being broke

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as differentiated from being boring and being boiled

what's the brokest you've ever been? how did you survive? what sick feats of sub-humanity did it push you towards.

gabbo giftington (dubplatestyle), Monday, 1 September 2003 20:01 (twenty years ago) link

i have $1.32 to my name, so naturally this is not the brokest i've ever been.

gabbo giftington (dubplatestyle), Monday, 1 September 2003 20:01 (twenty years ago) link

My ex had had a nervous breakdown; we'd just broken up; she had three kids; they called me Dad = I spent the money I had borrowed from parents to pay for an apartment deposit on a new place, and used it for groceries and household bills instead, staying with them for the next few months instead of moving out. Didn't have a job, wasn't in school. Bounced checks for everything I could, including books which I'd then sell to used bookstores for cash.

Tep (ktepi), Monday, 1 September 2003 20:04 (twenty years ago) link

I'm fortunate in that I've never been so broke that pawning CD's hasn't rescued me.

But I've spent so many years with absolutely no disposable income that after I posted about buying a new jean jacket I had to laugh at the absurdity. When you're flat broke, the idea of ever again having money to spend on crap like that seem fucking REMOTE. And yet here I am (how, I don't know).

Aaron A., Monday, 1 September 2003 20:27 (twenty years ago) link

I'm going broke right now. Quit my job last week and am living off of inheritence for the next couple of months. Move to a different city for the first time in my life.

Joe Mama Besser (Nick D), Monday, 1 September 2003 20:41 (twenty years ago) link

pawning jewellery (that didn't belong to me).

getting given money by homeless people felt like some kinda nadir, too.

international jewel thief, Monday, 1 September 2003 21:13 (twenty years ago) link

i'm broke as a joe. I've just got a crappy job in welwyn but i can't afford the train fare to get there!

dog latin (dog latin), Monday, 1 September 2003 22:01 (twenty years ago) link

I've put off the moment I go truly broke for so long now. It always seemed about to arrive. Now I'm sure it's about to arrive. I owe six grand. I have nothing. I need to find some money in the next few days. And I won't.

Eyeball Kicks (Eyeball Kicks), Monday, 1 September 2003 23:33 (twenty years ago) link

I spent about 24 hours alone in Dublin waiting to get my flight back and doing nothing else because I had no money whatsoever... not a penny. It was my own fault for squandering my money and not bothering to check how much was in my account, but FUCK was I hungry by the time I finally made it back.

Matt DC (Matt DC), Tuesday, 2 September 2003 10:44 (twenty years ago) link

I was so broke when I was living in Scotland, I used to pick butts off the pavement and smoke 'em. No wonder I got violently ill for around a week there.

Michael B, Tuesday, 2 September 2003 11:46 (twenty years ago) link

i lived on 2 minute noodles and baked beans once for about 3 weeks.

The Lady Ms Lurex (lucylurex), Tuesday, 2 September 2003 12:20 (twenty years ago) link

dude, I was soooo broke for the last three weeks, and then, between Wednesday and Thursday, I got four fat freelance cheques in my mailbox!

But I was like, calling up my mom to offer to mow her lawn or something. Y'know, just to be nice (wink, wink) and if she should invite me to stay for supper, well, that's just a pleasant coincidence.

Horace Mann (Horace Mann), Tuesday, 2 September 2003 13:55 (twenty years ago) link

but like I sent, now I got paid, so I spit on you poor people.

Horace Mann (Horace Mann), Tuesday, 2 September 2003 13:55 (twenty years ago) link

haven't you people heard of credit cards?

(joking)

hstencil, Tuesday, 2 September 2003 14:39 (twenty years ago) link

I have been approved for a secured credit card hahaha. Movin' on up!

Aaron A., Tuesday, 2 September 2003 14:41 (twenty years ago) link

ive sold most of my cd's and dvd's off

chaki (chaki), Tuesday, 2 September 2003 14:43 (twenty years ago) link

guinea pig med experiments. research study stuff. oh, the boons of living in a major research university!

also, never do drug- or sleep studies. they fuck you up more than any cash benefit, as the conventional wisdom holds.

Kingfish (Kingfish), Tuesday, 2 September 2003 14:47 (twenty years ago) link

hahahaha, despite being broke and continually carrying a balance, my bank just doubled my credit card limit. Hahahaha.
I did actually think the joke was on them for a minute, but then I realized that they basically just doubled their profits on me. Fucking bastards.

Horace Mann (Horace Mann), Tuesday, 2 September 2003 14:51 (twenty years ago) link

Stole produce/noodles/food essentials from the restaurant at which I worked and remained entirely in the red financially for about 4 months straight right after L-dawg's mom moved out. I ate what I could while at work, used what little money I made there paying rent/bills & feeding/clothing the boy; not only was there not anything left over for "miscellaneous" spending, but I needed help (in the form of "please give me some money your son lives at my house remember?" begging-for-child-support-from-his-mom) just to pay the essential bills. Sold hella CDs, my Rhodes electric piano (dumbest thing I ever did), even plasma.

nickalicious (nickalicious), Tuesday, 2 September 2003 15:11 (twenty years ago) link

hahahaha this is the best timed thread ever!!!!!!!!!!!!!

two weeks ago , returning from holiday, i found i had spend the last money of my credit. with my salary at the end o f the month it's getting only slightly above zero, but it will be heavy budgetting the next couple of months before i filled the gap completely and can start with zero at the BEGINNING of the month and built up new savings.

instead spending all of your credit on rent, insurance etc. etc.

i don't have savings.

Erik, Tuesday, 2 September 2003 17:12 (twenty years ago) link

i could have started this thread myself.

Erik, Tuesday, 2 September 2003 17:13 (twenty years ago) link

I've been out of work for almost 2 months now, but strangely I haven't gone broke yet. I've bought records, gone out to dinner, bought a few new things to wear, bought a wedding gift that cost $150.00, paid my rent/bills... I would have thought I'd be flat broke by now, but no. Of course, I WILL be flat broke very soon.

Sean (Sean), Tuesday, 2 September 2003 18:11 (twenty years ago) link

as far as I can tell, the reason you still have money Sean is that you appear to have only eaten once in the last two months. You rock.

Horace Mann (Horace Mann), Tuesday, 2 September 2003 18:13 (twenty years ago) link

Why are you people wasting money on INTERNET BILLS?

Ally C (Ally C), Tuesday, 2 September 2003 18:21 (twenty years ago) link

dude, I'm at work.

Horace Mann (Horace Mann), Tuesday, 2 September 2003 18:24 (twenty years ago) link

at the high school

Horace Mann (Horace Mann), Tuesday, 2 September 2003 18:24 (twenty years ago) link

in the boy's bathroom

Horace Mang (Chris Piuma), Tuesday, 2 September 2003 19:58 (twenty years ago) link

ALLL-LEEEEEE!

Horace Mann (Horace Mann), Tuesday, 2 September 2003 20:01 (twenty years ago) link

i have been broke for about 2 years running now. the worst bit was around this time last year,when i had one packet of pasta in the cupboard and a tiny but of coffee in the container. that was it.( not counting the food i had for my baby son of course, but i couldnt / wouldnt eat that ) i drank weak coffee for 5 days and saved the pasta til i got REALLY starving. i had no petrol in the car ( well, enough to make it to the service station the nest week ), the phone got cut off at that time too, so i had no net access either which made it pretty difficult to stay sane. being alone with an infant, no food, no family and no friends is no fun!
fortunately things are different now.

donna (donna), Tuesday, 2 September 2003 21:18 (twenty years ago) link

the most broke i have ever been was when i first moved to london - i had NO MONEY at all after puttting the deposit down and paying the rent on the very worst apartment i have ever lived in (well, it was one room with a refrigerator from about 1912, a cooker that didn't work and a shower and a... erm... "professional lady" living in the upstairs room). i got to the point where i had £4.22 pence and half a bag of rice to last me 2 weeks and was walking four miles every day into town to look for work. on the way home one day i saw a homeless person begging and gave him my last £1 because i was just sick of trying to hag on to it. it was one of the most cathartic things i have ever done. that night i ended up being fed by the prostitute upstairs as i had bumped into her on the stairwell and she took pity on me. i thought this was as bad as it could get, but then she lent me £50 for wich i was incredibly grateful. the next morning i got a phone call offering me my first big bit of newspaper work and it was at that poin, when i was just about to give up that i became a "real" journalist. it's been downhill ever since.

Dave Stelfox (Dave Stelfox), Tuesday, 2 September 2003 21:41 (twenty years ago) link

I think the lowest I've ever gone was living on meals of french fries once a day (asking for four different sauces to go with my $.75 order in hopes of finding random vitamins) and stealing books (to read, not to sell, at least I'm not a completely senseless bastard)from a small bookstore because the big one was too hard for a novice to hit, or at least a chickenshit novice. I still feel guilty. I'm still a bit averse to fries.

Ann Sterzinger (Ann Sterzinger), Tuesday, 2 September 2003 21:47 (twenty years ago) link

dave that was beautiful.

gabbo giftington (dubplatestyle), Tuesday, 2 September 2003 22:25 (twenty years ago) link

Okay, so I'm a couple hun short of my mortgage payment this month (big shout-outs to my EX-roommate who paid no rent for the past 2 months, who only came home twice for a grand total of 10 hours in those same 2 months, whose cat shat all over my house cuz he was depressed cuz she was nowhere to be found...THANKS!), and I can only get about $20 for my plasma, so, uh...well, any LexingtonKY-area lonely ladies who need some good luvin' and got some $$$ to toss around, lemme know.

I wish I was entirely joking.

nickalicious (nickalicious), Friday, 5 September 2003 18:54 (twenty years ago) link

um what the fuck is up with your ex-roommate, nick? If she didn't pay, call the fuckin' cops on her.

hstencil, Friday, 5 September 2003 18:57 (twenty years ago) link

She gave me a 90 Volvo station wagen in exchange, so ain't really no biggie on the money end. I was just venting cuz I'm freaked out a wee bit.

The thing with her that freaks me out is that she's been slooooowly moving in with this dude that she likes as a friend who is The Creepiest Guy Ever, has told her he's in love with her, she's woken up at 5 am with him laying on her crying. I asked her "why the hell are you moving in over there?" and she said "cuz he'll let me have my cat there, and I can't keep him living here cuz your son's allergic" and I'm like "BUT YOUR CAT IS STILL HERE!!!".

I'm torn between being scared for her and being pissed at her for the way she's treated her cat.

nickalicious (nickalicious), Friday, 5 September 2003 19:17 (twenty years ago) link

bartering for rent, c or d?

hstencil, Friday, 5 September 2003 19:22 (twenty years ago) link

If it had been anything other than a Volvo wagen, I would've said no. But the thing is, I've been absolutely fiending for one o' dem, and it just one day parked it's carcass in my driveway with the title in the seat...how can I say no to the car of my dreams (albeit a little fudged up) plopping right down into my life?

Oh my God, it's like the Volvo is my replacement love-interest. I'm so pathetic. :D

nickalicious (nickalicious), Friday, 5 September 2003 19:27 (twenty years ago) link

I guess if the bank takes back your house you can always live in the car?

Living in a car, c or d?

hstencil, Friday, 5 September 2003 19:29 (twenty years ago) link

I've put off the moment I go truly broke for so long now. It always seemed about to arrive. Now I'm sure it's about to arrive. I owe six grand. I have nothing. I need to find some money in the next few days. And I won't.

Ha! The day after writing this - I'm not joking, the very next day - impossibly, marvellously, I received £2000. Completely unexpected. That's something! It's not everything - I now owe six grand, I have only two. But it's something. So I remove myself from this thread full of shameful glee.

Eyeball Kicks (Eyeball Kicks), Friday, 5 September 2003 20:03 (twenty years ago) link

2000-2001, Queens Road, Peckham: flat shared with college friend gradually losing his grip on sanity, piles of newspaper for chairs, sleeping on a child's fold-up novelty mattress, mainly eating porridge and pasta with marge and herbs stirred in, just broken up with girlfriend, having to pay some money I'd managed to scrounge to buy an actual, real mattress on bills.
2001- June 2003, Coldharbour Lane, Camberwell: rather easier as the local corner shop has '4 packs of instant noodles for £1' deal, offering nourishment and a variety of exciting flavours (crab,mmm) Working for an extremely litigious and blind takeaway owner, having to train his Alsatian on Tuesdays and earning the sum of around £40 a week, ending up owing my landlord nearly £2000 back rent before being saved by the angelic people at Housing Benefit...having to sell 30 or so CDs at MVE and getting 12 quid and a part exchange in return.

Myron Kosloff, Friday, 5 September 2003 20:16 (twenty years ago) link

five years pass...

haven't eaten in 24 hours or 48, depending on whether the $0.59 i found on the floor that went towards frosted donuts counts. can't reach any friends or family for help. rent is paid up through january so no problems there. i was going to go down to The Strand and sell some books and i started to gather all of the ones i could sell up into a bag and then realized that i didn't have $2 for the subway.

Shh! It's NOT Me!, Monday, 22 December 2008 02:44 (fifteen years ago) link

Project based work in December = BROKE.

Whenever I sense money is running out, I run to the store strictly for:

1.) Malt-o-Meal Raisin Bran ($1.99)
2.) Welch's Strawberry Jelly (unless you can tolerate grape, which is cheaper)
3.) 365 Natural Peanut Butter (cheaper than generic store brand)[defended!]
4.) Store brand bread (Fine Fare sells a GIANT loaf for $1.99)
5.) Gallon whole milk (for coffee & cereal)

_______________________________
7.) $15 2 week+ diet plan

Also, offer collateral to borrow close friends unlimited subway card for trips on their off hours

It's the coffee and wine snobbery/vices that ruin me.

365 Whole Bean coffee can be had at $6.66 a lb.

Fucking HUEG box of shitty cheap ass wine can be added to cola for calimocho for weeks.

Giorgio Moderator (PappaWheelie V), Monday, 22 December 2008 03:10 (fifteen years ago) link

yeah i need to invest in some pb&j next time i get some money. the cigarettes are killing me and my budget but they are also excellent appetite suppressants. so i sorta need them more in a way.

Shh! It's NOT Me!, Monday, 22 December 2008 03:15 (fifteen years ago) link

bananas are relatively cheap for the size

❤ⓛⓞⓥⓔ❤ (CaptainLorax), Monday, 22 December 2008 03:32 (fifteen years ago) link

man - its too bad you dont have people who can help you

❤ⓛⓞⓥⓔ❤ (CaptainLorax), Monday, 22 December 2008 03:32 (fifteen years ago) link

Cucumbers are also cheap for the size.

Irate Clown Party (libcrypt), Monday, 22 December 2008 03:36 (fifteen years ago) link

in general i do but i cant reach them right now. all of this shit will be straightened out soon; this is not forever but fuck it sucks when it happens. i had the fucking brilliant idea of moving back to nyc right when my profession goes down the tubes. 4 months of shitty minimum wage labor that was supposed to be supplemented by bonuses that never came while 2 years of savings vanished and then i got downsized. and, i didnt even go out the whole time, both during those two years and since i moved up here. you figure that if you are going to spend 2 years saving $x,000 to move only to see it vanish within 6 months, you might as well drink and buy some fucking records but somehow i managed to go broke eating cheap pizza and staying in.

Shh! It's NOT Me!, Monday, 22 December 2008 03:39 (fifteen years ago) link

the cigarettes are killing me and my budget but they are also excellent appetite suppressants. so i sorta need them more in a way.

you need to switch to rollies

seriously

Tracer Hand, Monday, 22 December 2008 10:36 (fifteen years ago) link

they're half the price, a pack lasts three times as long, and the tobacco is five times better

Tracer Hand, Monday, 22 December 2008 10:36 (fifteen years ago) link

true! thanks! i found a friend to borrow some money from. i will be working again soon. so no problem paying him back. anyways i will go get some loose tobacco and papers today.

Shh! It's NOT Me!, Monday, 22 December 2008 10:39 (fifteen years ago) link

ya kinda waiting for Rev to say 'ok' first!

Ballistic, Saturday, 6 March 2010 18:40 (fourteen years ago) link

you guys

fart and crazy swag (The Reverend), Saturday, 6 March 2010 18:40 (fourteen years ago) link

I love you all

fart and crazy swag (The Reverend), Saturday, 6 March 2010 18:40 (fourteen years ago) link

go ham

fart and crazy swag (The Reverend), Saturday, 6 March 2010 18:41 (fourteen years ago) link

my email is r0dn3yjr33n3athotmaildotcom (no googleproofing)

fart and crazy swag (The Reverend), Saturday, 6 March 2010 18:42 (fourteen years ago) link

oops

fart and crazy swag (The Reverend), Saturday, 6 March 2010 18:42 (fourteen years ago) link

r0dneyjgr33n3athotmaildotcom

fart and crazy swag (The Reverend), Saturday, 6 March 2010 18:42 (fourteen years ago) link

cool. opening new thread

Ballistic, Saturday, 6 March 2010 18:43 (fourteen years ago) link

is there anyway someone could set up a direct "donation" link a la https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=p/xcl/rec/donate-intro-outside

ksh, Saturday, 6 March 2010 18:45 (fourteen years ago) link

i'll look into it

Ballistic, Saturday, 6 March 2010 18:46 (fourteen years ago) link

done

just1n3, Saturday, 6 March 2010 18:47 (fourteen years ago) link

whoa sweet where is it

Ballistic, Saturday, 6 March 2010 18:49 (fourteen years ago) link

?

ksh, Saturday, 6 March 2010 19:05 (fourteen years ago) link

ooooooo....k. I think me just gonna put his email address in there for now.

Ballistic, Saturday, 6 March 2010 19:11 (fourteen years ago) link

rev you're a bro. it sucks to see you having such a rough go of it

carne asada, Saturday, 6 March 2010 19:12 (fourteen years ago) link

Ballistic started the thread: Help The Reverend pay rent, get crunk, and bribe strippers...2010 rolling HELP A FELLOW ILX0R thread....

ksh, Saturday, 6 March 2010 19:18 (fourteen years ago) link

btw, at times like these i always find a helpful thought is that this will be good for at least half a chapter in your memoirs (best-selling obv) in 30 years' time

لوووووووووووووووووووول (lex pretend), Saturday, 6 March 2010 20:02 (fourteen years ago) link

I like that thought.

fart and crazy swag (The Reverend), Saturday, 6 March 2010 20:09 (fourteen years ago) link

make sure to embellish a few details a la Vanilla Ice

Ballistic, Saturday, 6 March 2010 21:07 (fourteen years ago) link

Hey yeah fwiw this is what it was like for me when I moved away from home the first time. It fucking sucks, but if I have any advice, it's don't denigrate yourself as a person for being broke. That makes shit so much worse than it has to be, tho I know it's easier said than done. Also don't sell your laptop bcz I bet it'd be a long time 'til you could get another one. I can't help out w/$$$ right now but I'm always here to listen if you want to vent.

How to Make an American Quit (Abbott), Sunday, 7 March 2010 04:11 (fourteen years ago) link

^^^^^^^^ otm

Ballistic, Sunday, 7 March 2010 06:48 (fourteen years ago) link

seven months pass...

holy fuck

Aerosol, Thursday, 7 October 2010 15:25 (thirteen years ago) link

two years pass...

Holy shit i didnt think id been paid but i had, my credit card bill just wiped it out. :o

Pitta and pasta fortnight ahoy

i gave ten pounds and all i got was a lousy * (darraghmac), Friday, 10 May 2013 23:56 (eleven years ago) link

Get rid of your credit card, seriously, best decision I ever made

Le Bateau Ivre, Friday, 10 May 2013 23:58 (eleven years ago) link

sure but it could be worse you could be jeff hannemann formerly of slayer now dead

Valuable insights itt

i gave ten pounds and all i got was a lousy * (darraghmac), Friday, 10 May 2013 23:59 (eleven years ago) link

Or that Jesus feller. He sure had no picknick. With those nails and the cross and all

xp

Le Bateau Ivre, Friday, 10 May 2013 23:59 (eleven years ago) link

I might well do that lbi, but its handy for web and eh eating during rent week.

i gave ten pounds and all i got was a lousy * (darraghmac), Saturday, 11 May 2013 00:00 (eleven years ago) link

Don't you have a debit card for that? We Dutch dunna have it, but I've always been amazed at the power of a debit card that isn't a credit card, and you can still use it to order whatever you like on the web etc?

Le Bateau Ivre, Saturday, 11 May 2013 00:01 (eleven years ago) link

itt irish wastrel living on credit learns about fiscal discipline from the deutsch

Payday: the 15th

In my bank acct: 46 usd

:/

2 huxtables and a sousaphone (Jon Lewis), Saturday, 11 May 2013 00:02 (eleven years ago) link

Nakh otm

Ah well, theres always the overdraft

Debit card isnt too widely accepted ime

i gave ten pounds and all i got was a lousy * (darraghmac), Saturday, 11 May 2013 00:04 (eleven years ago) link

Oh hey jon, want a pitta?

i gave ten pounds and all i got was a lousy * (darraghmac), Saturday, 11 May 2013 00:05 (eleven years ago) link

If the debit card has master or visa on it, it's as widely accepted as credit cards iirc

I've no experience with debit cards. They still seems like a magical, exotic thing to me. Wish we had them here.

Le Bateau Ivre, Saturday, 11 May 2013 00:07 (eleven years ago) link

Pitta and pasta ain't too bad, as long as you don't eat them at the same time tbh

Le Bateau Ivre, Saturday, 11 May 2013 00:07 (eleven years ago) link

I never check my balance bc its too depressing. I'd rather not know most of the time. This causes me to overdraft a lot.

Treeship, Saturday, 11 May 2013 00:08 (eleven years ago) link

Tbf the cupboard/fridge/freezer are stocked and commute is covered, locking it down will require only a modicum of discipline.

otoh im goin to spain in a fortnight and the car needs taxin

i gave ten pounds and all i got was a lousy * (darraghmac), Saturday, 11 May 2013 00:10 (eleven years ago) link

^^ weak. I never check my balance either, but then I have an account on which I can't overdraft. *That* is living on the edge baby. That awful exciting fear at the till if I still have dough on my account etc #YOLO

xp

Le Bateau Ivre, Saturday, 11 May 2013 00:11 (eleven years ago) link

You driving to Spain Deems? Awesome!

Le Bateau Ivre, Saturday, 11 May 2013 00:12 (eleven years ago) link

Heh no! Merely listing expenditures as they loom.

i gave ten pounds and all i got was a lousy * (darraghmac), Saturday, 11 May 2013 00:13 (eleven years ago) link

I never check my balance bc its too depressing. I'd rather not know most of the time. This causes me to overdraft a lot.

― Treeship, Friday, May 10, 2013 5:08 PM (5 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

yup

the white queen and her caustic judgments (difficult listening hour), Saturday, 11 May 2013 00:16 (eleven years ago) link

Lol ok. Shame though, it's a nice drive down! Car expenditures = meh though tbh

Le Bateau Ivre, Saturday, 11 May 2013 00:17 (eleven years ago) link

one month passes...

today i hit the level of money at which i can no longer take out any money

flopson, Tuesday, 25 June 2013 05:16 (ten years ago) link

ouch. when are you getting paid again? if you are going to starve i can paypal you a very small amount of money. i am also broke though, i have like $500 and my job ended for now because it is at a school.

Treeship, Tuesday, 25 June 2013 05:20 (ten years ago) link

(xp) been there.

paula deezen (get bent), Tuesday, 25 June 2013 05:20 (ten years ago) link

thanks treeship, i'll be ok

flopson, Tuesday, 25 June 2013 05:26 (ten years ago) link

np. sorry if that was a weird thing to offer.

Treeship, Tuesday, 25 June 2013 05:32 (ten years ago) link

not at all, very sweet of you. but i've worked it out so that i won't starve anytime soon

flopson, Tuesday, 25 June 2013 05:38 (ten years ago) link

cool

Treeship, Tuesday, 25 June 2013 05:41 (ten years ago) link

four years pass...

four meals in a row of pasta and four meals in a row of chili-in-tortillas from 38 dollars of groceries i bought yesterday should get me through until tuesday. i have to get a little gas, plus a meal or two and some snacks from the co-op should be covered by the 68 dollars i have left. in my experience most of the battle of making a dollar stretch is the time it takes to plan it out so you don't fuck up and make it worse. and the mind game / stress regulation of feeling boxed in.

i want to get cancer (map), Friday, 22 June 2018 23:31 (five years ago) link


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