<prompt> Human: Previous post: Hi guys,Thank you for showing so much compassion to me when I was in distress. I know its been a while, but I feel like I owe you all a response. Against all the doctorss estimates, my mother is not only still alive but happy too. Because we were sent to an experienced neurosurgeon, he was able to remove 99 of the tumor and although weve had a very bumpy road to recovery since then, I am happy to say that things are not nearly as bad as they could have been. Every doctor is still sure the cancer will kill her sometime, but for now, I have my mom back. I believe her unlikely survival is not due to luck. If you have a family member facing severe illness, this is for you: the drive to a higher quality care center for treatment is always, always worth it in SO. MANY. WAYS. I also learned insurance likes to take advantage of terminal patients but if you inform your doctors they can help get things paid for. Research clinical trials going on in your state and pick the one with the best outcomes. Finally, join a community online and look for survivor stories.My mother is too ill to discuss finances often, but my attempts at reducing our spending have often been badly met. She says she worked all of her life to get our savings and that she gets to decide what to do with it, even if it means we have negative net income. We used to have a high income and have tendencies to spend as if we still are receiving high income. I decided that although I can lightly encourage financial responsibility, it still is ultimately her money and that any interventions I make for my family have to not hurt our quality of life. We have life insurance and it will give us enough to live on until we can get jobs. I successfully got into a college near my hometown and eventually moved my family there. Financially, we are not thriving, but we are going to be okay. I do not expect to be homeless even if when I look at the numbers our expenses are still far more than our income. I still have trouble finding resources, being new to low-income life. If you guys have any tips for reducing expenses, Id love to hear them. Our utilities are subsidized and we receive social security income, but it doesnt cover her expensive supplements, treatments, expensive shopping habits, and we have much higher food expenses than normal because of special diets and lack of cooking ability. Thank you again!  <response>: Working on cooking, itll save you a ton. Watch videos, read recipes, etc. Seriously, eating out or take out is not going to help anyone save money.Try to curb those spending habits whenif you can. Those two things will give you the most bang for your buck. 