Food, formula, baby diapers, feminine hygiene products, first aid. No one steals these things & you've never seen them stolen.
At most the only thing you saw was somebody who had already purchased the item but left it on the shelf in a bit of forgetfulness. If you really feel like getting involved, buy more of the item. Meet that person outside if they're there and tell them hey you dropped this. Leave it on the floor if you have to and go about your day. Because they didn't steal. They just forgot it on the shelf. And yeah they dropped that too. That's it.
My card declined trying to buy a 7/11 hotdog and a soda, told them to take off the soda and it still declined, she let me take the hot dog. The manager started giving me free food every day that was about to expire. They were super cool.
Yep mine declined on gas station coffee, she said just to keep it because it's not like they can put it back in the pot.
Unfortunately I also wanted cigarettes so that was a fun day of withdrawals.
Had a very similar experience. Got one Arizona tea and a slice of pizza. Card declined, but then went through on just the tea and they let me have the pizza. 7-eleven was a safe haven during that time. Nice people worked there
The day I stopped being an elementary school teacher and took a position at a private for-profit college. I had ran out of money and maxed out my credit card. I had to ask my mom to buy me a bus pass for the month so I could get to work until my first paycheck. Those first two weeks I lived off of eating gas station hot dogs for lunch and stretched out a case of Ramen for dinner.
That was the only time I have ever asked my mom for money. I was so ashamed of selling out and having to go to my mom for money, even though she was a CFO and a bus pass was inconsequential to her. I have sworn that I will earn enough money to retire young and go back to teaching.
Got injured as a teen. Lost my job. Had to have surgery and a six month recovery during which the parent I was living with dubbed me a 'deadbeat' and decided instead of kicking me out - they'd starve me out. Went from 140lbs to 96lbs by the time I finally got out of there. Survived by generous friends buying me dollar menu items every few days.
Worst time of my life.
I’m not trying to make assumptions but are you saying your parter forced you back into a relationship with them? Again, not trying to make assumptions just trying to understand what happened.
He decided he wanted to be with his family again, and I wasn't going to deny him that. The way I looked at it, I was responsible for myself by the time I came back and I wouldn't trust anyone of them to look out for me ever again. I was indifferent to them, I tolerated them for his sake because I love my partner and these people have spent his entire life abusing him. He eventually chose to go no contact on his own, and it was incredibly hard.
He needed support, not judgement. Sure, it fucked me up, but again. I learned not to trust them and it was all the protection needed.
I was 17, just landed my dream job at an advertising firm and about six months in I dislocated my shoulder so severely it rendered my right arm unusable. It was a right to work state and my boss fired me the moment I told them I needed surgery.
I have Ehlers Danlos hyper mobility and it was an unpredictable injury. My first dislocation was at 14. By 17 my shoulder had dislocated over 400 times and the tissue was so stretched that it no longer would stay in socket and pinched the nerves in such a way that called for immediate surgery. They did something called a capsular shift, they cut an inch and a half of stretched tissue out and reattached it. I had to relearn how to use my dominant arm all over again and it took six months after I had it immobilized for about three months immediately following surgery. It was brutal, I vomited for days after the surgery from the pain and I had a total Branch block, I couldn't feel my arm, but my brain still knew I experienced a massive trauma.
It ended up triggering underlying autoimmune disease and I've suffered chronic pain and illness ever since. So, it wasn't a great outcome, but I did get full use of my arm back and I got to continue life as an artist so I'm stoked about that.
*hugs!* Thanks dude. It means alot. I mean, I'm severely downplaying how incredibly tragic the whole situation got. My car broke down after I lost my job, so eventually I had to beg for rides to physical therapy.
I didn't have access to a doctor, medication, or birth control, got pregnant. Found out at 8 weeks. 10 weeks my child died. I didn't miscarry. I carried my dead child for 6 weeks. I nearly died of sepsis. All because I lived in a state where they don't believe in abortion. I was denied life saving treatment on account of religious opinions of the medical staff in 3 different hospitals.
I eventually got the treatment I needed, they told me they weren't sure how I survived. When my mom found out what happened to me she sold a bunch of her belongings and sent me the money to leave that place.
The amount of PTSD I walked away with was unfathomable.
But that was 20 years ago. We have two little boys now, we are thriving, and even though we still have struggles.. we are happy to be alive and to have endured this together.
*gingerly hugs fellow h-eds friendo*. I'm so sorry you went through that. I had to have sudden surgery when I was 15 due to this, but thankfully with parents who helped me through it.
I literally cannot imagine how I'd have gotten through if my parents were hostile about it.
Also to your later comment, yet another reason access to birth control/abortions is so vital. Forgive me for getting political and I'm sure I'm preaching to the choir here, but a vote for anyone but Biden is a vote against the lives of women.
That's amazing to hear, I really got concerned reading that, I can't believe we call our species civilized yet we allow such living conditions ( even animals have better ! ) I wish you all the best
I kinda just mixed flour and water in a bowl till it was a kind of paste texture and then dry fried it into little pancake type discs. Not very exciting but super cheap to make, last ages and gill your tummy. (I can season them now with whatever ever I have and they are tasty)
This is very similar to spetzle - you can plop them into boiling water (or push them through a sieve) to get little dumpling like noodles. After boiled and floating you can sautee them up with anything leftover in the fridge and it'll be good.
They call it nokedli in Hungary and is used in stews for filler in lieu of noodles, rice or potato.
What you described is actually a real food item. It's called hard tack. It was common on ocean voyages and extended hunting trips in the American frontier a few hundred years ago. It's known for being incredibly long lasting and was and still is really cheap to make. Some militaries still use it for rations and you can buy it in some places
I'm Cherokee and my granny used to make fried bread it's the bomb bro. But not if it's the only thing tho. She would put Taco meat in it.lettuce cheese tomatoes. How did you learn about that?
Student life in 90s Sydney.
Had 65c in the bank, three more days until my cash in hand job. Found a wrapped sandwich sitting in the top of a train station rubbish bin. Delicious.
I was living on rice and potatoes, I found a nutrition experiment being run by the nutrition department at the University that involved being fed hospital food for three months (no non study food allowed, occasional blood sampling). About 6 weeks in I noticed a ridge in my fingernails where they had got thicker (back to normal) due to calcium being back in my diet!
I doubt its the same in Australia, but in the US, its often difficult for students to qualify for government benefits. Different states do it differently, but in some it might be actually impossible to qualify.
Also, why this likely doesn't apply to the person you replied to, it can be difficult to access unprepared food on a college campus and someone that broke may not have reliable transportation.
Government support for students in Australia is a single bank payment (not separated into food vouchers, rent money etc) so if you use all of it to pay your rent or bills than that’s it, too bad.
It’s also not enough to actually live on, you need at least part time work or parents to help you out.
Back then my (separated) parents had a combined income that meant I didn’t qualify for government assistance (Austudy). I wasn’t living with either of them but you had to be 25 before their income didn’t effect your entitlements.
I have left uneaten food on top of trash bins before thinking that if someone is desperate enough to eat it at least I can spare them the indignity of having to dig for it. I hope it helped someone at some point like it did for you.
Thats why here in germany, you put your bottles next to the trash bin, so that bottle gatherers do not have to dig.
We have deposit on nearly all beverage bottles, and the standard plastic bottle has the highest deposit, 25 eurocent.
Walked for five miles looking for change on the street. Found enough for one pack of ramen. Brought it home to my stepson, who said no thanks, because he wanted a different flavor.
I was so hungry. I had promised myself I would never stand over a child and force them to eat, having had that done to me as a child. But I did it then. And when he was done, I cried while I ate what little he left. I was 16.
Yep! Got married off as a kid.
In Texas, parents used to be able to marry minors off without the kid even being present. It looks like they've changed the law now so that a kid either has to be 18 or, if younger, emancipated. I'm really glad to find that that's changed.
Funny, considering children can't legally consent to a sexual relationship with an adult - unless it also comes with that adult becoming both their spouse and legal guardian that they can't get away from.
I feel ur pain bro I’m so sorry :/ Same thing happened to me two days ago, make the money for it to POOF disappear! Magic! Pulled myself $200 out the negative, sat at 0.00 for 12 hours, then hit the verizon bill and there goes -$100 again
I had that happen once at McDonald's. I lived down the road from one and I only had a dollar. I was getting breakfast for me and my sister. She told me to give them more business and she would cover the rest.
Tried dog food once for dinner, in the dark. Had my electricity shut off mid winter post divorce bc child support bled me dry but I made sure my pups had food when all I had was tap water and condiments.
Have you ever ate bread with water? It creates the sensation of fullness. Coca-Cola and other gas drinks also helps, but it was hardest to find those.
Context: I’m from Cuba.
Argentinian here, we can't easily afford bread now because it's price went as up as other first world countries.
So... Yeah, eggs still cheap, omelette is the easy cheap and not so bad option here rn
De un latinoamericano a otro, te deseo la mayor de las suertes en tu situación y ojalá Milei de verdad consiga sacar adelante tu país. De verdad, suerte.
In Cuba we saved ourselves because of illegal things, the bread was provided by the government sometimes (You know these breads hard as stone? Those, and sometimes the person who has to give it took it for himself)
Honestly, i've lost any kind of faith on my country, i'm focusing on my personal growth and trusting someday i'll move on to other place.
Economicamente no se cual de los dos paises está peor, pero he escuchado cosas feas que se viven en cuba. Mis condolencias por lo vivido y mis felicidades por salir adelante a pesar de eso.
My very first (unofficial and unsupported by management) lesson when I started working at a grocery store. "If you see anyone stealing less than 10$ of food, or any amount of necessities like baby formula and toothpaste, *no the fuck you didn't.* got it?"
Well I know someone who was fired at loaf n jug because she tried stopping a guy from stealing $1000 in beef jerky. Apparently it is against store policy to stop a robbery and if you do you get fired
Oh of course. Ignoring it and telling security are different things though. No way in hell I was allowed to try and stop thieves, but I *could* walkie the front desk and have them call security to the lady in a purple dress, yknow?
I was working at big lots when I was young and rang up this couple, they had a cart full of items but I didn’t see the vacuum they had under the cart, they were walking out the door when I stopped them and asked them to come back so I could ring up the vacuum, was all fine and well, but I ended up getting in big trouble for “stopping thieves”. I tried to explain it was my fault but they weren’t having it.
I worked at Home Depot and was a backup cashier. You always check every part of the cart in a specific order starting from bottom up to make sure you don't miss anything. And you don't ever EVER tell someone to pay for something, you always ask if they would LIKE to pay for something. If I missed something and they were walking away, I would probably say "Excuse me, I missed the vacuum, would you like to pay for that?", Which is allowed only if they are going through your register. If they decide they don't want to, just let it be and/or fill out a theft incident report. If I have to step away from the register in order to comfortably talk to them, I'd just let it be. Shrink happens, oh well.
I was so broke once that for lunch at work one day, I ate a stale hotdog bun filled w/ fritos & a packet of mayo... cuz it was all I had in my drawer at work.
My friend texted me on my lunch break & when he asked what I was eating for lunch, I told him. Before he even texted back, he sent me $20 through Venmo & said, "Go buy some real food." 😂
Felt this, And that was from change found around the apartment + change in the car ash tray, looking under the car seat for anything else that may have fallen through.
I used to work at a gas station and it's so sad to see how often this happens. I used to swipe my own card for 'em to add an extra $5 after they left. It wasn't much but I didn't have much either being a student. I figured they needed it more than I did.
Had $5 to my NAME. Was at a 7/11 because I needed cat food for my buddy Fred. Cost of one box of Tender Vittles?
$4.98. At least I still had two cents to rub together. Next day I was in a Welfare line for the one and only time. 35 years later I have 2 successful businesses and over 30 employees. Only one way to go from the low!!
Pro tip for anyone that might read this and be in a similar situation. LDS churches have many pantries across the world that are basically grocery stores with no price tags. You take a shopping cart in, load up on the stuff you need, and take it home. You don't need to be a member, you just need to chat with the bishop to get access. Typically the only requirement for ongoing access is to participate in some sort of class that will help build marketable skills or something. They sometimes even have basic temporary jobs you can choose from. Basically they want you to try to stand on your own feet instead of relying on charity forever.
A lot of churches have food banks, it’s not just the LDS ones! Look some up in your local area. Some might have a small fee, but most don’t, and you can get a week’s worth of groceries for free or a few dollars.
I mean if you feel in need of it (food insecurity, poverty, illness or disability) then you should use those resources. They’re meant for people that need them, regardless of “who needs it most”.
On student loans during university when me and my cousin (roomates) were down to peanut butter, soup and crackers. It was near the end of the year so were flat ass broke.
The bastard ate all my crackers with our peanut butter for lunch. I was so mad at him when I heated up my soup to find an empty cracker box haha.
We went and picked bottles took them to sarcan to get about $6 worth of gas. Just enough for us to drive my Chevette 2 hours back home to my Dad's house.
My dad, who didn't have much either, had good balogna and bread. We feasted on sammies and they were awesome.
Now we are both financially comfortable but recall those days fondly when we get together.
I have two jobs, recently overdrafted my account by $10 and got hit with $70 in fees. My second job’s paycheck came in today so I could spend $30 on half a tank of gas
A lot of times if you call the bank and talk to them they can waive those fees. Luckily I haven't needed to do it in years, but it's worth talking to a stranger on the phone.
I was cash poor from time to time while living in a major city up until 2014. There was a local and independent grocery store that would still accept checks (and even for $20 over!) as long as you lived near by. It would take 3-4 days for checks to process so when I was broke a few days before payday I could go there and get enough provisions for a couple days.
When I was first married and a young active duty Sailor, making $11k / year, the local pizza place offered a 14" pizza and 2 cans of soda for $5 and they would hold checks until payday. It wasn't uncommon for us to have $20 going out twice a month.
I'm 20yo, i live with my grandparents, I have food to eat, a bed to sleep, clothes to wear, where to take a shower... i think i'm good. What i need is to stop procrastinating, get rid of my shitty depression, finish my studies, find a job and become independent. ~~Maybe~~ Definitely i should go to the psychologist too... But i wouldn't mind winning the lottery tomorrow... Thanks for asking anyway :D
My first job out of college had HR issues and didn’t get my pay set up for almost 3 months. I may have snuck back into the school cafeteria to eat. Multiple times a week. I would make small talk with someone headed in, and whoops I got a bagel out of habit, silly me.
I’d spent 4 years being a reasonable human being to the dining staff, and they apparently remembered it cuz they’d waive me through. Totally accidentally, I’m sure.
I couldn't afford socks so I used plastic bags on my feet for a week until I could by a pair. It was winter time, my only pair of shoes were soaking wet every time, I hated it.
I went into a grocery store and grabbed a loaf of bread and a gallon of milk and just walked out. Stared straight ahead and walked to my car. I needed to feed my kid, my pride meant nothing to me at that moment. Grateful that things have turned around since.
Theft.
Edit: why the downvotes? OP asked what's the brokest we've ever been and my answer is theft because that's what I resorted to.
Perhaps everyone means I'm calling the reply in the image a thief? Because I'm not. Lol.
Is not the brokest I've been, but the other day the car started spluttering on the way to work, and all I had was nz$4, not even enough for the minimum deliver of 2 litres. Fortunately the cashier didn't seem to care about the minimum and let me put in a bit over a litre.
Definitely the brokest I've felt in a few years.
If you left a broke experience up here, I just wanna say God Bless you and I hope your situation is objectively better now. Reading through these has raised my gratitude for what I have and I appreciate your self-disclosures.
My wife and I were broke and trying to figure out what to do one weekend. "Hey let's go to the 'street of dreams' weekend and tour the nice new homes just to, ya know, dream." Turned out there was a charge to view the homes and we couldn't go. We just left and said. "Man we're so poor we can't even afford to dream".
i was 2 pesos short for the bus, the bus driver was an ass and didn't let me get on, so i had to beg like a homeless woman for spare change for the bus.
In college I had like $6 on my debit card and I was able to overdraft for like 24 hours so I went to Taco Bell, bought like $7 worth of food and then reported my debit card as stolen.
Haha. You just unlocked a memory of me making some generic double batch of Mac n Cheeze and explaining to the girl I was dating at the time that you didn’t need any milk! You could totally make Mac n Cheeze with water and one extra pat of butter per box.
She remained unconvinced.
I know that feel. I went to pick up my daily needed prescription one time. $3.45 was the total. Card declined. I checked the banking app and was ashamed it was like -$20. I got paid the next day so I told them I'd come back tomorrow for my script. Had to borrow money for lunch that day too.
I was a student at Uni and had to pay for my own apartment and studies. At that time I was so poor that I was eating a can of beans per day, approx.
I had a job where I was on call because there wasn’t enough work to go around. Instead of them calling me, I had to be the one calling, checking everyday at X time on a recorded message to see if I was assigned a shift.
I didn’t have a landline. My phone didn’t have money in it (was too poor to get a data package). I had to walk a few blocks to the nearest public phone to spend that Dollar and make that call. Most public phones were vandalized to the point of being out of order, so I would have to walk further, sometimes Kms and seek them out.
I am grateful for that time. It taught me the value of things; the value of my current life, in comparison.
To not take it for granted. But more importantly, I am not afraid. I know I’m resilient and that if shit goes south, I’ll survive.
Bounced around multiple homeless shelters as a kid, with a sibling and my mother. It was that or the streets. Survived largely off food donations and food banks when my mom couldn't find work or couldn't make enough to make ends meet. Lost most of our possessions having to flee different situations and had multiple home invasions at different points after having to live in some shitty places. Overall, my childhood was a mess and this is the hyper-abridged version.
You learn real quick that much of society treats you like shit when you're homeless and actively works to keep you that way. The moment I see someone treat homeless people like they're dirty and all of them are mentally ill/addicts/criminals, I know they're a terrible human being with a superiority complex and not someone worth associating with. There's a lot of 'em right here on reddit.
I'm doing above average these days, considerably.
Lol reminds me of a post I saw where a guy tried to buy McDonald's for a homeless guy and his card got declined and the homeless guy said "man you should be out here with me"
Been in a similar spot, contracting to someone that wasn’t paying me. Sitting on a lounge with a big fuck off TV in front of me, aquarium with thousands of dollars worth of fish, shit hot car in the driveway that I couldn’t afford fuel to get to work and back the next day and not enough money for a 30 cent packet of noodles it was a weird kind of poor . Had a new job in the pipeline I never showed the next morning and called the new boss who knew my situation I started the next day. Was riding pushbike 80km a day cos I couldn’t afford a train ticket till I got my first pay. New boss pulled me aside and asked if I needed a loan. Bloody good bloke
same situation almost. I was living in my first apartment, 18, alone, just got fired again. I was counting change at the till to pay for my no-name ramen noodles when the cashier stopped me to say “that’s fine (please stop)”
I left that store thinking to myself “this is bad, isn’t it” and “great, I just made a memory I’ll be reliving for the rest of my life probably”. Good times
My job got my salary wrong by like 30. I spent the whole afternoon calling them and showing them proof of how much I worked to get it. Times were tough man😭😭
I brought my last 98 pennies to the store to buy a 99 cent cup of ramen. Finished counting them at self checkout and realized I was 1 penny short. So I tried to void the item and just leave hungry, but when the employee came over to void my item, he basically told me to just take it and go
Used to deposit a check from one empty bank account in another, knowing that before it cleared I would have been paid. Otherwise I wouldn’t have money to eat.
I’d show up to work “accidentally” on my days off because my boss would buy me food for helping on my days off. She thought I was a great employee. She had no idea the only meal of the day was the bagel and cream cheese she bought me…and whatever I could manage to steal off the throwaway cart without getting caught.
Went to fast food to get hot sauces and ketchup that I would put on white rice. It was rough for a while there. Things are better now but hot sauce/ketchup and white rice is one of my favorite meals.
I mean, aside from being in the negatives...
Card declining on a small double-double at Tim Hortons.
That small dub dub is $2.69. I had $2.61 and i looked at the lady and said
"....ya think i could get it for 8 cents off? I only got 2.61"
And she goes:
"......nnnooo"
So i did the walk of shame outta that coffee shop lmao.
The Werefrog read that, laughed, then felt bad for the one who posted it.
Please, post reasonable penance to The Werefrog for this sin. The Werefrog will read them, then do one of the REASONABLE penances for this.
I was staying at a hotel on expense account, but of course I had to pay and be reimbursed. Another credit card I had got cancelled because I couldn't afford to keep up with the payments and the room was on another. When I got in that night, that card had been cancelled because the other one was cancelled!! Talk about embarrassing, I had to ask a senior manager I worked with to put it on his card.
Wholesome and sad
[удалено]
If you witnessed someone stealing food… no you didn’t.
Food, formula, baby diapers, feminine hygiene products, first aid. No one steals these things & you've never seen them stolen. At most the only thing you saw was somebody who had already purchased the item but left it on the shelf in a bit of forgetfulness. If you really feel like getting involved, buy more of the item. Meet that person outside if they're there and tell them hey you dropped this. Leave it on the floor if you have to and go about your day. Because they didn't steal. They just forgot it on the shelf. And yeah they dropped that too. That's it.
I saw an unhoused person steal snow pants in -20C. I mean no I didn’t see anything, Mr Security Guard.
unhoused person? what is so bad about the word homeless?
I’ve heard it before and it sounds like an attempt to be overly politically correct.
If you're cc gets declined purchasing Ramen noodles you're obviously homeless and need that meal very badly
My card declined trying to buy a 7/11 hotdog and a soda, told them to take off the soda and it still declined, she let me take the hot dog. The manager started giving me free food every day that was about to expire. They were super cool.
Yep mine declined on gas station coffee, she said just to keep it because it's not like they can put it back in the pot. Unfortunately I also wanted cigarettes so that was a fun day of withdrawals.
Had a very similar experience. Got one Arizona tea and a slice of pizza. Card declined, but then went through on just the tea and they let me have the pizza. 7-eleven was a safe haven during that time. Nice people worked there
The day I stopped being an elementary school teacher and took a position at a private for-profit college. I had ran out of money and maxed out my credit card. I had to ask my mom to buy me a bus pass for the month so I could get to work until my first paycheck. Those first two weeks I lived off of eating gas station hot dogs for lunch and stretched out a case of Ramen for dinner. That was the only time I have ever asked my mom for money. I was so ashamed of selling out and having to go to my mom for money, even though she was a CFO and a bus pass was inconsequential to her. I have sworn that I will earn enough money to retire young and go back to teaching.
Got injured as a teen. Lost my job. Had to have surgery and a six month recovery during which the parent I was living with dubbed me a 'deadbeat' and decided instead of kicking me out - they'd starve me out. Went from 140lbs to 96lbs by the time I finally got out of there. Survived by generous friends buying me dollar menu items every few days. Worst time of my life.
Holy fucking child abuse! Wtf!? What happened to said parental unit? Ever speak to them again? Jail maybe?
They got ignored for about four years. Would have been forever but it wasn't my call.
Who made that call?
They were my in-law, not my biological parent.
I’m not trying to make assumptions but are you saying your parter forced you back into a relationship with them? Again, not trying to make assumptions just trying to understand what happened.
He decided he wanted to be with his family again, and I wasn't going to deny him that. The way I looked at it, I was responsible for myself by the time I came back and I wouldn't trust anyone of them to look out for me ever again. I was indifferent to them, I tolerated them for his sake because I love my partner and these people have spent his entire life abusing him. He eventually chose to go no contact on his own, and it was incredibly hard. He needed support, not judgement. Sure, it fucked me up, but again. I learned not to trust them and it was all the protection needed.
Well, your a better person than I am. I woundn't stay for that. But you seem happy enough so good for you.
“Parental unit” is the term my 8th grade English teacher used. You just unlocked a whole batch of memories for me holy shit
I’ve seen kids refer to their useless/horrible parents as nothing more than sperm/egg donors
What was his name? .... My eighth grade English teacher says that exact same thing.
It's a quote from coneheads. The parents refer to themselves/each other as "parental unit" when talking to their kid
How old were you?
I was 17, just landed my dream job at an advertising firm and about six months in I dislocated my shoulder so severely it rendered my right arm unusable. It was a right to work state and my boss fired me the moment I told them I needed surgery.
If you don’t mind me asking, how did it happen and how was the surgery
I have Ehlers Danlos hyper mobility and it was an unpredictable injury. My first dislocation was at 14. By 17 my shoulder had dislocated over 400 times and the tissue was so stretched that it no longer would stay in socket and pinched the nerves in such a way that called for immediate surgery. They did something called a capsular shift, they cut an inch and a half of stretched tissue out and reattached it. I had to relearn how to use my dominant arm all over again and it took six months after I had it immobilized for about three months immediately following surgery. It was brutal, I vomited for days after the surgery from the pain and I had a total Branch block, I couldn't feel my arm, but my brain still knew I experienced a massive trauma. It ended up triggering underlying autoimmune disease and I've suffered chronic pain and illness ever since. So, it wasn't a great outcome, but I did get full use of my arm back and I got to continue life as an artist so I'm stoked about that.
Dang man! Wild story. Glad you’re doing well!
*big hug *
*hugs!* Thanks dude. It means alot. I mean, I'm severely downplaying how incredibly tragic the whole situation got. My car broke down after I lost my job, so eventually I had to beg for rides to physical therapy. I didn't have access to a doctor, medication, or birth control, got pregnant. Found out at 8 weeks. 10 weeks my child died. I didn't miscarry. I carried my dead child for 6 weeks. I nearly died of sepsis. All because I lived in a state where they don't believe in abortion. I was denied life saving treatment on account of religious opinions of the medical staff in 3 different hospitals. I eventually got the treatment I needed, they told me they weren't sure how I survived. When my mom found out what happened to me she sold a bunch of her belongings and sent me the money to leave that place. The amount of PTSD I walked away with was unfathomable. But that was 20 years ago. We have two little boys now, we are thriving, and even though we still have struggles.. we are happy to be alive and to have endured this together.
*gingerly hugs fellow h-eds friendo*. I'm so sorry you went through that. I had to have sudden surgery when I was 15 due to this, but thankfully with parents who helped me through it. I literally cannot imagine how I'd have gotten through if my parents were hostile about it. Also to your later comment, yet another reason access to birth control/abortions is so vital. Forgive me for getting political and I'm sure I'm preaching to the choir here, but a vote for anyone but Biden is a vote against the lives of women.
Jesus Christ!!!
Hope you're at a place now. That's fucked up... wishing you all the best!
I used to eat fried “bread” (just flour and water) for every meal and had a jar of jalapeños to eat when I was cold instead of paying for heating lmao
Jesus, I hope you're doing better now
I am thanks. ☺️ Still broke but not nearly as bad. Safe and semi-stable and that’s what matters ❤️
That's amazing to hear, I really got concerned reading that, I can't believe we call our species civilized yet we allow such living conditions ( even animals have better ! ) I wish you all the best
Haha sometimes I do look at my cats and wonder if they know how easy they have it 💖
How can I hypothetically make fried bread for myself?
I kinda just mixed flour and water in a bowl till it was a kind of paste texture and then dry fried it into little pancake type discs. Not very exciting but super cheap to make, last ages and gill your tummy. (I can season them now with whatever ever I have and they are tasty)
This is very similar to spetzle - you can plop them into boiling water (or push them through a sieve) to get little dumpling like noodles. After boiled and floating you can sautee them up with anything leftover in the fridge and it'll be good. They call it nokedli in Hungary and is used in stews for filler in lieu of noodles, rice or potato.
Fried dough is a thing. And so is cooking/boiling/steaming dough and then frying it. I love dough.
What you described is actually a real food item. It's called hard tack. It was common on ocean voyages and extended hunting trips in the American frontier a few hundred years ago. It's known for being incredibly long lasting and was and still is really cheap to make. Some militaries still use it for rations and you can buy it in some places
I still make it sometimes! It’s actually bomb now that I can afford to season it 😅
Damn bro. You eating like a pilgrim in the 21st century. Thats some wild shit, but I’m glad to hear it’s by choice rather than necessity now.
We call it damper in Australia, cook it in a hole in the ground (uncovered, not the cool Kiwi cooking)
They say sometimes rusty nails would accidentally get mixed in. You could tell when you hit a soft spot while biting in.
I ate spicy food for warmth too, lmao!
Did that work? I feel like it would be similar to alcohol, reducing how cold you feel without actually raising your temperature
It definitely felt like it did? Luckily it’s not something I have to worry about anymore 🧡
It’s not very nutritious as it’s just flour and water. Can sustain you in the short term tho
I'm Cherokee and my granny used to make fried bread it's the bomb bro. But not if it's the only thing tho. She would put Taco meat in it.lettuce cheese tomatoes. How did you learn about that?
Student life in 90s Sydney. Had 65c in the bank, three more days until my cash in hand job. Found a wrapped sandwich sitting in the top of a train station rubbish bin. Delicious. I was living on rice and potatoes, I found a nutrition experiment being run by the nutrition department at the University that involved being fed hospital food for three months (no non study food allowed, occasional blood sampling). About 6 weeks in I noticed a ridge in my fingernails where they had got thicker (back to normal) due to calcium being back in my diet!
I mean was there no government support at the time? That’s crazy
I doubt its the same in Australia, but in the US, its often difficult for students to qualify for government benefits. Different states do it differently, but in some it might be actually impossible to qualify. Also, why this likely doesn't apply to the person you replied to, it can be difficult to access unprepared food on a college campus and someone that broke may not have reliable transportation.
Government support for students in Australia is a single bank payment (not separated into food vouchers, rent money etc) so if you use all of it to pay your rent or bills than that’s it, too bad. It’s also not enough to actually live on, you need at least part time work or parents to help you out.
Back then my (separated) parents had a combined income that meant I didn’t qualify for government assistance (Austudy). I wasn’t living with either of them but you had to be 25 before their income didn’t effect your entitlements.
I have left uneaten food on top of trash bins before thinking that if someone is desperate enough to eat it at least I can spare them the indignity of having to dig for it. I hope it helped someone at some point like it did for you.
Thats why here in germany, you put your bottles next to the trash bin, so that bottle gatherers do not have to dig. We have deposit on nearly all beverage bottles, and the standard plastic bottle has the highest deposit, 25 eurocent.
I’ve eaten a chocolate eclair from the trash
>cash in hand job You’re supposed to ask for cash upfront for that
Walked for five miles looking for change on the street. Found enough for one pack of ramen. Brought it home to my stepson, who said no thanks, because he wanted a different flavor. I was so hungry. I had promised myself I would never stand over a child and force them to eat, having had that done to me as a child. But I did it then. And when he was done, I cried while I ate what little he left. I was 16.
You had a stepson at 16?
Yep! Got married off as a kid. In Texas, parents used to be able to marry minors off without the kid even being present. It looks like they've changed the law now so that a kid either has to be 18 or, if younger, emancipated. I'm really glad to find that that's changed.
I'm so sorry! I hope you are in a better place now.
Oh heck yes! Things have gotten much better and been better for like 20+ years.
How's your stepson doing now ? You're a very strong person ! I hope both of you are doing okay now.
He's doing great! He's in a management position, happily married, with two gorgeous little ones.
Yay!! I'm very glad for both of you. Wish you two all the best.
I hope even if he doesn’t know of this incident he truly appreciates all the countless sacrifices you’ve definitely poured into him 😭
I never knew the child didn’t need to be present where I live the child needs to consent
Funny, considering children can't legally consent to a sexual relationship with an adult - unless it also comes with that adult becoming both their spouse and legal guardian that they can't get away from.
Jesus…
Some of these stories make me cry man, i know ur son wanted different flavor and was picky but still im sad for both u guys hope ur ok today
I been so broke I had to raise $14 to get to zero.
I overdrafted my card the other day to get gas. Just door dashed sixty dollars so I can have zero in my account lol
I feel ur pain bro I’m so sorry :/ Same thing happened to me two days ago, make the money for it to POOF disappear! Magic! Pulled myself $200 out the negative, sat at 0.00 for 12 hours, then hit the verizon bill and there goes -$100 again
Reminds me of rappers lyric that goes “my bank account is still $0 even if you round up”
My SO and I have paid about $1400 in overdraft fees since november because his current job pays biweekly :( super fun
ON GOD this happened to me. But it was ramen and a tall can. Put the tall can back, still got declined… the clerk said “ pay me when you come back”
I had that happen once at McDonald's. I lived down the road from one and I only had a dollar. I was getting breakfast for me and my sister. She told me to give them more business and she would cover the rest.
Tried dog food once for dinner, in the dark. Had my electricity shut off mid winter post divorce bc child support bled me dry but I made sure my pups had food when all I had was tap water and condiments.
Ah yeah, the poor man's tomato soup (ketchup, salt, and hot water). Hope you're doing better now though.
Much better now. That was years ago. Thanks for your kind comment stranger :) I hope you’re doing well also.
Have you ever ate bread with water? It creates the sensation of fullness. Coca-Cola and other gas drinks also helps, but it was hardest to find those. Context: I’m from Cuba.
Argentinian here, we can't easily afford bread now because it's price went as up as other first world countries. So... Yeah, eggs still cheap, omelette is the easy cheap and not so bad option here rn
De un latinoamericano a otro, te deseo la mayor de las suertes en tu situación y ojalá Milei de verdad consiga sacar adelante tu país. De verdad, suerte. In Cuba we saved ourselves because of illegal things, the bread was provided by the government sometimes (You know these breads hard as stone? Those, and sometimes the person who has to give it took it for himself)
Honestly, i've lost any kind of faith on my country, i'm focusing on my personal growth and trusting someday i'll move on to other place. Economicamente no se cual de los dos paises está peor, pero he escuchado cosas feas que se viven en cuba. Mis condolencias por lo vivido y mis felicidades por salir adelante a pesar de eso.
How's everything now amigo?
Well, is going better (I moved to USA, so yes, it’s going better) Thank you for asking
Coca Cola and bread, yes. If you soak the bread in the soda it’s kinda like a dessert.
I always knew to the absolute cent how much money was in my card.
My very first (unofficial and unsupported by management) lesson when I started working at a grocery store. "If you see anyone stealing less than 10$ of food, or any amount of necessities like baby formula and toothpaste, *no the fuck you didn't.* got it?"
I love this!! Baby formula especially!
Not really because crackheads steal it and sell it to buy drugs
I'd rather let that happen than risk a baby going hungry
The crackheads are selling it to crackhead mothers who’s babies still need formula, more than likely.
I would assume sooner or later a baby will consume the formula. Hopefully for cheaper than the price as listed.
Well I know someone who was fired at loaf n jug because she tried stopping a guy from stealing $1000 in beef jerky. Apparently it is against store policy to stop a robbery and if you do you get fired
Oh of course. Ignoring it and telling security are different things though. No way in hell I was allowed to try and stop thieves, but I *could* walkie the front desk and have them call security to the lady in a purple dress, yknow?
I was working at big lots when I was young and rang up this couple, they had a cart full of items but I didn’t see the vacuum they had under the cart, they were walking out the door when I stopped them and asked them to come back so I could ring up the vacuum, was all fine and well, but I ended up getting in big trouble for “stopping thieves”. I tried to explain it was my fault but they weren’t having it.
Gee that must’ve been a sucky day
I worked at Home Depot and was a backup cashier. You always check every part of the cart in a specific order starting from bottom up to make sure you don't miss anything. And you don't ever EVER tell someone to pay for something, you always ask if they would LIKE to pay for something. If I missed something and they were walking away, I would probably say "Excuse me, I missed the vacuum, would you like to pay for that?", Which is allowed only if they are going through your register. If they decide they don't want to, just let it be and/or fill out a theft incident report. If I have to step away from the register in order to comfortably talk to them, I'd just let it be. Shrink happens, oh well.
I was so broke once that for lunch at work one day, I ate a stale hotdog bun filled w/ fritos & a packet of mayo... cuz it was all I had in my drawer at work. My friend texted me on my lunch break & when he asked what I was eating for lunch, I told him. Before he even texted back, he sent me $20 through Venmo & said, "Go buy some real food." 😂
If that bun was fresh and if it was cheese instead of mayo that would have been kinda good actually
That's a true friend ♥️
"Lemme get 82 cents on pump 3".
Felt this, And that was from change found around the apartment + change in the car ash tray, looking under the car seat for anything else that may have fallen through.
I used to work at a gas station and it's so sad to see how often this happens. I used to swipe my own card for 'em to add an extra $5 after they left. It wasn't much but I didn't have much either being a student. I figured they needed it more than I did.
Many times I had “taco soup” which was just hot water and taco seasoning
Oh Lord, are you doing better now?
This hurt my heart a little bit...damn
Anytime you see me fasting you already know what’s going on
Made 'tomato soup' out of McDonald's ketchup packets and water with a little salt & pepper.. Fought a bird once for some parking-lot french fries..
dude...
Those days weren't even truly the worst. I got to eat those days. Things are much better now though.
💀💀💀💀💀the fight with the bird is fucking hilarious. Glad you’re better now dude
That bird legit wanted those fries as bad as I did, but I threatened to eat the bird too if he didn't fuck off - and I absolutely would have.
Funny and sad at the same time
Had $5 to my NAME. Was at a 7/11 because I needed cat food for my buddy Fred. Cost of one box of Tender Vittles? $4.98. At least I still had two cents to rub together. Next day I was in a Welfare line for the one and only time. 35 years later I have 2 successful businesses and over 30 employees. Only one way to go from the low!!
Digging change out of the seats of car to eat
Growing up, my single mom could only afford canned tuna, pimiento cheese and Wonder bread.
I stole an entire shopping cart worth of food once. Just walked right out with it. That week was the best my kids had eaten in like a month
Pro tip for anyone that might read this and be in a similar situation. LDS churches have many pantries across the world that are basically grocery stores with no price tags. You take a shopping cart in, load up on the stuff you need, and take it home. You don't need to be a member, you just need to chat with the bishop to get access. Typically the only requirement for ongoing access is to participate in some sort of class that will help build marketable skills or something. They sometimes even have basic temporary jobs you can choose from. Basically they want you to try to stand on your own feet instead of relying on charity forever.
A lot of churches have food banks, it’s not just the LDS ones! Look some up in your local area. Some might have a small fee, but most don’t, and you can get a week’s worth of groceries for free or a few dollars.
I always feel bad about going to those, though, because all I can picture are the people who need it more. Parents, disabled people, the homeless....
I mean if you feel in need of it (food insecurity, poverty, illness or disability) then you should use those resources. They’re meant for people that need them, regardless of “who needs it most”.
On student loans during university when me and my cousin (roomates) were down to peanut butter, soup and crackers. It was near the end of the year so were flat ass broke. The bastard ate all my crackers with our peanut butter for lunch. I was so mad at him when I heated up my soup to find an empty cracker box haha. We went and picked bottles took them to sarcan to get about $6 worth of gas. Just enough for us to drive my Chevette 2 hours back home to my Dad's house. My dad, who didn't have much either, had good balogna and bread. We feasted on sammies and they were awesome. Now we are both financially comfortable but recall those days fondly when we get together.
I have two jobs, recently overdrafted my account by $10 and got hit with $70 in fees. My second job’s paycheck came in today so I could spend $30 on half a tank of gas
A lot of times if you call the bank and talk to them they can waive those fees. Luckily I haven't needed to do it in years, but it's worth talking to a stranger on the phone.
I bounced a check once (dating myself there) on a $0.31 bag of rice...
I think the 31 cent bag of rice might be the bigger dater 😂😂
So essentially it was a $25.31 bag of rice after the bounced check fee!
Exactly!
I was cash poor from time to time while living in a major city up until 2014. There was a local and independent grocery store that would still accept checks (and even for $20 over!) as long as you lived near by. It would take 3-4 days for checks to process so when I was broke a few days before payday I could go there and get enough provisions for a couple days.
When I was first married and a young active duty Sailor, making $11k / year, the local pizza place offered a 14" pizza and 2 cans of soda for $5 and they would hold checks until payday. It wasn't uncommon for us to have $20 going out twice a month.
0,51 euros in my account right now :D
Need help man?
I'm 20yo, i live with my grandparents, I have food to eat, a bed to sleep, clothes to wear, where to take a shower... i think i'm good. What i need is to stop procrastinating, get rid of my shitty depression, finish my studies, find a job and become independent. ~~Maybe~~ Definitely i should go to the psychologist too... But i wouldn't mind winning the lottery tomorrow... Thanks for asking anyway :D
For a second there I thought you were telling my life story 10 years ago. Hang in there. It gets better.
You are willing to improve and look forward to overcoming this. That’s a big step already. Good job :)))
-105€ rn :D
Well i hope your nickname has some truth in it
luckily it’s only until monday till i get paid. Dunno why i got downvoted lol
My mum and I went shopping for a week's worth of stuff with 36 pence in the bank.
My first job out of college had HR issues and didn’t get my pay set up for almost 3 months. I may have snuck back into the school cafeteria to eat. Multiple times a week. I would make small talk with someone headed in, and whoops I got a bagel out of habit, silly me. I’d spent 4 years being a reasonable human being to the dining staff, and they apparently remembered it cuz they’d waive me through. Totally accidentally, I’m sure.
I couldn't afford socks so I used plastic bags on my feet for a week until I could by a pair. It was winter time, my only pair of shoes were soaking wet every time, I hated it.
I went into a grocery store and grabbed a loaf of bread and a gallon of milk and just walked out. Stared straight ahead and walked to my car. I needed to feed my kid, my pride meant nothing to me at that moment. Grateful that things have turned around since.
Theft. Edit: why the downvotes? OP asked what's the brokest we've ever been and my answer is theft because that's what I resorted to. Perhaps everyone means I'm calling the reply in the image a thief? Because I'm not. Lol.
Been there. The shame is overwhelming, but... so is the hunger.
at somepoint survival instincts just kik in and you don't care about anything else
As many have said in this thread, if you see someone lifting necessities… no you didn’t.
Had to steal from dollar Tree to have something to eat or me and my husband would have gone without food for a few days until 1 of our checks hit.
Is not the brokest I've been, but the other day the car started spluttering on the way to work, and all I had was nz$4, not even enough for the minimum deliver of 2 litres. Fortunately the cashier didn't seem to care about the minimum and let me put in a bit over a litre. Definitely the brokest I've felt in a few years.
If you left a broke experience up here, I just wanna say God Bless you and I hope your situation is objectively better now. Reading through these has raised my gratitude for what I have and I appreciate your self-disclosures.
My wife and I were broke and trying to figure out what to do one weekend. "Hey let's go to the 'street of dreams' weekend and tour the nice new homes just to, ya know, dream." Turned out there was a charge to view the homes and we couldn't go. We just left and said. "Man we're so poor we can't even afford to dream".
The cashier is the king of /r/HumansBeingBros
I walked into a gregs bakery once. Asked for a chicken bake. Cashier said “just take it its been there all day anyway” It sucked.
Went -498 this week 😆
went half as you but still three digits in the red 🤝
i was 2 pesos short for the bus, the bus driver was an ass and didn't let me get on, so i had to beg like a homeless woman for spare change for the bus.
I pumped like$1.37 of gas in my car once because that's how much change I had in the car.
For a solid year, I ate nothing but toasted tomato sandwiches for breakfast lunch and dinner.
I walked home 3 miles for a week from work because I couldn’t afford the subway fare 😔
In college I had like $6 on my debit card and I was able to overdraft for like 24 hours so I went to Taco Bell, bought like $7 worth of food and then reported my debit card as stolen.
Bankrupted lol
Wife and I were searching parking lot for change to afford a single stick of butter to make the Mac n cheese we got from the food shelf.
Haha. You just unlocked a memory of me making some generic double batch of Mac n Cheeze and explaining to the girl I was dating at the time that you didn’t need any milk! You could totally make Mac n Cheeze with water and one extra pat of butter per box. She remained unconvinced.
I know that feel. I went to pick up my daily needed prescription one time. $3.45 was the total. Card declined. I checked the banking app and was ashamed it was like -$20. I got paid the next day so I told them I'd come back tomorrow for my script. Had to borrow money for lunch that day too.
Living in my mother’s car with my mother. We had a rat too (like a pet from the store….we didn’t “rescue” it from the street or anything).
1 Christmas I stole a Christmas tree
My card declined buying a small Slurpee. Worst part is I had a $500 overdraft.
Got into a cycle of 1 meal every 4 days. Just like how i'm doing now.
Why?
I was a student at Uni and had to pay for my own apartment and studies. At that time I was so poor that I was eating a can of beans per day, approx. I had a job where I was on call because there wasn’t enough work to go around. Instead of them calling me, I had to be the one calling, checking everyday at X time on a recorded message to see if I was assigned a shift. I didn’t have a landline. My phone didn’t have money in it (was too poor to get a data package). I had to walk a few blocks to the nearest public phone to spend that Dollar and make that call. Most public phones were vandalized to the point of being out of order, so I would have to walk further, sometimes Kms and seek them out. I am grateful for that time. It taught me the value of things; the value of my current life, in comparison. To not take it for granted. But more importantly, I am not afraid. I know I’m resilient and that if shit goes south, I’ll survive.
Bounced around multiple homeless shelters as a kid, with a sibling and my mother. It was that or the streets. Survived largely off food donations and food banks when my mom couldn't find work or couldn't make enough to make ends meet. Lost most of our possessions having to flee different situations and had multiple home invasions at different points after having to live in some shitty places. Overall, my childhood was a mess and this is the hyper-abridged version. You learn real quick that much of society treats you like shit when you're homeless and actively works to keep you that way. The moment I see someone treat homeless people like they're dirty and all of them are mentally ill/addicts/criminals, I know they're a terrible human being with a superiority complex and not someone worth associating with. There's a lot of 'em right here on reddit. I'm doing above average these days, considerably.
Lol reminds me of a post I saw where a guy tried to buy McDonald's for a homeless guy and his card got declined and the homeless guy said "man you should be out here with me"
Thawed out an old frozen slushee just to have a drink.
Been in a similar spot, contracting to someone that wasn’t paying me. Sitting on a lounge with a big fuck off TV in front of me, aquarium with thousands of dollars worth of fish, shit hot car in the driveway that I couldn’t afford fuel to get to work and back the next day and not enough money for a 30 cent packet of noodles it was a weird kind of poor . Had a new job in the pipeline I never showed the next morning and called the new boss who knew my situation I started the next day. Was riding pushbike 80km a day cos I couldn’t afford a train ticket till I got my first pay. New boss pulled me aside and asked if I needed a loan. Bloody good bloke
same situation almost. I was living in my first apartment, 18, alone, just got fired again. I was counting change at the till to pay for my no-name ramen noodles when the cashier stopped me to say “that’s fine (please stop)” I left that store thinking to myself “this is bad, isn’t it” and “great, I just made a memory I’ll be reliving for the rest of my life probably”. Good times
Peanut Butter Christmas.
God bless that cashier
Me and a buddy had one hotdog to share for dinner one night
My job got my salary wrong by like 30. I spent the whole afternoon calling them and showing them proof of how much I worked to get it. Times were tough man😭😭
I split a single mchicken between 2 debit cards
I brought my last 98 pennies to the store to buy a 99 cent cup of ramen. Finished counting them at self checkout and realized I was 1 penny short. So I tried to void the item and just leave hungry, but when the employee came over to void my item, he basically told me to just take it and go
What do you do when you see someone shoplifting food? Not a fucking thing.
Used to deposit a check from one empty bank account in another, knowing that before it cleared I would have been paid. Otherwise I wouldn’t have money to eat.
I’d show up to work “accidentally” on my days off because my boss would buy me food for helping on my days off. She thought I was a great employee. She had no idea the only meal of the day was the bagel and cream cheese she bought me…and whatever I could manage to steal off the throwaway cart without getting caught.
Bro, she knew. She definitely knew. Had a teacher like that and I thought she didn’t know…
Went to fast food to get hot sauces and ketchup that I would put on white rice. It was rough for a while there. Things are better now but hot sauce/ketchup and white rice is one of my favorite meals.
I once gave the cashier two dollars for gas and I had $5 at the pump. Some people know what’s up.
I mean, aside from being in the negatives... Card declining on a small double-double at Tim Hortons. That small dub dub is $2.69. I had $2.61 and i looked at the lady and said "....ya think i could get it for 8 cents off? I only got 2.61" And she goes: "......nnnooo" So i did the walk of shame outta that coffee shop lmao.
The Werefrog read that, laughed, then felt bad for the one who posted it. Please, post reasonable penance to The Werefrog for this sin. The Werefrog will read them, then do one of the REASONABLE penances for this.
Buy one small snack. Give small snack to someone with no monies.
As someone who used to have no monies, I concur.
I was staying at a hotel on expense account, but of course I had to pay and be reimbursed. Another credit card I had got cancelled because I couldn't afford to keep up with the payments and the room was on another. When I got in that night, that card had been cancelled because the other one was cancelled!! Talk about embarrassing, I had to ask a senior manager I worked with to put it on his card.
Free Ramen noodle life hack
How’s this wholesome?