<prompt> Human: Hi, all! I heard this was a friendly, helpful sub and Im feeling completely lost and miserable. I work in a hotel, full-time for 9 hr, so I make about 19,000 a year adjusted to around 16,000 after taxes. My boyfriend is a full-time student I had to drop out due to money and works part time for even less - around 10,000. Ive thought about switching jobs, but Im scared to leave my current one due to my supervisor...which is a long story. We used to live with my father and his girlfriend, but she felt that 21 was too old to still be living at home and gave my dad an ultimatum for us to leave. Similarly, my step-father gave my mother an ultimatum which forced my brother to move out of their house. Because we had no savings due to the amount of money we were giving to my dads girlfriend, we got some help from my mom, who paid for us to get into an apartment. Our rent was initially around 915 a month including utilities. Its gone up over 100 when we renewed our lease, and is going to get worse under the new management. So, heres how we budget currently every month. Average Each Month: 1,600 at worst like my boyfriend getting bad hours at work. - After rent, we have 907 left. My mom pays 300 a month for rent on my brothers behalf- 130 goes to my boyfriends car insurance, and I put 80 in savings because I pay my insurance every six months, and another 10 for my registration my boyfriends family usually helps him with registration. That takes us to 587. - We put 90 in savings as an emergency fund every month, taking it to 497. - We spend around 90 in gas per month, 407- Our dogs food is 50 a bag, 357- I pay my dad 100 a month for my phone, 257- Internet is 80, leaving us with 177 to live on. It seems less extreme when I write it all down, but were finding it difficult to manage. Grocery shopping is hell, because we can barely afford to do it. Now, our rent is definitely going up again under new management tenants we have spoken to whose leases have ended have confirmed this, and we cant possibly afford to move out deposit fees would drain our savings, but we cant afford to stay here. We arent sure what to do or what our options are, and Im scared. Any advice for a dumb 23 year old who needs some financial help would be appreciated. : Assistant: Realistically you need to find another job paying more money or take on a part-time job to sure up your finances. If you have been with your job for a while, you may want to speak to your employer to see if there is any way to get a pay increase or work extra hours? Also, if your boyfriends job is unreliable he may need to replace it with a job that has a set amount of hours so that he can help contribute to the household.Human: Ive worked at my job for over two years. Ive asked about raises, but they cant offer me more, at least for now. They already gave me a 20c raise at my first year mark, and corporate wasnt happy about it. My coworker has been there for 11 years and shes capped out at 10.50. Extra hours is also a no - Im technically not even supposed to be working full-time. : As for the boyfriend, he enjoys the job he has because it allows so much flexibility for going to college full-time. Ill bring it up to him, though. Ive considered donating plasma, but Im not sure how much one makes doing so. Assistant: So why are you still at a company with no upward mobility?Human: Ill fully admit that this is going to sound stupid, because it is, but its because of my supervisor. She is notorious for guilting employees into staying by buying you gifts, claiming that she needs you and promising you promotions that dont come. I feel indebted to her, I guess. How can I leave when she does so much for me? Many of my ex coworkers claim they only stayed as long as they did because they were worried about our supervisors reaction to them quitting. I once left a resume at work that I printed to give to my boyfriend for a business class he was taking and she nearly went through the roof. I was even going to be asked to get her position at a sister hotel by our regional manager, who asked my supervisor what she thought, and she told him I wouldnt be interested without consulting me just because she didnt want to lose me, even though she knows about my financial struggles. She did let me know later, and said shed make it up to me by giving me her job when she retired and planned to do that summer. She gave me scheduling responsibilities, training responsibilities, and I handle all newbie callsquestions and I do deposits and other duties. She did not leave and admitted she isnt going to for some time. I do extra work now, didnt get a promotion and make 9 hour, but Im afraid of what will happen if I leave. The way she handled the potential promotion situation also scares me of applying to other places, because Im afraid shed be a bad reference and I dont have many other work references.  <response>: She doesnt care if you make rent or have decent food in your stomach. She is manipulating you and your emotionshopes. She knew exactly what she was doing when she threw out the carrot of promoting you, handed you extra work for no extra pay, then didnt deliver on your job prospect.Youve gained skill and experience working this job. Have confidence in yourself and start applying!! I know its uncomfortable and you dont want to feel like youre abandoning your work family but you need to start applying to other places. Your job doesnt care about you as evidenced by the apathy of your boss to your financial situation. Do you think your boss is losing any sleep tonight wondering how youre going to pay your rent? Do you think shes concerned if you and your boyfriend are eating top ramen all month long? I guarantee you shes not. She screwed you over with the promotion to make sure she took care of her own pockets and that is all she is worried about. You need to make taking care of yourself your main priority the same way your boss did when it came down to her losing a paycheck. 