“Growing up, we knew when grocery day was because the fridge was empty with nothing in it,” recounts Koski. “When you grow up like that, you can do two things. You can repeat what you know or do the opposite. In my head I wanted to do the opposite. It’s fresh in your mind how it was—you never want to go back there and see it again. I wanted to change things for future generations.”

      Motivation, education, and hard work were all integral for all of the women I talked to, but Koski pointed out another factor that is fortunately becoming easier to control: your environment.

      “We are products of our environment,” she says. “When your household, community, city—everyone’s in poverty, you never learn or do anything different. You have to somehow create a different environment for yourself.”

      While you might not be able to immediately change your physical environment, Koski notes that you do have a lot of control over your digital environment. You can educate yourself on financial matters more easily than at any time in the past, and you can find communities of like-minded people who have either already found their way out or who have concrete plans to escape the cycle of poverty.

      If connecting via the written word isn’t your thing, remember that there are lots of ways to consume content. Believe it or not, you can find YouTube channels, podcasts, and other mediums full of personal finance content—and it’s not all dry and boring. In fact, a lot of it is actually pretty exciting once you’ve connected with a community from which you can learn.

      Don’t Let Hope Die

      Poverty is ridiculously difficult to escape. Everything is working against you. Banks charge more fees to clients who don’t hold large enough minimum balances—if they’ll give you a bank account at all. It’s harder to keep your credit score up to qualify for advantageous rather than predatory financial products when there’s no margin for error in your budget. Small inconveniences become major emergencies very quickly when you don’t have as many resources at your disposal, and to top it all off, these financial struggles come with immense levels of stress, which further affect your ability to deal.

      But there is hope. There are ways out. You can get a formal education if you don’t already have one. You can educate yourself on financial topics through the power of the internet. If you focus your motivation on your efforts, the hard times will be easier to bear. And if you humble yourself, there are programs out there that will help you with food, heat, childcare, and more as you work to build yourself a better life.

      There is no guarantee that your efforts will be rewarded. But if you don’t make the decision to try, there’s zero chance you’re going to reach your dreams and goals. Fan the embers of hope, as you may be able to nurture them into a blazing fire for all those around you to see. After they’ve seen it, you can pass on the knowledge you’ve acquired and help them start their own fires, too.

      Take Action

      •Cut down your expenses as much as possible—though I recognize you likely have already.

      •Read Chapter 4 to find out how to get a formal education for free if you don’t already have one.

      •Start reading at least one article a day on a financial topic you are interested in learning more about. (You could also consume one YouTube video, podcast episode, etc.) This will help you find community and support and change your digital environment.

      •Figure out your “why.” What is your ultimate motivation that will keep you going even when times get hard or the system tries to push you back down?

      •Research and enroll in any programs that will help you access the resources you need—whether those resources are food, childcare, rent money, transportation, or cash.

      •Know that times will get hard, but do everything you can to bolster your hope of better days ahead. The hope doesn’t mean they will absolutely happen, but without that hope, you’re sure to stay where you are or even slip further into poverty.

      •If you find your own way out of poverty, reach out to your community and show them how you did it. Now that you have achieved, it’s time to show everyone else that your hope was not unfounded and that they may be able to achieve their goals, too, despite “the man.”