All of us have those kinds of problems. I've been laid off, paid a tremendous amount of cash for dental work (growing up with poor dental health sucks), and have no meaningful help from relatives (quite the opposite, they're a regular financial drain because they need constant help.)
I remember being so poor growing up that I used my first paycheck to buy a loaf of bread and a tube of cheap sausage and it was the first time having anything approaching a real meal in a few days.
Costs happen. Kids get sick/injured, cars get damaged or break down, taxes only ever increase.
I save aggressively, consistently live below my means (not miserly, but frugally), do all of the home maintenance and car work I can do safely and legally, and cook almost all of my meals at home from relatively basic ingredients.
And you know what? I have a pretty damned good life. I had to move across the US to a place with a lower cost of living and better job opportunities. My wife had to switch careers. I had to work several years at crappy jobs.
When you buy a thing, evaluate it's lifetime cost. When something breaks, fix it quickly and correctly. Avoid unnecessary costs. Prefer mending to replacing. Save for the unexpected, and then save some more. When dealing in dangerous waters (legal troubles, real estate, complex investments or financials), hire a skilled expert, even if it means lowering your quality of life. Keep enough insurance, and do the work to get multiple quotes or bids for any kind of job.
I don't claim to be poor, but the struggle is real. And like the post above me, my life would be exponentially better if health insurance wasn't terrible.
Our system is designed for people to fail. Even our own president has bragged that another depression would be a good thing since he could buy things up at a discount. (yeah, there is a tweet for everything)
I remember being so poor growing up that I used my first paycheck to buy a loaf of bread and a tube of cheap sausage and it was the first time having anything approaching a real meal in a few days.
Costs happen. Kids get sick/injured, cars get damaged or break down, taxes only ever increase.
I save aggressively, consistently live below my means (not miserly, but frugally), do all of the home maintenance and car work I can do safely and legally, and cook almost all of my meals at home from relatively basic ingredients.
And you know what? I have a pretty damned good life. I had to move across the US to a place with a lower cost of living and better job opportunities. My wife had to switch careers. I had to work several years at crappy jobs.
When you buy a thing, evaluate it's lifetime cost. When something breaks, fix it quickly and correctly. Avoid unnecessary costs. Prefer mending to replacing. Save for the unexpected, and then save some more. When dealing in dangerous waters (legal troubles, real estate, complex investments or financials), hire a skilled expert, even if it means lowering your quality of life. Keep enough insurance, and do the work to get multiple quotes or bids for any kind of job.