It's really distressing sometimes. I'm so sorry you're struggling after a lifetime of working. It's obscene that anyone works a lifetime and ends left to fall into poverty.

I'm in similar straits. My 60 year old immigrant husband works at a grocery store. He's been there a little over ten years. He has well over $20 a week going into his 401K. He has a higher than average employee discount. Plus, my pharmacy meds (there are a LOT) earn us VIP rewards. We still cannot afford to shop at the store where he works.

And – oh my gracious – I HATE Walmart with a passion. But, we have to go there or Aldi.

People don't realize how many stumbling blocks are looming before people struggling financially. For example, I'm sick and disabled. But, because I was a stay at home mom for just over ten years before I applied for SSI, I do not qualify for the social security I paid into for over twenty-five years. I will never draw based upon what i paid into the system. And, my hardworking husband makes just $600 a year more than the maximum to allow me to draw SSI off his benefits.