I don't know how to make this week better, other than the advice above. I do have some advice for how to avoid this . . . and I know this is hard to do. But here goes:

I live on a small income. I try to get the most bang for every buck. Yesterday, I bought toilet paper at Sam's Club. I got 36 rolls of Scott - the thin kind with a thousand sheets per roll. A low income friend of mine gets a cheap package of four little rolls of TP at the dollar store, and she thinks she's being frugal. I've told her that I can't afford to shop like she does. Her income is actually a little more than mine, but she always runs low on everything. I don't.

When I buy, I buy in bulk. (It's the cheapest way!) Those 36 rolls of TP I got yesterday are like money in the bank. I would eat beans and sardines and rice for a week to be able to get those 36 rolls, rather than get just 4 or 8 rolls at the dollar store, or Family Dollar.

Yesterday, I also got a big container of laundry detergent for less than $13, on sale. (It was, like, $3 off regular price . . . and a decent brand.) So that will last me for many weeks to come.

This system is hard to get started because it involves laying out bigger sums of money on initial purchases. But once you start and keep at it, you build up "inventory" that lasts you. After a while, you find you don't run out of a bunch of things at the same time. But - whatever you run out of, you buy in big discounted supply. It doesn't have to be Sam's Club. It can be Walmart's. Just, never, never go to stores that don't give you the best price per ounce, or roll, or whatever.

I've lived rich, and I've lived poor. But I have just about always eaten well and had all basic necessities. And I'm far, far from the most disciplined person. But I am passionate about always buying everything in bulk at the cheapest rate I can find.

My income on Social Security is less than someone working for minimum wage. But my fridge is usually well-stocked. Granted, it's just me with no kids to provide for. But, if I had dependents, my system would be even more important.

With kids, it's so tempting to go and get McDonald's, thinking that's a cheap meal. But that's how McDonald's got rich taking poor people's money. What you spend at McDonald's for one meal could buy you enough groceries for several meals. A nice boiled potato with lots of butter and salt and pepper and a ground beef patty with gravy and a big glass of milk tastes better, when you get in the habit of cooking and eating it.

Well, that's my advice. I've had plenty of experience being poor. My observation is that poor people are often the most wasteful with their money, without even realizing it.

Buy in bulk. Gradually, make it a habit. Buy NOTHING at a place like Walgreen's, which just about never, ever gives you the best deal. Money can go way further than you think it can, when you develop good habits. Hope I don't sound preachy.