Have you ever been completely flat broke?

[questioner]

Have you ever completely ran out of money?

I have, years ago, before easy credit and (Visa and MasterCard). One time I had no money for four days (not even any change under the sofa or in an old jacket). I was desparate and had to give Blood Plasma to tide me over till my next pay check.

This was during the Recession in the early 1980s when unemployment was 25% in my hometown and even fast food jobs were hard to find!

I had no gas in the car and no food in the kitchen. I went to Wendy's to steal the crackers they had next to the napkins.

Anyone else have a story about being completely broke and the desparate ? What type of things did you do to get by until the next payday?

 

[Bob Slydell]

No

 

[icebrat001]

yep.

 

[babar]

umm, yeah....i've sold cd's, dvd's,.....

hasn't happend in a while (knock wood)....pay days can come slowly when it's rent time!!

I've eaten nothing but toast for a week....hmmm,

You haven't lived until you've had to become very very creative with no money!!

 

[Tina]

Yep... been there, done that. My only saving grace was the fact that I lived in Michigan where there's a 10 cent refundable deposit on pop(soda) cans/bottles. The car wash trash can is a great place to find returnables!!

 

[Disney Doll]

I've had "lean" times where I had to very carefully think about every penny I was spending, but I was never so borke that I had to sell blood plasma and such!!!!

 

[Island_Lauri]

I was working full-time in the early 80's and I remember applying for a gas station credit card and being turned down - reason given was that my "salary was not sufficient". It was so bad that I would bring a potato to work and microwave it and have a baked potato for my lunch.

 

[lovemygoofy]

Yes it happened to us in Feb 2003. We knew that my dh was going to deploy soon for Iraq and we had literally 3 pages of stuff that he was required to buy before he left. We had just saved and paid for our wedding in Dec and didn't have any savings at all. We didn't have anything to sell and was living off hot dogs, ramen, cereal, and mac/cheese. When it was time for Matt to go I knew that we would need some money so he could have some on him just in case. I swallowed my pride and called my mom. She wired me a $200. A $100 to go with my Matt and then other to get me home to visit her. Yes, I did pay her back with interest.

 

[caitycaity]

yep - in college i didn't have any money for a week. i had to mooch food from friends - not a good feeling.

 

[NMAmy]

Yes, I have. When my ex and I were first married, we were stationed in Germany, living on the economy and the mark rate...well, it went up or down or whatever but our rent, although it stayed the same in marks cost us about double the usual amount in dollars. I lived on popcorn for awhile there--my ex was able to eat in the mess hall.

Also, when my ex and I first separated, he filed for bankruptcy during our divorce without telling anyone. He had forged my name on a loan from a local appliance store and suddenly my check was being garnished and I had almost no money. I was able to borrow enough for rent from family and had to buy food on my credit card. I did get the money back eventually but dd and I were pretty much living hand to mouth anyway and that put us right over the edge. Bless her heart, we were talking about it a couple of weeks ago and she told me that she never knew we were poor!

This is one reason that I tend to give a lot of charitable donations and if I know someone is having financial problems, I send an anonymous donation to their home. Sometimes a little money can make a huge difference in someone's life.

 

[HayGan]

Yep, quite a few times! I used to go to the plasma center in college to get $$$ for the weekends.

 

[disykat]

Once in college - it was a bank transfer problem. It took about two weeks to get it settled. I was making it through by counting all the coins in my coin jar, but when an old friend showed up for a surprise visit and I panicked because I had no food to give him, we went grocery shopping on his dime. Thankfully the college was willing to wait for their check, and my roommates were willing to wait for my share of the rent.

I could have called my parents and they would have sent money, but I wanted to handle it myself.

 

[cheerful chickadee]

the brokest we've ever been is when dh got laid off and could only find a part time job. He was bringing in close to no money, we had to pawn a video camera we had and sold some cd's to be able to pay rent. We've never been without food or heat or etc. though. That was a long time ago but just thinking about it makes me sick, such a terrible time

 

[4nana]

Been there, done that, rised above, could write a book and don't care to return!
Lots of lean years in the building trade the winters in MD.

However, looking back, I must admit it did teach us what is important in life and built character. We learned to be strong, persevere and a family stays together and has faith. I must say, it taught our children to appreciate simple things in life, to be humble, believe in yourself, do your best, go to college and work hard if you want anything in life.

Thankfully, they all did exeptional in school - earning scholarships, doing work study, taking out loans, earned degrees. Now they are successful in their own careers, happily married with their own families, have nice homes and often tell us - they had a wonderul childhood and wouldn't change a thing, as they always had plenty of the most important thing - Love .

I believe it also taught another valuable lesson -
to never look down on anyone and always remember where we came from.

 

[mrsdon]

I.ve been so poor that I had to eat those boxes of spaghetti and sauce that come all ready boxed.
I was only able to afford beef 1 time a week.
My BF was in the same situation and could only aford beef 1 time a week.
So, we shared and I would go to her house and she would come to mine.

 

[mum4jenn]

Yep.... once many years ago I had to "borrow" some toilet paper from the place I worked because we did not have the money for it.

 

[Aimeedyan]

I remember a few months after we married and Christmas had eaten us alive. We didn't budget well and the money was gone before we knew it, and we didn't have much to begin with! I was teaching 3s in a child care center and a mom bought me a $10 walmart gift card for Christmas. That was our saving grace, we literally had no idea where we'd find $ for food until the next week and I'd already cleaned out the panty and freezer to get to that point!

I was able to buy enough stuff for us to eat for a week on that $10 gift card. Lunch and dinner! We were so proud when it rang up just under $10. =)

 

[minniepumpernickel]

Yes, it builds character. I was a starving college student. I got jobs that offered free food. Well actually the cook took pity on us (hotel workers) and bent the rules!

 

[Kitty 34]

I've never been flat broke but I've been in real lean times, especially right after my divorce when I first moved back to Michigan with a 2 year old.

 

[Aurora63]

I've never been in that situation as an adult, but I do remember being a child and seeing my parents in it. I remember my dad raiding my piggy bank to find enough money for dinner. I also remember him always being late with the rent, and arguing with the landlord outside over it. Not a good feeling. But it's likely why I've never been there as an adult...I'm very careful with money.