Nurse making $70K takes food from food banks, claims she's broke while living rent-free with her parents: 'She’s approaching 40.'

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Emmy Pratt • Writer and Editor
Jun 4, 2026 8:30 PM EDT

She sounds like a real piece of work.

How would you define being "broke"? To me, brokenness is less about your income and more about how you use your money. Someone making $200K could be broke, and someone making $50K could not be broke, depending on how much either of them saves. If the $50K earner has a paid-off house, no car note, a healthy emergency fund, and is contributing to their retirement accounts, I would argue that they are not broke. If a high earner is in debt, going on vacations they can't afford, and spending half of their income on their mortgage, they are broke IMHO.

It's much easier to have sympathy for someone making $30K a year and struggling to feed their family than for someone making $70K a year who could afford to feed their family if they stopped making stupid financial choices. The woman in this story doesn't even have a family to feed, yet she's complaining that she's broke and needs to go to the food bank to eat. She's a nurse who makes $70K per year! If that's not shameful enough, she lives at home with her parents, so she has literally no other bills she needs to take care of besides food. 

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  • A model representing a nurse who makes $70K, yet gets her groceries from food banks, lives at home with her parents, and complains about being “broke” to her friends who are actually broke.
    via Getty Images (Unsplash+)

    A model representing a nurse who makes $70K, yet gets her groceries from food banks, lives at home with her parents, and complains about being "broke" to her friends who are actually broke.

  • My friend is well off and acting broke and it’s making me angry. What should I do?

    One of my good friends is a nurse and makes over $70k. She lives with her parents in a completely paid-off house, paid-off car and has 0 student loans. She has very few
    via u/DerangedUnicorn27
  • bills. She buys designer clothes and bags (has lots of coach, LV, etc), always gets the new iPhone as soon as it's released, new MacBook, etc. But she complains that she's
    via u/DerangedUnicorn27
  • broke. She constantly talks about how she can't afford a $5 item because she's broke. She complains about groceries and gas
    via u/DerangedUnicorn27
  • increasing because she's "can't afford anything extra." She'll actually go to a food pantry place to get free food and household items because she "can't afford
    via u/DerangedUnicorn27
  • groceries." Yet she goes on 2 vacations a year (first or business class tickets) and frequent shopping sprees. She's incredibly out of
    via u/DerangedUnicorn27
  • A representation of a woman going on a shopping spree with her friend, despite complaining that she's broke and can't afford to buy groceries.
    via Getty Images (Unsplash+)

    A representation of a woman going on a shopping spree with her friend, despite complaining that she's broke and can't afford to buy groceries.

  • touch and it's really frustrating hearing her complain to me, especially because I'm genuinely struggling. My rent is 60% of my income (I work a low paying job)
    via u/DerangedUnicorn27
  • and I have had to make the choice between paying for groceries or paying my internet bill, and I've gone to food pantries. How do I handle this?
    via u/DerangedUnicorn27
  • Saltine Crackers RR Cheerios Cheerios Gluten Free 505 Corn Chex Ce Ch S Cheerios Cheerios 443Cheerios 33 Cheerios Cheerios Cheerios A CheerioS F 1 Chex in the family Muddy Buddies
    via Jacob McGowin

    A picture of a food pantry, a service which is not intended for nurses who make $70K per year and don't have any bills to worry about. 

  • What do I say to her to make her understand she isn't broke and is very out of touch? It's offensive. Edit: No, she's not in debt. She has a comfortable savings. She's
    via u/DerangedUnicorn27
  • approaching 40. Edit 2: everyone saying $70k isn't a large salary. Ok, I agree in general. However she lives in a low cost of living area and has
    via u/DerangedUnicorn27
  • next to ZERO bills. She doesn't pay for the usual adult stuff we do. So her salary (if she didn't spend lavishly) makes her situation very comfortable. And since I
    via u/DerangedUnicorn27
  • make $42k before taxes and have all the usual adult bills, $70k without bills is well off to me. Doubt people will actually read this and understand nuances tho.
    via u/DerangedUnicorn27
  • Alarming-While8028 you don't have to be her friend
    via u/Alarming-While8028
  • Deranged Unicorn27 OP This is a recent development. We've known each other for decades and she's only become like this the past few years
    via u/DerangedUnicorn27
  • Alarming-While8028 it's ok to have friend breakups. i see nothing here about how much you like your friend, or what she brings into your life. is she thoughtful otherwise? does she make you feel happy and listened to? or are you just constantly low level irritated with her at this point? do you feel energized and excited to hang out with her?
    via u/Alarming-While8028
  • NorCalNostalgic The fact she goes so far as to ab think she may be a lost cause. e a food pantry makes me
    via u/NorCalNostalgic
  • rosebudny Yep this would be the line for me. Complaining about money when spending freely on luxury goods and trips is one thing, but to take resources from those who ACTUALLY need them is just vile.
    via u/rosebudny
  • pwolf1771 How does OP actually know if she's broke or not? Are credit card bills being sent to her?
    via u/pwolf1771
  • Deranged Unicorn27 OP She's very transparent and talks money a lot. And yeah I've actually seen her bills.....theyre all laid out open on her kitchen table. We've been friends a long time and I'm at her house often
    via u/DerangedUnicorn27

  • Depending on your definition of broke, and considering her wacky spending habits, she could very well be broke. That doesn't mean that what she's doing isn't heinous on every moral level. 

  • Oldskywater We RUN OUT OF FOOD at our food pantry. Children are going hungry because of your friend.
    via u/Oldskywater
  • Cal-Augustus Maybe she IS broke. "She buys designer clothes and bags (has lots of coach, LV, etc), always gets the new iPhone as soon as it's released, new MacBook, etc... she goes on 2 vacations a year (first or business class tickets) and frequent shopping sprees." Spending like that eats away at income. Her priorities are screwed up. When she starts in on how broke she is, suggest she sell a few of her designer bags so she can buy food instead of taking limited resources from those who legit
    via u/Cal-Augustus
  • Heynophone She probably spends her money as soon as she gets it. No savings.
    via u/Heynophone

  • The worst thing about this is that she probably doesn't even think she's doing anything wrong. 

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salary living at home food bank broke luxury nurse friends grocery food parents vacation
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