Woman With $3.82 In Her Bank Account Finds A Way To Make Enough Money To Survive The Rest Of The Day
It took hope and resourceful thinking to make it through.
tommaso79 / Canva Pro A woman explained the extremely stress-inducing trials and tribulations of having a low bank account in a series of TikTok posts, revealing just how far community care can go.
A woman with $3.82 in her bank account found a way to make enough money to survive for the rest of the day.
The unnamed woman shared her economic saga, saying, “I woke up this morning with $3.82 in my bank account, I’ve never been that low since I was in high school.”
“I was freaking out because I knew I had to meet with people to pick up the free stuff in my unit, and it was 14 miles away,” she continued. “I know when I went to sleep, I only had 52 miles on my tank,” she explained. “So, I get in the car and get here… when I get back in the car, I only have, like, 37 miles on my tank.”
She did the mental math, trying to figure out how to get gas in her car with only $3.82 cents in her bank account.
“How am I gonna make money to survive the rest of the day or the rest of the week?” she asked herself, considering various ways to make ends meet in a drastic situation.
She came up with an idea to make enough money to put gas in her car, which would let her get through the day.
“If I can get two rides on Uber for $4 each, then, you know, they’ll give me at least $10 all together for gas,” she said. “And, lo and behold, Lord Almighty, Muhammed, Buddha, whatever, because I got 2 rides with 20 miles left in my tank.”
“When my car goes below 25, it won’t tell me how many miles I have left, it just says, ‘low,’ so I’m like, watching the little red line, hoping my car won’t stop, but I was able to make $7.50, after all the taxes and whatever … so I was able to get $10, I got 140 miles now.”
She detailed other ways the universe came through for her, explaining that she sold a product on eBay for $200, then sold some more products for $200. She explained what she saw as the point of her post, saying that sometimes your day can start off in a low place, and “you don’t know what the game plan is,” yet sometimes, the world operates in a way where you end up being taken care of.
“I give up and I see what happens,” she said. “Clearly, there’s someone looking out for me.”
She posted a follow-up video saying how surprised she was by the supportive comments she received from followers and reiterated why she posted the original video in the first place.
“The whole point of the video wasn’t to whine about my situation,” she said. “It was to understand what happened and figure out a solution for yourself, and have the motivation and inspiration to make it another day.”
People offered to send her money, which she declined, not because of it being 'a pride thing,' but because she wanted to pay that generosity forward.
“I would rather you take that money and go buy a hot meal for a homeless person, because it’s 18 degrees here in Austin,” she shared, before describing the way she planned to pay it forward herself.
Photo: Julia M. Cameron / Pexels
With “the little bit of money I made yesterday, I am actually going to go to the Salvation Army and Goodwill and Walmart and see if I can buy thermals and blankets, because I’m pretty sure they can’t all fit in the shelters.
She ended her post with a kind call-to-action, saying, “If you can go out and just buy them a hot meal or something, that would make me a lot happier” than having money sent to her directly.
Supporting others in need can inspire others.
Most of us have experienced or will experience at least one moment in our lives where we struggle to get through a day, where we’re not sure how to afford food, gas, or rent, or any basic necessity that’s essential to our survival. It's these times of struggle that can be a reminder how important it is to support others who may be struggling.
It's easy to get caught in the bubble of your own daily grind, but as this woman’s story shows, staying hopeful and resourceful in times of trouble is one way to make it through. It's also a call-to-action that sometimes all it takes is one tank of gas, or one extra blanket, or one warm meal, to give someone the leg-up they need to make it through the day.
Alexandra Blogier is a writer on YourTango's news and entertainment team. She covers social issues, pop culture, and all things to do with the entertainment industry.