money money money

hi all
there's always a spike in my anxiety level near the end of the month because i start to run out of money ... while i seem to make it each month, i know i needn't worry so much but it weighs heavy sometimes. i just had to put my netflix account on hold 'cause i noticed i have $1.24 in my bank account. of course, it could be worse, i like were i live and don't feel poor (even if i am ;)

i figure plenty of people on here are on disability or have low/no employment ...

i'm wondering what people do to ease the money anxiety and more specifically..,

what things do you do to make everyday life a bit richer with less $?
any entertainment or cost-cutting ideas would be super great to hear!

Glad you posted this okhope.

I am out of unemployment and have my 3rd hearing for disability on 3/15. If it weren't for my parents I might be in a homeless shelter. My brother or kids may have taken me in. My point is my income is at $0 right now. I am basically burning through what little "inheritance" my parents could offer and I feel guilty as sin. The are in their early 70's and probably won't need to be in a nursing home for about 10 years (God willing.) They are paying for all my meds, my rent, my utilities, my car insurance, my car expenses and the list goes on. I am happy though, that, so far, we live in a country that believes in feeding the poor. I have food stamps (quite a generous amount) and there are 2 food pantries within 15 minutes away that I used even while still on unemployment. My state has been hit hard and here we tend to "take care of our own" since it's a rural area. I have moved back to my hometown of only about 1250 people where everybody knows everybody and I was given a Christmas care package (ham and all the fixings for Christmas meal), and a certificate to the local grocery store from the interchurch counsel. For anyone who is in dire straights I urge you to explore your Department of Human Resources agencies. They don't put up billboards but there is help out there. There is a county agency that has approved funding for once a month sessions with a psych Nurse Practitioner. The are also paying for me to see a therapist 24 times this coming year. I wondered why the county offers this and then it struck me. I had to go to the state run mental health institute a few years back when I didn't have insurance. The cost of that, even for the four days I was in, would exceed the amount the county is paying the psych NP and therapist. I don't care what anyone says about the USA but if you doubt we are cared for turn on your tv and watch the world news. We mentally ill, if we didn't have family, in many countries would be homeless permanently institutionalized (at best) or dead (at worst.) I think about that when I vote. Just sayin'.
On a lighter note, I went to my state Vocational Rehabilitation office today and they are very empathetic, supportive and encouraging. A short term goal was set until May, after which I will hopefully have my decision about my SSD. Even if I get disability they can help with training, continuing ed, and even college courses should I qualify.

So long story short. Don't give up. Get out your yellow pages. Ask for help. Don't sit and home and stew. I know it's hard. I do it too. I probably will again. But don't give up! :)

Thanks for the encouragement to take advantage of local resources ;)

I feel like i should be able to make due on my own but things have gotten really tight especially if i want to go the next town over to take advantage of mental health resources that aren't in my town (have to go get my disability bus card but even then it's $2 a trip, a substantial portion of my daily budget). I know there are resources for food i haven't looked into yet...

I really hope your hearing goes well and that you are approved. I felt really guilty too when my parents had to financially support me for a while. They were so gracious and kind about it yet they are also in their 70's and we have a big family,.. Now that i am on disability i don't feel guilty anymore, i realize i would and will do the same for my family. And, oddly, it brought us closer... maybe because i have such a hard time asking for and accepting help, being forced to do so made me vulnerable ... they were kind and i was/am so grateful.

I'm gonna ask around about resources in my area, i'm in contact with more people now that would be 'in the know', you're right about there being no billboards and there isn't much online either!

Good for you ok. Let me know how it goes.

As far as free entertainment, I'm a huge fan of Second Life. It's a virtual world where you can meet people, create things, hear live music, visit art galleries, attend presentations, and all kinds of other things, all from your computer. I'm on disability too, and this keeps me vastly entertained as well as interacting socially with people. If you want to check it out, go to http://www.secondlife.com . A tip: If it gives you a choice of different places where you can first enter the virtual world, click on one that's called Virtual Ability Island. That's an orientation island that is run by a non-profit organization that specifically helps people with disabilities to learn how to use virtual worlds and gives you a community of people to start out with. There are bipolar support groups too, which you can find once you learn your way around.

Another thing I highly recommend is to squeeze your budget (even more) for a little while, if at all possible, in order to create a buffer of money in your bank account. I've managed to scrape enough so that I always have next month's worth of bills covered ahead of time. By doing this, I always have a certain amount in my account, which feels so much better than running my balance down to zero every month. It makes a big difference to me in terms of feeling more secure. Your buffer doesn't need to be whole month's worth of bills. I think any amount you decide on can help with feeling a bit less stressed.

Cool jaydn. Going to go check that out right now.

I've been trying to sell stuff that I don't need (chairs, lights, mirrors, art, books) on craigslist for extra cash but there are so many scams and flakes that it becomes really frustrating. I have been able to sell a couple of things, though for much less than I thought they were worth. Still, the extra cash keeps me afloat for a few days.

Money or lack thereof is a huge trigger for me, anxiety-wise. I have a lot of anxiety around asking my parents for money at age 25 (I feel humiliated, hopeless, and like an immense burden on my parents when I should be self sufficient). I'm a student living off of loan money but I always end up spending most of it by the 15th or 20th as the result of impulse shopping or buying food to support my binge eating disorder.

As far as entertainment, I end up watching tons of movies on streaming sites. I also share a netflix account with a few other people (works out to $2-3 each, which I pay at the beginning of the month). Tumblr is also a huge lifesaver and time-waster. It's a free microblogging site with a big mental health community (people can tag posts and then search and track the tags for a given topic). I've been using the service for over 3 years now and can't live without it.

An additional -- and less savory-- money saving method that I use is "the banana trick". If your grocery store has a self checkout, don't scan the labels of cans of soup or other heavy items. Instead, stack them together on the scale and ring up the entire thing as bananas, which are like 77 cents a pound. It ends up being infinitely cheaper than ringing up things separately. I try to do this as seldomly as possible since I feel like a huge jerk doing it, but if things get really dire.... you gotta do what you gotta do.