My friend and her house-hold problems

I try to keep my nose out of other people’s business but I’m very concerned for a friend of mine. She’s having a lot of problems at home. You see, she’s FAR from rich… she pretty much has nothing. The money her parents make usually goes to just bills her dad has gotten the family DEEP in debt and food. My friend very rarely gets new clothes. She has to wear stuff even though she doesn’t like it anymore or it’s starting to rip. She only has 1 long sleeve shirt and it’s getting small holes around the sleeves, 1 hoodie which is also getting a little tattered, 1 pair of pants she actually likes, a couple short sleeve shirts would have 3-4 but 1 is a bit too small. And she only has one pair of shoes which are getting pretty bad. I feel REALLY bad for her. She’s also upset over the fact that she’s NEVER had her own money. She’s never had an allowance or anything like that once in her life. She’s really down about this since she’ll be 18. She’s unhappy that she can’t help her loved ones, she’s unhappy that she can’t afford the things she wants and needs… she’s unhappy about a lot of stuff but I have no clue what to tell her. She’s talked to her parents about it, but they just tell her to shut up or it starts a big fight. She can’t get a job because not really any places around here are highering and she’d have no way to get there. And I’ve been to her house before, I try to pretend I don’t notice because I don’t want to hurt her feelings anymore but it’s not great either. The bathroom REALLY needs re-done badly. And she HATES her room. She’s had the same carpet since she was really young and she no longer likes the color. She only has 1 set of bed sheets and she doesn’t have a closet or even a dresser. She had a dresser, but it was really old and broke. She can no longer use it so she has to use her clothes basket to keep what little clothes she has in. She uses a plastic bag for dirty stuff. I honestly feel really really bad about this but I really don’t know what I should do.

Does anyone have any advice on what I should do or say?

Answer #1

Yeah, this would be a tough situation from a friends point of view. She will be 18 soon? Has she applie to any colleges or financial aid!? Sounds like she is a perfect candidate for financial aid, the type of student the grants were initially made for. I don’t think it too late to apply for next fall she could live in the dorms and maybe get a PT job, and have her own money. It would give her a chance for her to get her education, which in turn (depending on the field she goes into) can lead her into a higher paying job and she could help her family some. Is she interest in college!

There’s really not much else I can think of that you can suggest without feeling “buttinsky”. you can innocently start talking about college and grants(which you never have to pay back) and give her “ideas” without her really knowing it. Good luck!!! {=

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