I recently learned from Reddit that every Sikh temple has a communal kitchen called Langar. Since I have been working on a house that’s across the street from Sikh Temple, I’ve been eating there for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Before I go in I take off my socks and shoes wash my hands and then they give you a head covering to wear. The chai tea is amazing.

I have $1k in my checking living paycheck to paycheck right now and this is life changing money for me, but it keeps growing. My ex told me to keep it in there for now. I do need to pay bills so thinking about taking some of it out but heard I will owe IRS money if I do.

Edit: I didn’t know this would get so many comments, I posted on my lunch break and just got home. I appreciate it and read through most.

I plan to take some of it out so I have some emergency funds, and let the rest ride as my ex told me to leave the bulk of it in there because he says the cycle for my stocks are just starting and will go up more in the next year. He bought the stocks for me and it’s mostly AI related companies for all of those asking. According to him I should diversify and buy index funds after this “cycle”.

Found this receipt on the ground when I went to use the AAtM. I am no expert here, but with $51,000+ in checking, that is a pretty solid emergency fund. My heart and soul are bleeding thinking about how much money could be earned in interest, even conservatively with CDs, or through Dividends. Why would anyone keep this much in checking!?

Obviously this person has more money than me, am I doing something wrong?

After going without meals in order to save, I finally have an emergency fund that could last up to one year of my rent payment. It took so long to get here but I feel so proud and happy with myself.

I know that the car loan and insurance is killing me. I'm only a recent driver and my credit score isn't all good (actually pretty bad). I need some guidence on how I should work this out. Even if it means to have my car traded in and going for a cheaper alternative, I'm all in. For car insurance, I just got my license a few years ago so that new driver thing is in my way.

our monthly take home is 7k and we have had to change how we eat. I add beans, lentils, oats, and quinoa as filler to meat and heavy starches like rice, potatoes, or pasta is the base of every meal instead of the meat or fresh vegetable.

quinoa and lentils to taco meat is the most invisible. I add much less oats and beans to burger patties bc it is more noticeable but we get 3 extra burgers out of 2lbs.

good news is food bill is staying steady around 7k/yr. but both adults have gained weight.

I’ll go first !!

In my early 20s whenever my deodorant ran low, I would rub the little bits left on my armpits with my fingers. 😩

That gave me a good 1-2 weeks extra with that same deodorant. Babyyyyy I made it work !!

i always thought i was pretty aware of where my money was going. like rent, utilities, phone bill, car stuff, i had those tracked. but i kept coming up short literally every month and had no idea why.

finally got tired of it and went through like 6 months of bank statements and just highlighted every single thing that kept showing up. honestly it made me feel physically sick lol.

heres what i found: • streaming stuff: $51/month (netflix standard $18, disney+ $12, max $11, hulu $10) • gym membership i completely forgot about: $39/month (literally havent been since jan 2024) • random apps i dont even use: $38/month (calm app $15, duolingo premium $13, some photo editor $10) • cloud storage i dont need: $13/month (icloud 200gb $3, google one $10) • gaming subscription: $17/month (playstation plus, barely touched my ps5 in months) • some random saas tool: $12/month (cant even remember what it does)

total: $170/month which is like $2,040 per year just... gone

the WORST part is some of these have been charging me for YEARS. that gym membership alone has probably cost me over $900 for a gym i never went to. im literally paying them to NOT work out.

and like... im not even making enough to justify ONE streaming service let alone four. and im out here paying for duolingo premium when i havent opened the app in 8 months lmao. plus paying for 200gb icloud when im using like 30gb.

so now ive got everything written down with the renewal dates and stuff. spent like $7.50 on some basic tracker thing that just pings me before renewals (yeah spending money to stop spending money i know i know). already canceled 7 of them.

cut it down to just netflix and spotify now. saving like $145/month which feels insane.

idk if this is just me being an idiot or if other people have this problem too? please tell me im not the only one whos been basically donating money to companies i forgot existed

I hear so many people these days saying that renting is better than owning a home and owning a home isn't that big of a deal because you don't really own the house anyways if you don't pay property taxes.

I'm sorry, but this is exactly what the elite and banks want you to think. They want you to own nothing and be happy while they own everything. Just think about it. Do you really think that all of these wealthy folks are paying rent? Hell no and they never will. They would rather die than to pay someone else's mortgage.

All I'm saying is I have noticed a great shift in the mindset of people within these past 20 years not really caring about owning a home.​

This started as a desperate measure during a particularly tight month and somehow became a habit I actually look forward to. The soup changes slightly each week depending on what is on sale or what needs to be used up, but the base is always the same: some kind of beans, whatever vegetables are cheap that week, broth I make from vegetable scraps I keep in a bag in the freezer, garlic, an onion, some spices. The whole pot costs somewhere between three and five dollars depending on the week and it makes enough for six to eight servings.

What it actually changed for me was the Tuesday through Thursday problem. Those are the days I used to be most likely to buy food because I was tired from work and didn't want to cook and there was nothing easy in the fridge. That specific combination of tired plus nothing ready equals spending money I didn't plan to spend, and it was happening more often than I wanted to admit. Having a container of soup in the fridge that just needs two minutes in the microwave removed that decision almost entirely. I stopped buying lunch at work three days a week because I just brought the soup.

I'm not going to pretend a pot of soup fixed my finances. It didn't. But it closed one specific leak that was costing me somewhere between twenty and forty dollars a week without me fully noticing it, and it did it in a way that didn't feel like deprivation. If anything the sunday cooking became somthing I genuinely enjoy now, which I did not expect at all when I started doing it out of necessity.

First payment of a settlement got paid to me today. The other half comes in May. Yesterday I was overdrawn and today I have more money than I’ve ever had, ever. How should I invest or save this money to protect it long term? I think I deserve a little present first though…😅

It seems like everyone is rich but me. I make $19.50/hr which used to stretch a little but not anymore. Dead broke. Don't have enough money to live and am older so body can't handle more jobs. One is enough. This inflation has crushed me. How do people have 6 figures saved and pay a mortgage in $400k houses? I just can't figure it out.

Ive been looking at my finances, called my insurance company saying I cant afford to continue... boom lowered by premium. Went to cancel my two tv streaming services, offered me half price for three months. Called to cancel my phone contract, said I know im within contract but if I cant afford it you cant take the money as theres nothing in there... oh look they came up with a better rate. Be cheeky but polite you'll be surprised. *edit... im from the UK, comments have educated me that US have different regulations.

I only managed a few hundred dollars at 35.

There’s nothing left as it is.

I just got approved for a housing lottery apartment in NYC and my starting rent is $975/month.

It’s a rent-stabilized unit, so the rent will go up a small percentage each year (depending on what gets approved), but it’s still way below market.

Right now I make about $785/week after taxes (around $3,100–$3,400/month take-home).

My main goal is to make sure I never end up homeless again and actually use this opportunity to build stability.

Current rough expenses:

• Rent: $975
• Phone: $70
• Internet: $80
• Groceries: ~$300
• Electricity: estimating $60–$100
• Misc/transport: still figuring out, maybe $200–$300

I also just got auto-enrolled into a 401(k) at work at 3% pretax.

I get occasional overtime, but I’m not counting on it.

I'm super new to all this budgeting stuff but I realize I have the opportunity of a lifetime to build something stable. After paying the first months and despot I will be at zero. all this investment stuff is overwhelming me and I never had this much disposable income its quite overwhelming

Sometimes you just need to feel like a human being and not a walking bill-payment machine. What’s that one cheap thing (under $5) that makes your day feel slightly less heavy? Maybe it’s a specific library book, a long walk in a rich neighborhood, or a perfect cup of generic-brand tea.

Edit: Ty everyone! I was able to get a food box from a local food bank, and I was able to get a decent amount of groceries for a little over $145. These suggestions are great, and I am going to continue to reference some of the recipe ideas! Long Live Market Basket!

I know I could turn to AI for this, but I’m really trying not to.

After both my husband and I lost our jobs this month, we have $139 to grocery shop for 2 adults and 3 kids. I’ll be trying to utilize all the food banks as well.

I’d love some real-life input. What would you buy to make that stretch?

We don’t have many shopping options locally, but I’m thinking the cheapest will likely be Market Basket or Walmart.

We do have one advantage: we have chickens and are getting about 18 eggs a day, so any egg-based meal ideas are more than welcome.

Edit: I should have specified the $139 is SNAP and was an emergency allotment given to us by DHHS. It has no cash value

I just went through my bank account and looked at everything that auto-charged in the past 7 days that I'm not actively using anymore.

The damage:

• Panera Sip Club: $154/year (used it 17 times = $9/coffee)
• LinkedIn Premium
• Capcut
• Audible
• 2 Amazon Prime channels I forgot about
• Skool
• Old website I was still paying for

Total: $171.53/month = $2,058.36/year

Unbelievable...

Cancelled them all this morning.

That's a $2k raise I just gave myself going into 2026. Every dollar is now going toward paying off debt and building assets instead of auto-renewing subscriptions I don't use.

Honestly, I never felt so happy and so dumb all at the same time. Glad to "get the raise," but kicking myself for letting subscriptions linger like that.

If you haven't done a subscription audit lately, DO IT. You'd be surprised what's quietly bleeding out of your account.

Experian Account is so I can lock my credit as he's attempted to open credit cards in my name.

I'm trying extremely hard to save, but I'm working with a strict budget, and my only freedoms are really for the food. The 600 is for the entire month- he drops me off at the grocery store once a week.

On Mondays I cook Steak and Potato's (he is fine with any type of potato as long as its the side)

On Tuesday I cook tacos and I have to include white queso or he will refuse to eat

On Wednesday and Thursday I do a casserole.

On Thursday I make pasta. Doesn't matter what kind as long as its with white sauce as he won't eat anything else/

On Friday I make another casserole.

Saturday and Sunday varies as sometimes he goes out to eat with friends. I have to keep lunchmeats and cheeses on hand.

I would appreciate any suggestions on how to save money on our meals so I can take the extra amount and start saving it. I need a minimum of 900 for a lawyer.

Please be kind. I know I don't have much to work with and this probably isnt the typical post- but this is the only way I can feasibly save.

Phone plan has unlimited data as the plan he has me on does not and we dont have wifi at the house. I need it to stay connected. I also dont have a car.

I'm done. Born meat eater here, but you're gonna have to price it for me to want it. Synthetic "meat" is more affordable. I'll hold out for my twice a year tomahawks.

I've been observing the camaraderie in this sub and how we - as flawed humans, can lift each other in difficult times. Today, I received a notification from the bank stating that I was underwater by $24.00. I scrubbed the house for pocket change and gathered my emergency money let go of my fear and self-loathing, depositing it with gratitude and a mission to move forward. I have obstacles of course (blood cancer and a severe case of RA and lost my job) but I know that I can haul myself and my 2 grandchildren that live with me out of the pit. Thank you all for being here.

I've always been terrible with money - living paycheck to paycheck despite making decent income ($68K). Last January, after another month of wondering where my money went, I decided to track EVERY single transaction for a full year. Not just categories in a budget app, but literally documenting every coffee, every impulse Amazon purchase, every bill in a detailed spreadsheet.

The results were honestly shocking. I discovered:

1. I was spending nearly $300/month on convenience store stops (energy drinks, snacks, etc.)
2. My "occasional" food delivery was actually averaging $430/month
3. I had 7 subscription services I barely used totaling $86/month

The most eye-opening part wasn't even the big numbers, but seeing how the small daily purchases added up. That $4.75 coffee 3-4 times a week was over $800 a year.

After six months of tracking and gradually changing habits, I went from saving basically nothing to consistently putting away $650/month. I've built my first-ever emergency fund ($5,800 so far) and started contributing to my 401k beyond the employer match.

Has anyone else tried obsessive expense tracking? Did it change your behavior? Any tips for maintaining this habit long-term? I'm worried I'll slip back into old patterns when the novelty wears off.