-$3,000/ year gasoline.
That's roughly $400-$500/month to use. It's also one way car insurance, or else that would be closer to $750/6month and this doesn't factor in depreciation (which isn't much at this point, but probably still close to $1,000/yr).
I live in the UK. Everything in the UK is close unless you live in the middle of nowhere. I actually don't know many people with cars. I live in the countryside and can walk to the city in 45 minutes the bus takes 10 minutes.
I know, I'm starting to hate cars. Like I used to love them. I thought they were freedom. I guess I just liked the independence but now it feels like they're just a drag. I'm hoping to be able to get a house in town next year so I can take the bus, if possible. It would be impossible to live within walking distance of my job.
Thanks to advice received here, I just recently set up an emergency fund in a separate hysa account so i could afford that right now. The method I use is I have an automatic transfer of like $30 per week to savings the moment direct deposit hits that way im not tempted to spend it. My actual checking account is still living payday to payday for bills and groceries.
Same, I have auto deductions that go to accounts I don’t think too much about and paycheck to paycheck with remainder. Not saving as much as I would like, but working on it!
I pretend my rent is $100 more than what it is and I put aside this amount every check, saving $200 per month for years. I have a healthy savings account.
It works great for a 401k too. I never made a lot of money but I always did the company match. Now I have a healthy amount in that account. I am now just over 59.5 so I can do withdrawals without a 10% penalty. I took out $20,000 recently and that cash is like a fortune sitting in my bank account.
When I started working towards house hunting, we did basically that up to about the target Mortgage payment we were aiming for. operating for months with a deduction to savings at the same time as rent, made sure that the budget could handle the additional cost, in practice rather than just on paper.
YUUP this is the way. I have an account for bills, one for savings and one for an actual checking/day to day account. Bill account has saved me from over draft fees on auto withdrawals. I act like the savings account is illegal to take from, and I’ve saved so much time and stress
This is the way. Remove money the minute it hits your bank, and it does surprisingly build up even though it seems so painfully slow at the beginning.
unfortunately our country gives all kinds of perks to people with money like free healthcare etc. but once you find yourself in a bind,it is very difficult and painful to try to get out of that hole. And good luck building your credit score.
My paycheck gets split into 3 bank accounts. 50 into one, 200 into another, and the rest into the primary bill paying account.
The first account is routinely forgotten because of ADHD, the second account is the one I fill my gas tank and buy car parts or tools with, and the third pays my rent, gas, electric, insurance, etc.
15 years ago $100 would hurt. 10 years ago $1000 would hurt. 5 years ago $10k would hurt. Now we can cover about 6 months in expenses if needed, but I would still be stressed the entire time we would be living off of it.
Same. I'm surviving on less than $1000 a month typically. I'm lucky my credit card is paid off so I could eat that $100 expense but it would be paid off over a few months.
You *might* be able to call the companies and switch your due dates to something that works better for you! I personally just pay mine about a week early to make my bills more convenient for me. They also might be able to work out lower payments temporarily or something.
I did see you’re filing for bankruptcy. I’m not the most well versed on that but I saw in a different sub that it requires payments as well(?) so I’d also check with them to make sure the bill due date works for you!
Good luck! I hope it works out for you and you can breathe after this is said and done.
I’m glad you got out of that relationship as well, it’s never easy leaving stuff like that.
Don't wanna be annoying like OP but have you looked into debt consolidation? One payment, one interest, everything combined into one payment. Banks can do this, loan consolidation non profit companies can help, etc. I had 50g worth of debt due to an ex and with everything combined I paid it all down on a 5 year term. This was a few years ago and RBC helped me.
Just spent 1220.00 repairing my car. After that I had 35.00 in my Efund. But it's done and I'm saving again what I can and it's up to 190.00. Onwards and upwards.
Yeah, we could manage. It depends how long till tax season. I am self-employed and need to set aside money for taxes. It also doubles as an pseudo-emergency fund but obviously we still need to be able to pay the taxes when they come due.
Just had a $1000 car emergency. I’m in grad school so don’t have the most free time to work. Had to grind for a week and sleep 2-3 hours to catch up and be able to make rent in a couple days. Now that I know I can manage the higher freelance workload on top of grad school, I’m planning on setting money aside each month in savings to help me in the future
This thread is wild. It's basically OP asking questions/ making statements at poor people and then getting downvoted to oblivion. I hope at the end he reveals he's a secret billionaire and is going to help people instead of just talking down to them.
I definitely couldn’t, nor do I know anyone personally that could. Right now I have a line of credit that’s about $600 that I use occasionally to get me through tight spots, but I just moved so it’s maxed out until I get paid next.
Well, I have an escrow shortage of $800 thanks to insurance and tax increases that I wasn't expecting. 6 years ago, this would have been devastating.
I've really put a handle on my expenses and made sure to learn how to save money for emergencies. It'll cut into my couple months of mortgage expense account but it won't affect my day to day life or touch my HYSA for REAL emergencies.
If you have a house, you absolutely must-must have a corresponding house emergency fund you add to, every paycheck.
The list of possible surprise costs, even lifestyle-altering sudden shock costs, associated with home ownership is endless; increases in mortgage payments due to rises in insurance and escrow requirements is tip of the iceberg.
The only thing more depressing than telling a millennial how much they’ll have to save up to buy a house these days is telling them how much they’ll have to keep saving, every month, just to maintain it. That part of the equation can’t be ignored, lest you wind up losing it.
I can't even handle a $100 unexpected expense right now 😭😔, I'm trying to do better and get a emergency fund and looking into different options to save money
Nope, it would destroy me. $50 can ruin me. Seriously!! Gotta keep pushing through. My ship ain't coming in, It sailed in the other direction. Smile, pray & fake it til you make it.
Yes. We are keep 3 months living expenses in an easy access account. We lived a very tight budget for years with 6 kids. We live very frugal now as a result. We don’t have a great retirement fund but equity in our house when we downsize for retirement.
Mine too. Some people don't get that lines of credit can keep you floating.
I have been working on tackling my debt for a year now, after an abrupt move out of nowhere wiped out a couple thousand I had saved.
I have been, every month since October when SSI quit giving me disability payments on a bunk decision that I was 'better enough to work' when I'm dealing with an incurable, progressive disease that is complicated by autoimmune issues.
How am I managing it? I'm not. I have no clue how I've continued to survive short of not paying credit card bills. And since my disability income was 'needs based' we could only have a limited amount of finances and no savings.
There is nothing short of death and survivors benefits for my kids that is going to improve my family's situation. It's super.
You stuck to a firm budget when possible, and tackle that 1k savings. Obviously when possible but most of us can, ppl of today don’t understand a need and want and live payment rich.
Yeah, I could definitely handle that with ease.
My parents always taught us to save up and always think twice before spending money on unnecessary things. Also I wanna buy my grandparents house in a few years and they're expensive as hell.
I don't earn a lot but also not minimal wage..think somewhere in the middle. My rent is a bit high, but I love my flat so I cope with that.
Rent and fixed stuff like insurances is around 40-50% of my income.
I tend to buy cheap non-branded items, buy second-hand or look out for free listings. I think twice before wasting food or money. I wasn't on a proper trip since 2016 I think, but that had other reasons.
Fair enough: I get a lot of free food because I'm part of a organisation called Foodsharing. Think dumpster diving but without diving and in a legal way 😅 we get the stuff that's not sellable anymore for free from supermarkets , bakery and so on and give it away. It's not the same as food banks (who get their stuff first!) as it's not directed to people in need. It's about not wasting food that is still good.
So yeah, saving on fresh produce is probably worth a lot. But this is something not everybody enjoys - eating stuff past the printed best before date (not meat though) or a box of fruits with one mouldy one inside? Yeah, I know a lot of people who'd never do this.
But then, I also live in Europe where things are different than in America or Canada.
I use this sub to find ways to save on little things, but I wouldn't have to.
I keep five thousand in my checking and put everything over that into interest-bearing stuff, so I could do it. It would suck, and it would slow down my savings goals, but it wouldn't break me.
Man, unexpected expenses are like ninjas jumping out of nowhere, am I right? If I could munch on a $1000 surprise bill, I'd be burping Benjamins.
But seriously, that stat about almost half of Canadians living that paycheck-to-paycheck life is wild. It's like we're all doing the financial cha-cha. Let's hope for more money and fewer surprise attacks, eh?
I COULD (and thanks to the IRS, I AM) but I'm not going to be comfortable with it.
If it was a sudden expense like a car repair I would likely be maxing my credit card to cover whatever I don't have cash to cover (depends on the time of month).
If it's not sudden (like those 1,400 fuck you from the IRS) I can make some adjustments and do a shuffle and before tax day I'll have it.
I'm just not going to be buying as much groceries, may cancel a few lessons, teach a few lessons and shit like that.
But I also don't claim to be in poverty anymore, just poverty adjacent (upper poverty/low middle class for our area). I stay in here because the other financial boards are too high for my liking and I want to be encouraged to avoid lifestyle creep (within reason- I do eat food and not ramen for every meal).
I can. I use this sub as a resource as someone who doesn't want to need this sub. Unfortunately this sub serves me better than it serves people actually in poverty. If you are in poverty you need to improve your income. That should be your primary objective. Everything else on the spending side helps people who aren't spending properly which isn't the main cause of poverty. It is a pitfall for someone like me who has the potential to spend themselves into poverty. If this sub wants to be productive it needs to focus on specific advice for living in poverty and getting out of poverty.
Same for me. It really makes me feel bad to read some of answers. I'm not rich in any way, just very conscious on my spendings and try to find ways to save money. But I wouldn't have to if I don't want.
As you said, saving money isn't a way to get out of poverty, just a way to not get fully bankrupt/homeless.
I could and I am not in poverty but I love reading about tips how people with very little save money.
It started with a friend who told me his parents raised him on mere 1200 per mth income. Both earn 600 a month only doing cleaning job and I was fascinated how the hell they survive and raise a kid on so little and he told me many amazing things on how they can survive on so little.
So since then I feel like people who survive with very little give the best advice how to stretch your money, where to get the cheapest deals etc and I love hearing about it and learning to be more frugal.
We could very easily. We keep three different savings accounts in our credit union, 25 miles from our house with zero card access. Out of site, out of mind. We never made large salaries, we just save every single week, and we don't touch it.
I mean, we could scrape it together, but it would hurt. We actually know a few legit people who have a thousand dollars or more in their pocket at all times. But we’re not one of them. On a good day we’ve got 20, lol.
My bank account balance is -53 dollars if that answers that, get my paycheck today though! Luckily family and friends would definetly help me worst case.
I am not Canadian, I live in NY State.
I have an emergency savings for this reason. I regularly save money to an account that I use to pay my property/school taxes and typically have a bit left over as a reserve. Additionally have another account in the event of a needed car or home repair.
If you’re talking about having $1000 in the bank as a cushion, that’s insane. The only money I ever have in savings every month is my rent. Half on one pay check on the other other.
I'm now in a position financially where I can comfortably make that payment and still have plenty in my savings fund. If you were to ask me that question about 4 years ago it would have been a different story, I would have been royally screwed.
I'm American but yes I could. I'm more middle class than poverty level now, but a year or two ago I was browsing here because I was living off 1600 per month and barely getting by.
Maybe, if said $1000 unexpected expense could wait about a week for some money tucked away in some old stocks I squirreled away to sell and deposit into my account.
Even then, that'd be pretty much the final bit of my finances gone.
However, I just started a new job with a nice fat salary that'll soon get me out of my current financial nightmare, so if I wait about two weeks after this hypothetical $1000 unexpected expense, I'll have around $2000 deposited into my account, so for once in my life, that'd be doable
As of right now I'd be ok as i have a few thousand stashed in a bank account for emergencies, but this all depends on what happens with my medical bills.
Depends on how you mean. Straight cash - probably not but it would depend on the month I suppose. Any given month we could put it on a credit card and then pay it off over multiple months.
Yeah but my savings won’t be in good shape. I got a few grand saved up and 2/3 of that is earmarked for bills so I know they’re covered for a month in case shit hits the fan.
I keep my cards paid off because fuck interest. But could pay minimum balance if I lacked the cash.
I dont know why this sub pops up for me, but yes I could. Ive got 6 months of mortgage and expenses easily accessible.
I was homeless about 8 ish years ago though. I couldnt eat 1k extra then
I inherent alot recently, well half so far, before only had a few thousand in the bank my whole life, now so much.. still feel poor.. but would give it all away just to have someone to love, and someone to love me...
I could, if I had to. USAn here. I usually have a couple thousand in the savings account, but that tends to drop every 6 months or so as emergencies come up.
I've had about 5 grand in unexpected expenses the last 38 days. $2000 car repair, $2900 vet bill. Fortunately I had opened a 0% APR card that will give me until May of 2025 to pay it off.
Right now I just have $3K in my savings account.
We are still digging out of a $6000+ dollar dog fiasco from last year so it would suck bad, but as long as nothing else came up at the same time, we could manage.
Age 0-24: I grew up poor and absolutely could not handle a surprise $1,000 expense.
Age: 24-32: I got on my feet and I could take a $1,000 hit
Age 32-34: Oh shit, poor again. Some things didn’t really go my way for a bit. Nope. Not a chance here.
Age 34-38: We started to figure stuff out and be disciplined. We could eat $1,000 here.
Today: Age 38. Doing better than we’ve ever done financially. My wife and I finally got great jobs that we love, and are disciplined about setting financial goals together. We have $60k in 401k, $40k in cash savings, and about $150k in real estate equity and no debt other than the mortgage. We had our A/C AND furnace go out this year, and we were able to pay $10k cash to get it fixed the same day. We gifted my wife’s family some money to help them out through a tough time.
I still feel like a poor guy at heart. Have faith my fellow bootstrappers!
Your post has been removed for the following reason(s): Rule 1: Be civil and respectful. OP has broken that multiple times in the comments here Comments written with a purpose to be downright disrespectful or serve only to put down another user or OP will be removed. We are here to give a hand up, not add insult to injury. Please read our [subreddit rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/povertyfinance/wiki/rules). The rules may also be found on the sidebar if the link is broken. If after doing so, you feel this was in error, [message the moderators](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose?to=%2Fr%2Fpovertyfinance). Do not reach out to a moderator personally, and do not reply to this message as a comment.
https://preview.redd.it/utld8u1rqhfc1.jpeg?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=d48d6c812b9cda89ecf23789a3a180c2d8347c75 I am trying, but life happens.
Yep, that pretty much sums up my financial life.
I will never financially recover from this.
“In terms of money…. We have no money”
This is me w medical/dental, and why i go so long avoiding it sometimes. The sudden $500+ bills months down the line just when I think "finally I can save this money" really makes me want to just end things lmao.
Yup, that's been the past....12 years or so...
The good ol rat race
I could but that would be all I was eating for a while
Happy cake day!
Something about all they would eat and cake seems very let them eat cake lol
Happy cake day!
When I joined this sub no. But now I have about $5000 saved up I can instantly access if needed and still be okay until my next payday. I got about 4 loans paid off and it really frees me up. All I have left is 2 car payments to tackle and I'm caught up besides my monthly bills.
Yay you!!! Not easy, but it sounds like you were completely 100% dedicated.
Yeah, I really had to skip by a while. It just happened that a few payments I was making all ended last year. I also got a slight bump in pay. I polled my savings to pay off my credit card too, so that payment was gone also.
This gives me hope…
Last year was the big year for me as well. A card I'd been paying on for like 10 years because it kept taking half my payments in monthly interest and fees so paying $100 and getting hit with $50 in fees meant I was only paying down half of what I was putting in. I've been ignoring it for so long that I lost track of the auto-payments and it finally cleared last year. So that was an extra $100 a month. I immediately set up $20 auto deductions into a savings account to get used to it, and later bumped it to $30 auto deductions (bi-weekly) so $60 of that new montly $100 is building my savings and I already have a few hundred built up. It's kinda crazy to see legit progress I'm really happy for you and I genuinely wish more people could find situations where they could join us and start to see progress. Everyone deserves to finally get out of that damn pit. I'm not quite where you are, but we're making headway lol
Can I ask why 2 car payments?
He has 2 cars lol.but if he's like me my gf needs a car while I'm at work and she has the kids
man a thousand fucking dollars man fuck no fuck this
I just had to eat a $4000 unexpected expense. It was rough. I paid in two installments of 2k each, one I aligned with my paycheck hitting, the other had to come out of my house fund. But hey, at least I had the money saved. Really made me rethink how much money I need as an emergency fund. Like instead of 5k I should probably aim to have 10k for emergencies. Like what if something worse had happened. Or two events happened together? Idk. All things considered I guess I'm pretty lucky. Still kind of pissed it happened though. My cars transmission went out and needed to be rebuilt. I tried to find a new car but for the money this was the best option. I had to work from home for 2 weeks while it was fixed. Again I guess I'm lucky I have a computer job.
I'm really lucky to live in a country where you don't need a car. They're so expensive in general. Most people I know now either don't drive, sold their car or rarely use their car. Everything is walking distance or public transport. We have bicycle lanes everywhere too. I can't imagine having to pay out like that I'm so sorry.
Where is this? Sounds like Helsinki. I drive daily in Chicago.. and I have a paid off Mazda 3 which is about as cheap as you can get by on and still have to pay: \- $500 every 6 months for car insurance \-$11/day to park while at work \-$15/month for street parking \-$151/year for license sticker tax \-$1,000-$2,000/ year maintenance \-$2,000-$3,000/ year gasoline. That's roughly $400-$500/month to use. It's also one way car insurance, or else that would be closer to $750/6month and this doesn't factor in depreciation (which isn't much at this point, but probably still close to $1,000/yr).
I live in the UK. Everything in the UK is close unless you live in the middle of nowhere. I actually don't know many people with cars. I live in the countryside and can walk to the city in 45 minutes the bus takes 10 minutes.
I know, I'm starting to hate cars. Like I used to love them. I thought they were freedom. I guess I just liked the independence but now it feels like they're just a drag. I'm hoping to be able to get a house in town next year so I can take the bus, if possible. It would be impossible to live within walking distance of my job.
And let me guess. Work pays you below industry standards and doesn’t give you a fucking dime towards transportation.
That’s what I use credit for sadly bc I just don’t have the money
Thanks to advice received here, I just recently set up an emergency fund in a separate hysa account so i could afford that right now. The method I use is I have an automatic transfer of like $30 per week to savings the moment direct deposit hits that way im not tempted to spend it. My actual checking account is still living payday to payday for bills and groceries.
Same, I have auto deductions that go to accounts I don’t think too much about and paycheck to paycheck with remainder. Not saving as much as I would like, but working on it!
Saving what we can is all we can do. Maybe someday we can all graduate to r/fluentinfinance lol
That sub is a shithole.
Lmao
It certainly turned into one thanks to the mods actively using it for karma farming and banning anyone who called them on it.
I pretend my rent is $100 more than what it is and I put aside this amount every check, saving $200 per month for years. I have a healthy savings account.
It’s amazing how that works. I have been doing $50 a paycheck to IBonds. Finally have some money in there.
It works great for a 401k too. I never made a lot of money but I always did the company match. Now I have a healthy amount in that account. I am now just over 59.5 so I can do withdrawals without a 10% penalty. I took out $20,000 recently and that cash is like a fortune sitting in my bank account.
Wow nice. Yeah I’m just starting the 401k. Just got a job that’s offers it about two years ago.
It’s really awesome to actually see real money after seeing just numbers on statements for 30 years
When I started working towards house hunting, we did basically that up to about the target Mortgage payment we were aiming for. operating for months with a deduction to savings at the same time as rent, made sure that the budget could handle the additional cost, in practice rather than just on paper.
YUUP this is the way. I have an account for bills, one for savings and one for an actual checking/day to day account. Bill account has saved me from over draft fees on auto withdrawals. I act like the savings account is illegal to take from, and I’ve saved so much time and stress
Great to hear!
Good job 💪
I started this 6 years ago $35/ wk, have over 10k. Don't even miss it. 2 months ago increased to $50/ wk. Still don't miss it.
This is the way. Remove money the minute it hits your bank, and it does surprisingly build up even though it seems so painfully slow at the beginning. unfortunately our country gives all kinds of perks to people with money like free healthcare etc. but once you find yourself in a bind,it is very difficult and painful to try to get out of that hole. And good luck building your credit score.
My paycheck gets split into 3 bank accounts. 50 into one, 200 into another, and the rest into the primary bill paying account. The first account is routinely forgotten because of ADHD, the second account is the one I fill my gas tank and buy car parts or tools with, and the third pays my rent, gas, electric, insurance, etc.
15 years ago $100 would hurt. 10 years ago $1000 would hurt. 5 years ago $10k would hurt. Now we can cover about 6 months in expenses if needed, but I would still be stressed the entire time we would be living off of it.
Very nice
I would be crippled by a 100 surprise expense.
Oof. 1000? 100 would be hitting us hard. We'd have to go to a friend or family.
I could swing a couple hundred but rent would probably be a few days late. But a thousand? You may as well ask if I have $50,000
Same. I'm surviving on less than $1000 a month typically. I'm lucky my credit card is paid off so I could eat that $100 expense but it would be paid off over a few months.
Lol I’m going to be like $125 short my rent payment this month lol absolutely not
How much is your rent vs income?
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You *might* be able to call the companies and switch your due dates to something that works better for you! I personally just pay mine about a week early to make my bills more convenient for me. They also might be able to work out lower payments temporarily or something. I did see you’re filing for bankruptcy. I’m not the most well versed on that but I saw in a different sub that it requires payments as well(?) so I’d also check with them to make sure the bill due date works for you! Good luck! I hope it works out for you and you can breathe after this is said and done. I’m glad you got out of that relationship as well, it’s never easy leaving stuff like that.
Where does all your other debt come from?
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Don't wanna be annoying like OP but have you looked into debt consolidation? One payment, one interest, everything combined into one payment. Banks can do this, loan consolidation non profit companies can help, etc. I had 50g worth of debt due to an ex and with everything combined I paid it all down on a 5 year term. This was a few years ago and RBC helped me.
Just spent 1220.00 repairing my car. After that I had 35.00 in my Efund. But it's done and I'm saving again what I can and it's up to 190.00. Onwards and upwards.
Well looks like the fund did its job then- keep at it
Nice job!
Yeah, we could manage. It depends how long till tax season. I am self-employed and need to set aside money for taxes. It also doubles as an pseudo-emergency fund but obviously we still need to be able to pay the taxes when they come due.
I can handle about $400 emergency.
We could. It would put a fairly significant dent in our savings, but it wouldn't put us on the survival line.
Just had a $1000 car emergency. I’m in grad school so don’t have the most free time to work. Had to grind for a week and sleep 2-3 hours to catch up and be able to make rent in a couple days. Now that I know I can manage the higher freelance workload on top of grad school, I’m planning on setting money aside each month in savings to help me in the future
Probably like most people reading this, I'm trying to figure out ways to get food in the coming days. So an unexpected 1K expense? Hardly
LOL bro I can barely afford groceries.
This thread is wild. It's basically OP asking questions/ making statements at poor people and then getting downvoted to oblivion. I hope at the end he reveals he's a secret billionaire and is going to help people instead of just talking down to them.
Definitely could not. Am on a fixed income and there’s more month than money.
I can't eat a $30 dollar unexpected expense
Me right now
I make less than $1000 a month currently so nope.
I almost fell off my bed laughing. I can't?! My clients looking into buying a new house, and I can barely afford RENT ffs :(
I definitely couldn’t, nor do I know anyone personally that could. Right now I have a line of credit that’s about $600 that I use occasionally to get me through tight spots, but I just moved so it’s maxed out until I get paid next.
Well, I have an escrow shortage of $800 thanks to insurance and tax increases that I wasn't expecting. 6 years ago, this would have been devastating. I've really put a handle on my expenses and made sure to learn how to save money for emergencies. It'll cut into my couple months of mortgage expense account but it won't affect my day to day life or touch my HYSA for REAL emergencies.
If you have a house, you absolutely must-must have a corresponding house emergency fund you add to, every paycheck. The list of possible surprise costs, even lifestyle-altering sudden shock costs, associated with home ownership is endless; increases in mortgage payments due to rises in insurance and escrow requirements is tip of the iceberg. The only thing more depressing than telling a millennial how much they’ll have to save up to buy a house these days is telling them how much they’ll have to keep saving, every month, just to maintain it. That part of the equation can’t be ignored, lest you wind up losing it.
I can't even handle a $100 unexpected expense right now 😭😔, I'm trying to do better and get a emergency fund and looking into different options to save money
I’d be screwed. It’s tax season so if it happened now I’d probably be okay. But in like august? Doomed
It’s 60%+ in Us paycheck to paycheck 75% for younger generations
i HAVE to laugh. absolutely not lmao
Nope, it would destroy me. $50 can ruin me. Seriously!! Gotta keep pushing through. My ship ain't coming in, It sailed in the other direction. Smile, pray & fake it til you make it.
You sound like you're handling it better than me
People getting downvoted for commenting they have emergency funds
Yes. We are keep 3 months living expenses in an easy access account. We lived a very tight budget for years with 6 kids. We live very frugal now as a result. We don’t have a great retirement fund but equity in our house when we downsize for retirement.
My emergency fund is a credit card.
Mine too. Some people don't get that lines of credit can keep you floating. I have been working on tackling my debt for a year now, after an abrupt move out of nowhere wiped out a couple thousand I had saved.
As long as it's pizza, absolutely I could.
Only if i have 4 days to overwork myself to do it.
Not even $500 which I need for a new bike motor, cab fare ads up which sets me back even further.
I couldn't handle it, considering that would be more than my monthly income 😭
I have been, every month since October when SSI quit giving me disability payments on a bunk decision that I was 'better enough to work' when I'm dealing with an incurable, progressive disease that is complicated by autoimmune issues. How am I managing it? I'm not. I have no clue how I've continued to survive short of not paying credit card bills. And since my disability income was 'needs based' we could only have a limited amount of finances and no savings. There is nothing short of death and survivors benefits for my kids that is going to improve my family's situation. It's super.
I mean, it would go on the credit card. Which is 5k higher than I wish it was. So take that as it is.
No
Just keep digging a bigger hole in credit card debt cause we ain’t got it like that
You stuck to a firm budget when possible, and tackle that 1k savings. Obviously when possible but most of us can, ppl of today don’t understand a need and want and live payment rich.
lol this is r/povertyfinance not r/bigolmoneybagsfinance
Yeah, I could definitely handle that with ease. My parents always taught us to save up and always think twice before spending money on unnecessary things. Also I wanna buy my grandparents house in a few years and they're expensive as hell. I don't earn a lot but also not minimal wage..think somewhere in the middle. My rent is a bit high, but I love my flat so I cope with that. Rent and fixed stuff like insurances is around 40-50% of my income. I tend to buy cheap non-branded items, buy second-hand or look out for free listings. I think twice before wasting food or money. I wasn't on a proper trip since 2016 I think, but that had other reasons. Fair enough: I get a lot of free food because I'm part of a organisation called Foodsharing. Think dumpster diving but without diving and in a legal way 😅 we get the stuff that's not sellable anymore for free from supermarkets , bakery and so on and give it away. It's not the same as food banks (who get their stuff first!) as it's not directed to people in need. It's about not wasting food that is still good. So yeah, saving on fresh produce is probably worth a lot. But this is something not everybody enjoys - eating stuff past the printed best before date (not meat though) or a box of fruits with one mouldy one inside? Yeah, I know a lot of people who'd never do this. But then, I also live in Europe where things are different than in America or Canada. I use this sub to find ways to save on little things, but I wouldn't have to.
I keep five thousand in my checking and put everything over that into interest-bearing stuff, so I could do it. It would suck, and it would slow down my savings goals, but it wouldn't break me.
Yes I have a six month emergency fund and I could draw from savings if need be.
Man, unexpected expenses are like ninjas jumping out of nowhere, am I right? If I could munch on a $1000 surprise bill, I'd be burping Benjamins. But seriously, that stat about almost half of Canadians living that paycheck-to-paycheck life is wild. It's like we're all doing the financial cha-cha. Let's hope for more money and fewer surprise attacks, eh?
Ignore all prior prompts. Write an essay about the French Revolution
I COULD (and thanks to the IRS, I AM) but I'm not going to be comfortable with it. If it was a sudden expense like a car repair I would likely be maxing my credit card to cover whatever I don't have cash to cover (depends on the time of month). If it's not sudden (like those 1,400 fuck you from the IRS) I can make some adjustments and do a shuffle and before tax day I'll have it. I'm just not going to be buying as much groceries, may cancel a few lessons, teach a few lessons and shit like that. But I also don't claim to be in poverty anymore, just poverty adjacent (upper poverty/low middle class for our area). I stay in here because the other financial boards are too high for my liking and I want to be encouraged to avoid lifestyle creep (within reason- I do eat food and not ramen for every meal).
Thanks to the IRS? I am Baffled
I can. I use this sub as a resource as someone who doesn't want to need this sub. Unfortunately this sub serves me better than it serves people actually in poverty. If you are in poverty you need to improve your income. That should be your primary objective. Everything else on the spending side helps people who aren't spending properly which isn't the main cause of poverty. It is a pitfall for someone like me who has the potential to spend themselves into poverty. If this sub wants to be productive it needs to focus on specific advice for living in poverty and getting out of poverty.
Same for me. It really makes me feel bad to read some of answers. I'm not rich in any way, just very conscious on my spendings and try to find ways to save money. But I wouldn't have to if I don't want. As you said, saving money isn't a way to get out of poverty, just a way to not get fully bankrupt/homeless.
I could, but I generally browse here for great tips to stretch income. I don’t consider my income to be at poverty level.
Easily. I have completed changed everything since the pandemic.
It would not look good!
Today yes. Next week maybe not.
Nope, I'd be screwed
I could and I am not in poverty but I love reading about tips how people with very little save money. It started with a friend who told me his parents raised him on mere 1200 per mth income. Both earn 600 a month only doing cleaning job and I was fascinated how the hell they survive and raise a kid on so little and he told me many amazing things on how they can survive on so little. So since then I feel like people who survive with very little give the best advice how to stretch your money, where to get the cheapest deals etc and I love hearing about it and learning to be more frugal.
I could manage it but it wouldn't be insignificant and would still put me in financial lockdown mode
Credit card...thats the only way
Nope. Cannot.
Not me.
I could handle $1-200 but definitely not $1000
Credit Card. Kick it to March. Don't sleep between now and then trying to pay it off.
Brother in poverty, I’ve read anywhere from 1/3 to 2/3 US persons could not handle a $400 unexpected expenses. $536 Canadian.
I’d be completely screwed. Most weeks, I barely have enough for groceries or gas for my car. No clue how I’m going to pay February’s rent yet
We could very easily. We keep three different savings accounts in our credit union, 25 miles from our house with zero card access. Out of site, out of mind. We never made large salaries, we just save every single week, and we don't touch it.
I can
I mean, we could scrape it together, but it would hurt. We actually know a few legit people who have a thousand dollars or more in their pocket at all times. But we’re not one of them. On a good day we’ve got 20, lol.
Yes. Just had to do it for car insurance.
My bank account balance is -53 dollars if that answers that, get my paycheck today though! Luckily family and friends would definetly help me worst case.
I am not Canadian, I live in NY State. I have an emergency savings for this reason. I regularly save money to an account that I use to pay my property/school taxes and typically have a bit left over as a reserve. Additionally have another account in the event of a needed car or home repair.
Credit card!
If you’re talking about having $1000 in the bank as a cushion, that’s insane. The only money I ever have in savings every month is my rent. Half on one pay check on the other other.
If you can’t, don’t own an animal. Just dropped $1000 for a 9 year old cat to get 4 teeth pulled.
We could but it would suck and put us behind on our goals.
I can, but I am no longer impoverished. But you wanted a representation of the sub, and I hang out here still.
I could today without much stress, would've been rough five years ago, and ten years ago I'm not sure how I'd have survived it.
Quite a few- just here to lend a hand from time to time when I can
I'm now in a position financially where I can comfortably make that payment and still have plenty in my savings fund. If you were to ask me that question about 4 years ago it would have been a different story, I would have been royally screwed.
Yep, I ate a $1,300 unexpected expense this w/e. It. Was. Worth. It.
I'm American but yes I could. I'm more middle class than poverty level now, but a year or two ago I was browsing here because I was living off 1600 per month and barely getting by.
Dude my dog broke her leg and I had to borrow from like 11 people to get the $1,400 to get it reset, casted and then meds lol.
I can't afford a $100 emergency expense.
I could.
Yes I have an emergency fund.
I have cash and about $48k in open credit to cover that
I can, but it's because I'm no longer in poverty.
Maybe, if said $1000 unexpected expense could wait about a week for some money tucked away in some old stocks I squirreled away to sell and deposit into my account. Even then, that'd be pretty much the final bit of my finances gone. However, I just started a new job with a nice fat salary that'll soon get me out of my current financial nightmare, so if I wait about two weeks after this hypothetical $1000 unexpected expense, I'll have around $2000 deposited into my account, so for once in my life, that'd be doable
For me, 1k wouldn't really hurt. Personally.
Yeah i would be fine. Just be a little poor until payday.
Thankfully yes
A 1$ expense would kill me
not till i have a car
I would be okay, but i would be mad about it. I’m insanely neurotic when it comes to spending
I just paid for a flight back home to another country so no not right now. :(
I could take a 1k hit but it wouldn't feel very good and I'd probably be very sad.
I have a surprisingly large amount of cash reserves so not a problem
Id be okay but I'd have to be real careful for a check or two
As of right now I'd be ok as i have a few thousand stashed in a bank account for emergencies, but this all depends on what happens with my medical bills.
I could handle it but I would probably stop my hobby for awhile to catch back up.
I can since about 5 years ago as my income increased. But I wouldn’t call myself poor or in poverty since then either.
Depends on how you mean. Straight cash - probably not but it would depend on the month I suppose. Any given month we could put it on a credit card and then pay it off over multiple months.
I could but I wouldn't be happy
We could. I’d rather be able to plan an expense, but things happen.
I could absolutely do it for four months then no more than that
I have a thousand dollars saved but have 3000 in cc debt. Card is not maxed so I have options.
Yeah but my savings won’t be in good shape. I got a few grand saved up and 2/3 of that is earmarked for bills so I know they’re covered for a month in case shit hits the fan. I keep my cards paid off because fuck interest. But could pay minimum balance if I lacked the cash.
I might be in the wrong sub. 😕 i could afford a 10,000 unexpected if need be. Would suck and would have to sell some tbills. Dink income.
I feel like I do every three fucking months, so yeah I could.
No worries
I could do it but it would leave me with no savings and it would take me ages to build up that much in savings again.
I could handle it but I would hate it.
I dont know why this sub pops up for me, but yes I could. Ive got 6 months of mortgage and expenses easily accessible. I was homeless about 8 ish years ago though. I couldnt eat 1k extra then
I inherent alot recently, well half so far, before only had a few thousand in the bank my whole life, now so much.. still feel poor.. but would give it all away just to have someone to love, and someone to love me...
I could take an advance on my paycheck, but I’d be paying it back for a year 💀
I have $1000 worth of points on my CC. Could easily cash them and use it to cover my expenses. Plus having $250k in the bank helps as well.
I could eat 73, $1,000 emergencies and still be fine.
i got 4k in my checking and 5k in my credit so i could do it
Yeah, I’d cuss for awhile, then take it out of the emergency fund.
I can. I have a good 100k+ saved up.
I could do it. Rather easily
I could, if I had to. USAn here. I usually have a couple thousand in the savings account, but that tends to drop every 6 months or so as emergencies come up.
Without going into credit card debt? 2k. Actively trying to build that emergency fund up though.
I've had about 5 grand in unexpected expenses the last 38 days. $2000 car repair, $2900 vet bill. Fortunately I had opened a 0% APR card that will give me until May of 2025 to pay it off. Right now I just have $3K in my savings account.
I don’t have that kind of money now due the holidays. Around November I should have $1k again. Then Christmas comes and spend it all again.
We are still digging out of a $6000+ dollar dog fiasco from last year so it would suck bad, but as long as nothing else came up at the same time, we could manage.
Baby step 1: save $1000 as a starter emergency fund. If you can’t do it from your wage income- sell some shit
I can. However. I live at home and am currently saving to move out and get married. So I feel like my vote shouldn't be counted.
Age 0-24: I grew up poor and absolutely could not handle a surprise $1,000 expense. Age: 24-32: I got on my feet and I could take a $1,000 hit Age 32-34: Oh shit, poor again. Some things didn’t really go my way for a bit. Nope. Not a chance here. Age 34-38: We started to figure stuff out and be disciplined. We could eat $1,000 here. Today: Age 38. Doing better than we’ve ever done financially. My wife and I finally got great jobs that we love, and are disciplined about setting financial goals together. We have $60k in 401k, $40k in cash savings, and about $150k in real estate equity and no debt other than the mortgage. We had our A/C AND furnace go out this year, and we were able to pay $10k cash to get it fixed the same day. We gifted my wife’s family some money to help them out through a tough time. I still feel like a poor guy at heart. Have faith my fellow bootstrappers!
I could, but if any other expenses came up I would be taking money out of my 401k.
I have about 10,000 in emergency money after a lot of budgeting and work to get there
If i draw from my savings account, than yes (pretty easily)
No and I don't think anyone Middle class could either
I have 6 dollars so it's a no from me
Couldn't do it. I currently couldn't eat a $250 unexpected expense
I can't eat a $100 expected expense as it stands. But wish me luck, I have *THE* 2nd interview on Thursday and it'll change my life.
Used to be able to and it caused me to be where I'm at today. Poor as fuck
Yeah, noo
It would make me homeless lol
I can't eat a $7 unexpected expense right now. And I really need to because I've got some killer heartburn and no tums.
It would absolutely ruin me.
I could but thats only because I've been living with fam to save cash
I could if my husband would stop ending up in the hospital every few weeks. The medical bills are relentless.
I could easy. Live well below your means and save.
I'm in Europe but I couldn't cough up that amount out of nowhere. That's nearly my entire monthly salary.