People who have $0 disposable income - how come?

I'm still a university student dependent on my parents, most of my gaming budget comes from spending money they give me and money from my past part-time jobs. Right now I'm jobless and have to focus on studying so I have no income, hopefully it will change in a few months.

I work for room and board and little else on a ranch. I fill my time with things that make me happy and what little extra I can manage to scrape together, I tend to repay any kindness bestowed upon me by a plethora of people that have little to no business being as gracious or as generous as they have been towards me. I am content.

Not 0 dollars disposable income, but pretty low. I am disabled and financially support a parent who's been unemployed for a few years. I work part time remotely from home and receive disability, as my illnesses do not make me very employable. I've never not been disabled, but it got worse when I was a teenager and again when I hit 20. Games are actually an affordable hobby for me because I live in a high income country. Rent, transportation, internet, and such are all expensive. Going out for coffee or a movie, or buying bus tickets etc is much more expensive than buying a bundle.

I have an alcohol problem, most of my money goes to alcohol. Also i prefer to feed stray cats. It is more feasible than gifting because of my currency and filling their small bellies are definitely more important.

I can't gift from steam to most countries because of region restrictions and if i try to buy bundles (not a dollar ones) from fanatical or humble it is not feasible. Also star deals from fanatical, even with discount of 75% is expensive than full price on steam lol. So as you can see i buy and gift dollar bundles.

Not 0 dollars disposable here since i relocate to another country to get a better job, but lately I've been donating more to charities and supporting local ones when possible, rather than buying games for me or to gift (still have backlogs for both situations anyway).

I'm a college student and don't have time for a job

Yep that is me, but I had time to generate income from selling cards in steam community market then trade that for bundle leftovers and some dollar bundles. Even someone with zero income can contribute if they try a little.

I'd comment about it but that costs precious electricity that I need to save. :^)

More seriously, though. In my case, I'm just unemployed and studying my ass off to try and land a government job. Unemployment rate (only counts people in active job hunting) is around 15%, GDP growth and job creation are nearly none even with (still) growing population, underemployment rate (unemployment itself, people who gave up on job hunting, people who want to work more hours than they do, etc) is like 25%, my age range has an unemployment rate of about 25% and an even higher underemployment rate... Also, our government has ballooned to consuming a third of our GDP in taxes and it's broken and running a huge primary deficit (and pretty big interest rates on our explosively growing debt), and as a result our economy isn't giving any signs of recovery. Basically, everything is fucked. I have the luck of being able to sponge off my parents for a while longer, so I'm being kept alive and healthy, but they're not about to give me spending money and I'm not earning any. Welcome to Brazil, which seemed like it could into space a decade ago (and put Poland to shame while at that) but only could into pretty fireworks. I'll let you into a secret: those fireworks are actually the bodies and souls of our people being set ablaze, but you can't tell that from a fireworks-viewing distance. ;)

And for a lol, check out what I said here.

I could have an income if I wanted to but I am under the "still in school" category and am not looking for employment now :)

for me i just try to pay my bill every month, and after that all go to eat and gas for go to work ^^

I've been looking for a job for over a year now. Can't seem to find one. Those who'd hire me either pay a little above minimum wage (250€, sometimes 300€) which is ridiculous since I can earn more than that sitting at home, or they ask you to work 50-60h/week. Also if I ever get insured, I'll have to pay back my student loan (about 80€ per month for some years) and I can't really survive with 170€. No human can. I live in a shithole.

Is the proportion of people who are disabled in this forum, that high?
I guess this is for another poll, but I'd be curious to know how many are severe enough to keep people from working, vs how many just make it difficult enough that the social safety nets allow them to get by without needing to work.

Same with the mental illness, I don't know if it's just a visibility thing, but it sounds like a crazy amount of people have an anxiety disorder, or believe they must have one. Is it usually minor and only in the extremes people realize/decide that they can't work?

I guess I'm curious about how different people cope with similar issues and what makes some push themselves in spite of them, where others would choose to have a somewhat easier life (assuming the option is there). I have seen people resign themselves where others with seemingly worse lots have persevered; and, not being particularly strongwilled, I find that admirable and wish some of that mentality to make the best of things could be easier to imprint on everyone.
Good example

I'm about to graduate and looking for a job.

No job, no money ;-; #SadLife

I have damage to my spinal cord and cns from a fall down three flights of stairs at work and a car accident to an appointment three days later (drunk driver hit passenger's side where I was). My workplace claimed the car accident caused the damage, while the car insurance companies claim the workplace accident was the trigger, so I got nothing but debt from anyone involved. With the physical disability, severe chronic depression, and severe generalized anxiety, I am not fit for any type of work.

I now live on a fixed income for disability in the US. My rent and food alone cost more than the fixed income. Luckily, I do receive additional help from outside sources to make up for the rest of the living expenses, but those outside sources don't cover "fun". At least internet is included in my rent. I rely on f2p games, anime, and giveaways for recreation. I cannot say it is the most pleasant experience in the world, but I tell myself that there are many people who have it much worse than I do.

Hey guys, what's the price for selling a kidney?

Crimson Crusader and CompanyⓇ has an ongoing campaign against poor people. All donators to the cause will receive a valuable painting of an elitist duck riding a high horse. 🐴

Note that:

• All previous crusades against badge collectors, card idlers, cheap games, +1 collectors, achievement collectors and so on, were very successful. Horse is getting higher and higher.
• All collected money will go to AAA games and will be distributed among members of the Crimson Crusader and CompanyⓇ private steam groups, limited to 20-30 people as always.
• Card idling is strictly forbidden except for those who can idle and then delete the game from their library to cover their tracks.

And remember: We love ducks! 💙
.

I'm 18 and just about to finish high school. I give piano lessons.

I took a massive paycut to join a startup in the hope of gaining more job satisfaction and hopefully some larger earnings in 18-24 months time. Until that happens though expenses far outstrip income and I'm using life savings to make up the difference when the monthly bills arrive.

i'm student and just studying a lot for getting scholarships every semester (70$ per month). When i wanna some cash i'm helping with secondhand stuff in clothing stores (unpacking and sorting things). I don't touch my scholarships cause they may be helpful in da future (at least i need to prepare for the moving to another house). To be honest i'm scared of living on my own but it's time to grow up :^(

in my country, minimum wage means you're about half-way up to the poverty line. I know people working two, sometimes three jobs, just to make ends meet.

I have a job but only get paid when it's done.

Well, I'm from Venezuela, and also a student, so getting $ is really hard.
However, I'm using free time on a site to earn money, Hivework
$4 in the last 2 weeks, maybe a little more

Cocaine and whores

My heart is bad and I'm missing a foot and my leg isn't far behind. Disability barely pays the bills. When I joined this site I was still healthy and had a job and could give away games. Now it's a rare occurrence but I do what I can.

I'm a full-time college student looking for a part-time job at the moment.

Uncureable illness = mostly no job or only bad paid ones (but better that then nothing).

I found the bread discussion in this thread very interesting. Never thought that can be a reason for a discussion :-D