People Describe The Brokest They've Ever Been

Dumpster Dining

"Found four unopened packages of pasta while dumpster diving."

"Nearly cried."

~ WhimsicalError

"I found like 10 pounds of NAVY BEANS."

"The next week my EBT was approved."

~ LiveLaughTosterBath

Thou Shall Not Steal

"The lowest I’ve been is sneaking around looking for unlocked cars so I could take any change they had."

"I never stole any personal items or whatever. Just change and food if there was some."

"I had too much embarrassment to ask people for money."

"Now, over 15 years later, I still feel like sh*t for doing that. Stealing is stealing."

~ xithbaby

Portion Control

"My most vivid memory from college was eating half a hot dog and saving the other half for the next day."

"That probably cemented my decision not to ever have kids."

~ Sobriquet-acushla

Predatory Lenders

"I got caught up in the housing crisis back in 2006."

"It looked like I had enough to afford a cute little house nothing extravagant. I was surprised when they gave me the loan and as I didn't have much in the way of credit and I was in my early 20s."

"When I went to sign and saw the monthly note, my heart sank. I should have refused to sign and cut my losses but I was dumb and went ahead with it. I figured I could just budget like hell and make it work."

"It lasted about a year. Ant any given point I was either behind on my note or my electricity or gas was cut off. Sometimes all three. Got caught up in an endless cycle of payday loans."

"Came home to an empty house that was with dark or cold every day after 12 hour manual labor shifts, usually taking cold showers with the light from an old hurricane lantern."

"Don't even get me started on food. It usually consisted of rice and beans cooked over an old camp stove I rigged to a propane tank on my back porch."

"Eventually they foreclosed and I had to start everything from scratch. But I learned a lot during that period."

"Took me almost 15 years to get stable enough where I could finally buy a house again."

~ OkaySureBye

Making Do

"I worked as a bank teller for two years, and was able to collect many American silver coins, such as quarters dimes and nickels made during certain years. Had probably $75 worth of silver coins, worth much more to collectors."

"For those wondering, the bank didn't care if I took those coins as long as I replaced them for the same face value - it's all legal tender to them."

"But one day my gas tank was empty. I needed gas, had $0 in my account and no other money. I went to a pawn shop and barely got over face value for all my silver coins. Got 3/4 a tank of gas."

"It wasn't about the money though, it was about those 2 years searching and collecting and getting excited when I'd come across one... all to trade it away for something my car burned off in less than a week."

~ Redditor

It All Falls Apart

"My dad had a coin collection he started in the late 80s. He had probably saved 20lbs of every coin when I finally found his collection."

"His sketchy girlfriend sold it off along with my book collection (lots of first editions like Harry Potter), my n64 and games, along with all my Disney movies, entire first and second round Pokémon’s (most with regular and shiny), and beach cruiser bike."

"She sold the lot of movies for like $3, my Pokémon card collection for about $20, and all my books were basically <$1. I don’t know what she gave the n64 and bike away for."

"I think in total she managed to get about $300 or so for the entirety of my lifes collections up to that point."

"She did it while my dad was at work one day. They did indeed break up, but I’ve never been more broke in my life."

"My dad passed away shortly after, along with the rest of my family and a bunch of lawyers stole my inheritance. All in all I’d frequently have $4 in my account on a Tuesday that needed to last until Friday."

"I had roommates, slept on couches, rented cheap motels until I finally grasped some stability. Still hurts every time I think about what could have been. Completely altered my life."

"I’m in a wonderfully successful and happy place, but I absolutely 100% would look back to see what would have been had none of that happened."

~ otterpop21

Food Shortage

"Really didn't have enough money to eat regularly."

"My mother kept giving me articles about anorexia, couldn't get it into her head I was broke."

~ Sea_Firefighter_4598

Get Out

"An eviction. Watching all my stuff being carried to the curb at 20 years old."

"It definitely changed my perspective and priorities."

~ damnedspot

Hidden Treasures

"'Happy to find some forgotten rice and spinach in a cupboard so I had something to eat until my next paycheck' poor."

~ Hakar_Kerarmor

Counting It Out

"Giving change to a gas station attendant definitely doesn’t feel good."

~ anonomousername

"I did that once but buying packets of ramen. The man behind me in line had the audacity to try to lecture me about how unhealthy they were."

"If you are buying ramen with change, you are not caring about how healthy it is."

"Thankfully I’m in a better place but it certainly didn’t feel good."

~ Draginia

Collateral Damage

"Probably when I was a kid and my parents divorced. My father left us in debt and didn't contribute financially to helping my mother raise me."

"I've never been particularly well off but nowadays I have a job and can afford to do things."

"My mum did as best she could so I didn't go hungry."

"I remember when I got my first paycheck, I went and bought some £2 Ravioli and felt fancy as heck."

~ PKblaze

Starting Over

"I was a single mom of two after just leaving my children’s dad. He cleaned my bank account out from spite and stopped paying for the car that he was driving that was in my name."

"Worked some stuff out with the bank and they took the car without impacting my credit, but I still had to pay an $8500 loan off."

"My 2 year old son and I shared a futon for a year and we had no refrigerator, but we made things work."

"I broke down and cried that first Christmas alone because I barely had anything to give my kids."

"It took a few years, but I was able to rebuild financially and just bought my first home two years ago. My kids are thriving and they are my entire world. They drive me to be a better me every day."

"I learned a lot about how sh*tty people can be from that situation and time."

~ NoodleSpooner

United States Healthcare

"Rolling Pennies for insulin in college before Obama care. My single mom was poor and couldn’t help."

"Back then if you were not insured when you were diagnosed in childhood, insurance didn’t cover insulin because it was a pre-existing condition."

"One month I was so so broke from getting laid off that I applied for emergency Medicaid for my insulin but made 4 dollars over the poverty limit."

"I asked what I was supposed to do for insulin, and they told me to go to the emergency room, which would have put me further in debt."

"I called the local ADA in tears to ask if there was any way someone could get me some expired insulin. The lady gave me a number and told me I could only call it once."

"It turned out to be a man who owned a small private pharmacy that had been a family business. He gave me 4 months of insulin and others supplies that was enough to not only get me through but get me ahead in my rent and groceries."

"Back then over half my money went to insulin and test strips."

"Sir, if you are out there THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart. Your kindness restored my hope. I couldn’t pay you back but I do pay it forward."

~ Nova_Tango

While these stories are heartbreaking, the people came out the other side.

As the saying goes, when you're going through Hell, the best thing to do is keep going.