Anonymous wrote:Get another job--retail for Xmas.

Second this. I did Crate and Barrel seasonal work for 2 seasons when I made crap money at my real job. Bonus: get your gifts at 30 percent off.

Look at your car insurance and phone bills. How can you reduce? Can you get a better rate somewhere else, or, gasp, downsize the phone plan, go to the dumbphone for a little while, etc?

You need to figure out how to make more money, either by getting another job or something in addition to what you do now. The entry-level person we hired recently at my job started at $35,000, and I thought that was low.

So see if you can a pt retail job for the holidays. Or even just try to make some quick cash with apps like Field Agent or Gigwalk, where you take photos and answer questions about retail displays and other stuff. Or maybe you could babysit on the weekends.

Good luck to you!

You are single and make $1750 a month plus an extra paycheck every 6 months. It's not a lot, but unless you have large student loans or an expensive apartment, it's a workable amount. Say, $800 on rent, $300 on groceries, $200 student loans, $100 car insurance, $50 cell phone, $50 gas, etc. Of course, you have to budget to make sure you don't overspend.

What are your bills that you don't have money for groceries?

1)Get a second job waiting tables. best source of extra income.

2) take a look at your cell plan and auto insurance to make sure you're not over paying

3) egg donation (not kidding)

4) move in with a few roommates. split your costs by 3.

5) stop being prideful and ask your parents for help! unless you've been a total douche to them, they will help you - no strings attached usually.

Get another job--retail for Xmas.

I also remember those days. Only my parents weren't an option for help - dad was dead and mom had younger kids at home that she could barely support. Lots of holidays alone. Lived with a friend's parents for a year because it was cheap. Got a second job taking care of people in nursing homes and took as much overtime as I could fit in. Got a hobby making things I could sell. Presents were always homemade - fancy decorated cookies, some of my art. Made a deal with my siblings that we'd quit buying gifts for each other. Never went out unless someone else was buying. I've since paid it forward. Knew all of the free stuff to do.

My ticket out? Education.

Been there, done that in graduate school, and it's hell, especially during the holidays.

You absolutely need to move to a cheaper place and/or get more roommates.

Don't buy any gifts this year. Call your family and friends to wish them all personally instead. Ask your parents for essentials that you need, as gifts. Seek out concerts and activities which just require you to travel to them (church concerts, etc. Brookside Garden of Lights in Wheaton is beautiful outside, and inside there's a train display and concerts). Don't just stay inside and mope and watch TV.

I hope your parents are the right kind that are willing to pay for you to come home for the holidays.

Hang in there - all this sacrifice for a brighter tomorrow!

Do you need a car (for work, etc) or can you take public transportation?

Try selling some stuff on Craigslist - clothes, furniture, decorative accessories, whatever you have. I made about a grand this past year along getting rid of stuff I no longer needed and it was fast and easy.

Maybe you need to live with two roommates instead of one, or move out of the area you live in. Maybe you need a part-time job in addition to your full-time one. Maybe you need to move home. Maybe you need to consolidate your loans, or ask for a deferment. Maybe you need to ask your parents for a loan.

But all of these things require swallowing your pride and acknowledging that you need things to drastically change by making some difficult decisions and possibly having a difficult conversation or two.

Um, you can barely pay your bills. Xmas presents are skipped or homemade.

You have food at work and a boyfriend who will get groceries. Figure out how you can live within your means in the future, but be happy for now you have a safety net.

If mom and dad want to see you, they pay. If not, you don't go home. It's not a requirement. If you want to keep doing what you're doing, you need a side job, like in retail.

Like the song says, "Pride and hunger, don't go together. Goodbye pride."

Unless you have another source of funds (e.g., can moonlight, take on extra shifts, or sell some stuff), sounds like your parents are your only option.

I'm young, live with a roommate, work full time making 25k a year.

After taxes, I bring home $875 biweekly. I got paid on the 15th, and will be paid again on the 29th.

I currently have $415 in my bank account. By the 30th of this month, I need to have $1020 saved to cover all my bills/fixed expenses for the next month (rent, car insurance, gas, student loan, cell phone). I also am moving in to a new apartment on the 30th and will need to write a damage deposit check for $250. That leaves me with $20 not allocated towards bills for the next 3.5 weeks.

Credit card is maxed out, cannot borrow money from friends and am too prideful to ask my parents for help. My boyfriend can buy groceries and food is provided for me at work, so I won't starve. I'm just so sick of being stuck in this cycle. I have no idea how I'm going to pay for xmas presents/travel home for the holidays/not go insane.