People who have $0 disposable income - how come?

I'm 19, living with my parents and I don't have a job (what must change quickly if I'm to move to the USA :/). Probobly almost every answer with ''0$ income'' is from folks under 18 and students living with their family.

I'm disabled and unable to work, I bought my games by watching youtube videos on sites for months all day to get steam gift cards then buy games on sale then I joined steamgifts, I only enter giveways I can play so my library have more games to play.

Can I write I prefer not to work even though I do have a full time job and decent DI?

Cause really... I DO prefer not to. 100%

I remember the time when my brother and I saved up the pocket money for one or two whole months to buy games which were on offer(10 to 15 bucks).
Nowadays, you can get a couple of games in bundles for that.
My monthly limit for games is somewhere between 15-20 USD per month, but usually I try to keep my spending below that.
I also was one of those poor college students who really had to struggle to make ends meet, that is why I like to keep my recurrent spendings at a low level.

Sysadmin student here! T, my most "difficult" in terms of time studies I've ever done, we have to study a lot, at least now that we are on the beginning of the subjects, killing 150 pages in two weeks and already with exams, so thats a 0€ income, that may go down with the school monthly fees (government here doesn't give a * for their society so it ends in more money for them, less for us, till we can start working properly.

In resume : Student without time to work for money.

I live in Argentina. Now one of the worst economies of the world.
And I'm a highschool teacher and independent theater actor.

I also consider that a person wich their disposable income depends on buying a game, go see a movie or buy a cup of coffee in McDonald's doesn't really have disposable income.

I'm really surprised at the low numbers for still in school.

nice poll
but yeah sometimes money is rare

I got sacked for not signing a new contract that cut my pay by 20%

I got my college degree at the end of September and haven't found a job yet. Anyone searching for a PHP programmer? ;D Luckily I do have enough savings to last me for a long while at least.

Last year in University, have no time for a job. I really prefer to focus on good grades since the scholarships are relatively good. The funny thing is that in Bulgaria, if you work "shitty summer job" during your studies you would probably end up saving less than with scholarships, at least that is what I think.

I'm the live-in caregiver for my stroke-prone mother and do freelance editing on the side. Between her disability to pay for her meds, insurance, and the some of the bills, and the small amount of money I get editing (when there's work, anyway) we manage to cover everything with nothing left over at the end of the month. tbh the only way I get money for games is to do SwagBucks and use the payouts from there for Humble Monthly, bundles, etc. Lately have been dumping the money into buying the dog food though because the editing work has dried up for the upcoming holidays, so /shrug.

Depression and anxiety are a bitch ;)

Between jobs. Had a job last year that allowed me to have better games for my Cake Factory event than I'd originally planned, which was nice. Otherwise, I need to budget for bills, family gifts, fuel (without a job, that's a relatively minor expense at about $50 every two or three months), and most importantly... food. I consider a $3 meal a decent value, anything around $5-6 better be damn good. Canned soups and pasta are a good value. Bag of flour to make my own bread and tortillas is an even better value.

Small bits of income every now and then (right now, from house-sitting as my parents are moving) help out a lot, and do keep me buying games for myself as well, through bundles and sales. My Humble Monthly runs out in April. Maybe I'll use Christmas money for another year, and maybe not, seeing how Humble's been all over the map this past year.

I do have movie gift passes from years ago, but rarely go to the movies anyway. The gf has a Netflix account, and that works just fine. If I end up drinking while out, or getting a nice meal, that's usually her treat as well (these are things that used to be me treating her a few years ago, but I'm definitely feeling guilty about it lately). And it's much more affordable to stay at home if drinking is involved.

My main gaming PC, apart from a 750TI card is literally ten years old now. I do have an Intel NUC (mini PC) and 4-bay NAS that I got immediately after leaving my last decent-paying job a few years ago. But a new gaming PC is something I'm long overdue in saving up for.

If ultimate financial tragedies befell me, I also have a safety net in a couple of retirement accounts, but that's a very last resort as a significant portion of that gets deducted if you take money out before retirement age. I'd like to be back on my feet enough to be able to make annual contributions to my IRAs again. In the mid 2000s, I was always able to make the maximum allowed contribution. At that time, I also estimated that if the world's wealth was distributed evenly across every person, everyone would have about $5500. I'd also like to be able to get back to that point. As another user mentioned, social anxiety sucks! :D But I definitely need to just find employment again. And I'm thankful that my health is relatively okay.

I have 0 income at the moment and it's been like this for a couple of months.

Pretty much worked as a freelancer of sorts. My last business was very successful in a way that it left me with a substantial amount which is enough for me to pay my bills and live according to my needs for a while.
However, I am on another project at the moment and am planning of getting a full time job as a programmer sometime next year. Wish me luck ;)

Lives as a student
Family leaves
Goes through final payments
Luckily enough has friends that support him.
Thank god for them

I've never understood why its a bad thing to be living with your parents. Its what I do and its what I decided to do too. I guess its a cultural thing too. Being ethnic chinese, living/caring for your parents is filial piety. From young, I've been taught so and reminded by my 2 elder sisters. Although personally, I think its the duty of all children but since I am the only male in the family, I am responsible in my culture to take over the family.

After my polytechnic studies(20s), i came to one of my crossroads whether I want to fulfill continuing to live with my parents or to move out and live by myself, I've talked to many friends of the same age and at opportunity with someone older with more experience socially about it. I was struggling with living with my parents at that point as I feel detached from my family, emotionally we are not linked. Nothing more than strangers we call family.

In the end, I decide against it and continued to struggle, to this day i must add. Since we are a family, we have to bear with each other's mistake. Since we are family we have to learn and change each other's bad habits. All in all living together is never easy. Its easier to have a good relation if you do not see each other often and you miss each other. Living together with my parents taught me alot about communication. How to talk to others, how to grab someone's attention, how to be a listening ear, how to at times exert your voice although you are in a lower position to speak.

I would have been much happier and carefree if I lived by myself tbh. I chose not to. Is my quality of life great, nope. Is this happiness? Perhaps not to many but I find my own happiness when I can. And if anyone think I am saying this as though I am proving to be a filial person. From my view, i am really not as I have my share of disappoints that is against them. Feeling positive and happy each day is more important than anything. If I ever want to complain or compare, I just tell myself that at least I do not live in a warzone where chaos is everywhere and I do not even have to time to thing about next.

About income, I'll say I have money for things that I want if I want to though not much but I am a simple person. Budgeting is the way I go and using the forums here, decide on the value of the bundles(great value for money) I buy. Which at times, i get the reply that its only a $1, its only $12!!! However, imo, budgeting starts small, if you look from each dollar you spent, its a dollar you save. I use what I have and what "I can have" if not I will not have it.

In the last couple of years, I manage to in a way manage the finance of my parents. Thus, I have been budgeting and at times do groceries for the family. Things like rice, washing detergents well, I am in charge of laundry and cleanliness basically Lol. Actually, I am in charge of taking care of my parents where I can. haha

Inspired by @darktribble's comment, I remembering I started my saving habit from young. Since the family has a less than moderate income. I used to throw tantrums like all kids whom we all want new toys not knowing the money is better spent on food. Cry, beg, roll, just hoping to get a soft toy. After awhile I realised i shouldn't do so. So I was in primary school and I see that my classmates have new erasers that has flags printed on it and they'll play a game called "eraser wrestling". Being envious, I skipped my break and while others are eating, I'll just be outside of the canteen and wait for others to finish. Slowly with the money I saved, I bought erasers, metallic rulers and mechanical pencils. Which were the luxury items for me at that age. Hahaha
Best wishes for everyone and Thank you to anyone whom has the patience to read this long post. Cheerios~

What is this thing called monies TT

I do have disposable income, but because i'm a nervous wreck I put it In my savings account for emergencys. (and in books and videogames.)

I'm disabled since birth and can't work, so I don't have any income. I have a disability pension but don't know if you can call it "an income" though. It's not much but at least it's somethng..

Disability sucks... in every way here. They kick you when you're already down, so if I'm lucky down the road I may get up to ... $725 or something (if I ever actually get SSI and rent is included, otherwise more like $500) and also many restrictions - can't have over $2k in total assets, or in cash, can't... do a lot of things. Anyway, the SSI is based on the 1970's income; the dollar has 6x more buying power, but we don't get 6x more money... It's pretty sad... Can't get a home even with what I make - GA for now, around $210 a month.

So, yeah, if I wasn't staying somewhere for a while now, I'd have no money basically. Only doctors all the time for me as my job, and jumping through hoops to try to get anywhere is a full-time job - much harder work than I ever had with manual labor or retail jobs... by far, since I'm constantly working with no breaks due to my constant disabling conditions from lyme and mycoplasma among other things. The pancreatic insufficiency caused me to have osteoporosis before I was age 30 even... because of lack of nutrients (fat soluble ones: A, D, E, K). Made me sicker over time from the loss of bone and loss of important nutrients in my body - not getting absorbed at a high % when I did eat. No breaks, no retirement, no weekends, only constant overtime here. It's a huge burden to bear, and I'd never wish it on anybody. I was recently denied disability even though it validates that I do have 9 seriously disabling conditions. They want people like me working in America? No wonder our products suck ass nowadays... stupid people.

I just try to get by best I can. I can't save up money or I'll get called out for trying to make something out of myself - they want to keep you down here... and bust your ass up in the process as much as possible. A shame, since it's already harder for a sick person as is... feeling like they have the flu almost 24/7 - and still having to do things, when others rest when they get sick with the flu, and it is acceptable + theirs will go away. I will stop ranting. Something good will come about - I will not give up, I will stay positive about my future, and I won't let them ever win. They want me to give up, but that makes me stronger... Sorry for all the ranting - it is unimaginable how nightmarish this side of life can be though.

-Finished Higher Diploma
-Got several job offers
-Decided to go to University instead
-Fresh graduate
-Applied for 20+ jobs
-0 offers

View attached image.

Luckily I am not in the situation anymore but I had been evicted by a super douche landlord who didn't want to wait for our lease to be out so he lied, and claimed we damaged the apartment to force an eviction. He must have paid the right people off because it happened super quick...
We later learned he wanted us out because he needed a place to go because his wife caught him cheating with a younger girl. Either way not having a permanent address makes it super difficult for places to hire you... But I got lucky that a store was unlucky, and needed people.