Woman Shares How She And Her Boyfriend Became A 'Low Income' Family Of 5 — With Another Kid On The Way
Her family's hardships are relatable for anyone trying to keep their head above water.
Nathan Dumlao / Unsplash Kyndal Ricks posts content on TikTok that many families can relate to, especially those who’ve hit hard times.
The stay-at-home mom shared how she and her boyfriend became a ‘low income’ family of 5 with another kid on the way.
She recounted the story of “how we got ourselves into this situation, of being a low income family of 5, soon to be 6,” after getting promotions and moving away from their home to Utah, to work their “Dream positions in the place that we’ve always wanted to live.”
When they first moved to Utah, her 3-year-old split his time between staying with Ricks and staying with his father in Idaho. Ricks was working and trying to find childcare, but daycare "was insanely expensive."
Ricks structured her time off around bringing him to and from Utah.
“I would go to work, get off very late, drive through the Canyon, stop home to pack an overnight bag and say goodbye to my boyfriend, and drive through the night to Idaho,” she said. “That way, that morning, I could have every minute that I could have with my son.”
She described the process of splitting custody, how she’d drive to Idaho, pick her son up and bring him to their home in Utah, saying, “He had his own room and his own space. He loved it there. And a few days later I would drive him back.”
“I was doing that every single week,” she said. “With going back and forth so much, it was eating up my entire paycheck or pretty dang close. So, realistically, I wasn’t really contributing to our income, even with me making rather good money.”
Photo: Andre Jackson / Unsplash
Ricks shared that 6 months after moving, she became pregnant with their second child. She no longer felt comfortable driving through the snowy winter to Idaho, and, as she explained, “I was really struggling with my son not being home.”
She and her boyfriend discussed their finances and came to the conclusion that they could live off one income.
She quit her job and brought her son to Utah, where they were “just living out our dream a little bit longer, until Covid hit.”
Things took a turn for the worse. Her boyfriend worked as manager at a store and had trouble keeping employees at the onset of the pandemic, which led to him working 12- to 16-hour days.
“We never saw him,” Ricks said. “He missed out on almost an entire year of his son’s life. I no longer had a car, and so I felt very alone. I didn’t have anywhere to go. I didn’t have friends. I didn’t have family.”
They also struggled to make ends meet financially. Despite working overtime, her boyfriend wasn’t compensated for those extra hours, because he was in a salaried position. “His mental health took a really, really big hit,” she shared. “Our relationship was starting to take a hit. We weren’t able to afford our apartment anymore.”
They made the difficult decision to leave Utah and move in with her boyfriend’s family in Idaho, where they stayed for 8 months.
Photo: Karolina Grabowska / Pexels
“When we moved in, we didn’t have our own rooms,” she said. They lived in the living room and basement, using sheets as privacy dividers. Their space fit their bed, their son’s bed, a TV, some plastic drawers they used as a dresser, and a mini fridge. Even though they found a place to stay, her son’s dog allergy presented a major health issue.
Ricks said, “Within a week of moving to my in-laws, my son felt very, very, very sick. It was constant breathing treatment, using his inhaler, different medications, taking him outside in the middle of the night to open up his lungs, him constantly throwing up, ER trips to get steroids or just to get his breathing under control. And it was like that for months and months and months.”
“I would just sit there and sob,” she said. “I started having resentment with my boyfriend for putting us in this situation.” Amidst that turmoil, she became pregnant with their third child. She said, “I’m sure you can imagine that just manifesting into a terrible, toxic situation.”
During the first 8 months of her pregnancy, they saved to try and move out. They applied to low-income housing, they applied for apartments. They tried everything they could. She eventually gave her boyfriend an ultimatum, saying, “Either we need to get out of here, or I’m taking the kids and moving in with my parents and they are in Nevada.”
“It was our family on the line, my son’s health on the line,” Ricks said.
They eventually got approved for low-income housing and Ricks grew determined to rebuild their lives.
“My son’s health was declining very, very fast,” she said. “He was suffering every single day. He was very sick.” Her son’s health made it clear how fragile and valuable life truly is. Their financial instability made everything feel more precarious.
Photo : Omar Lopez / Unsplash
“When you’re put in those situations, you really understand to never take anything for granted,” she said. “We’ve gone without a home. I’ve gone without a car. We’ve gone without food… I would rather deal with the stress of that versus the stress of my son struggling with his health.”
She expressed gratitude for the income she makes off TikTok and for having a home to call their own. Yet their bills are still higher than their income, a situation that’s hugely relatable for many people across the U.S.
She ended her story on a hopeful note, thanking her followers for their support, saying, “The amount of joy that I have felt has been incredible, especially after having all those hardships. I know that’s just part of our story, and I’m excited to see what is to come.”
Life doesn’t always move in the directions we expect it to. Our economic and social positioning is more precarious than we want to believe.
Ricks’ story reveals the tenuous balance we all walk along: In trying to care for ourselves and our families, we might find ourselves in places we never thought we would be.
The hardships she’s experienced have made the joys resonate even deeper, and throughout it all, she’s kept a sense of hope.
Alexandra Blogier is a writer on YourTango's news and entertainment team. She covers celebrity gossip, pop culture analysis and all things to do with the entertainment industry.