How I Survived Two Weeks in Poverty

6 tips on dealing with no money

Luckily, I didn’t go homeless, but was close! Photo by John Moeses Bauan on Unsplash

In 2015, I lived in poverty. I just didn’t know this until I read this article. Thanks Livvy Skelton-Price!

The story of how I got there is for another time, but the quick version is as follows:

• I was an unemployed student. The Australian government does not give unemployment assistance to students, but they cover the fee with low-interest loans which is nice.
• I was overconfident in my ability to find a job and careless with spending.
• I eventually landed a job at a bank, but I started on payday so I had go two weeks being broke. I couldn’t make rent, eat out, buy anything more than instant noodles or even pay for public transport.

But I was lucky. I was lucky because I landed a job just in time and knew that money would come… soon.

That doesn’t mean I wasn’t stressed though!

So here’s what I did to survive those two weeks of poverty:

Tips to survive poverty

It’s funny how adaptable humans are. I went from a brat living with my parents with no care about money to penny-pinching and cutting corners in less than four months.