What do you do when you’re broke?
You guys know that one of the topics I enjoy writing about here on the blog is frugal living. No matter your financial situation, frugal living to some extent is always wise.
But today’s post isn’t just about frugal living. Today’s post is about what to do when you hit a especially rough time financially – when you’re tightening your belt, scraping the bottom of the barrel, struggling to make ends meet . . . you get the picture.
Perhaps you find yourself reevaluating all your regular expenses to see if there’s anything else you can possibly cut; checking your bank account to make sure there’s going to be enough in there to pay rent; passing up on those really good sales on kids’ clothes because you can’t afford to buy ahead, even though it would save you money in the long run.
If any of the above paragraph describes your life right now, this post is for you.
Why can I write about this topic? Because I’ve been there, and I get it.
It’s no fun being broke, but there are some steps that you can and should take if you find yourself in this type of situation.
So, let’s jump right into it!
{This blog post contains affiliate links. For more information see my disclosure statement.}
5 Smart Things to Do When You’re Broke
1. Re-evaluate everything on your budget
Pull out your budget and go through it line by line (with your spouse if you’re married). Be ruthless!
If you’re truly broke, you need to be cutthroat with that budget. Everything that’s not essential needs to go!
Unnecessary expenses are things like subscriptions (and wow there are a million of them these days), regular eating out, gym memberships, that fancy coffee you like to get, etc. Door Dash? Manicures? Fancy car-wash? No more!
You can also likely do without a clothing budget for quite for awhile (I know, I know, deep breaths) especially if you don’t have kids. If you absolutely must buy more clothes, make that budget category much slimmer and shop secondhand.
2. Choose simple, cheap meals
It is possible to lower your food budget and still eat well. The key is simplifying your grocery list and figuring out the best groceries to buy when you’re broke.
Rice is your new best friend. Beef is out, chicken is in. A bag of carrots and a bag of apples will go a lot farther than some of the “fancier” fruits and veggies.
Something important to remember when it comes to food (and many other areas) is that variety is a luxury, not a necessity.
For example, you don’t need to have a different kind of meat for every dinner – buy a whole chicken and use it for multiple meals. Cook up a big pot of beans and see how many different meals you can make around beans.
The same thing goes for snacks – you don’t need a huge variety on hand (and snack-type foods are one category that will really run up the food budget fast if you’re not careful!)
Check out my YouTube channel for more content about feeding your family without breaking the bank!
3. Shop around to lower your bills
Shop around a bit for your internet, electricity, phone, insurance, etc. Don’t stick with what you have just because you’ve always had it.
I know that here in Texas you can go to PowerToChoose.org to compare electricity companies and choose the best rate. Loyalty to one company is great, but it won’t pay to keep the electricity on.
It’s also worth calling your current provider and asking for a better deal. My husband did this recently with our internet and they gave him great deal. It never hurts to ask!
4. Brainstorm ways to increase your income
You can only cut your budget so much. At some point, all that’s left are the absolute essentials that you cannot cut.
If this is where you find yourself, you don’t have a spending problem, you have an income problem. It’s time to start brainstorming some ways to add to your income!
We found ourselves in this place back at the beginning of 2019. Pablo was out of a steady job (although very actively looking for one) and things were quite tight financially. It was at this point that I stepped out of my comfort zone and applied to teach for VIPKID. Teaching English online wasn’t something I’d ever expected to do, but it was the perfect job for that time of life when we really needed the extra income.
While teaching English online is not something I’m still currently doing, it was a huge help for us at the time (and a really great experience for me in putting myself out there and trying something new!)
Whether or not teaching online is right for you, there are lots of different things you can do to bring in extra cash. Read more of my ideas for making money at home here.
5. Practice contentment
I know, this probably isn’t the advice that you came here looking for, but hear me out!
The truth is that we don’t need as much as we think we do. It’s so easy to look at what everyone else has (especially these days when we can see it all on social media) and we start getting discontent. We wonder why others seem so much farther down the path than we are.
I’m not saying that we should be content to sit on our backsides and do nothing. Financial security is an important goal that everyone should work towards. But everyone’s journey is different, so don’t waste mental space wishing you had what someone else has.
Paul said in Philippians 4:11 “I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content” and this is what we should aim for.
Helpful Resources for Financial Hard Times
Books:
More Than Just Making It by Erin Odom
The Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey 
Online Resources
EveryDollar (for budgeting)
Also, be sure to check out the frugal living section of this blog! I add new content regularly. 🙂
