A single mother of twins was so short of money that she had to go to extreme measures just to buy milk for her children.
In a video she posted to TikTok, Shayla Fenley of Lufkin, Texas, is seen counting pennies at a Dollar General checkout.
It took her seven minutes to count the $4 needed for milk and bananas for her 16-month-old daughters.
The 22-year-old nail artist said she had spent her last $20 on diapers and wipes, but still needed to buy food the next day for the twins.
“I could barely sleep that night because I was stressed about how I would pay for milk the next day,” she said. news week
Shayla Fenley had to use copper coins to pay for milk for her 16-month-old twins
In the viral TikTok video, viewed more than 1.7 million times, Fenley explains that she needs milk and bananas for a total of $4.
She is then seen counting a bag of copper coins at the register while other customers waited behind her.
“I didn’t want to bother anyone about money, so I decided to use the pennies I had been saving for a rainy day,” he said.
‘The exchange office was too far away and I didn’t have a car at the time. So I had to go to the store with everything I had.’
It took the cashier about seven minutes to count all the pennies in the purchase.
‘At that moment I knew I had to make sure my children ate. “I don’t like stealing, so I prefer to save money before stealing,” he explained.
“With rising inflation forcing many other Americans to live life paycheck to paycheck, I thought it would be relatable content,” he said of the video he made about the experience.
He said it would highlight the plight of many Americans who “work hard and still fall short financially.”
77 percent of Americans live paycheck to paycheck, meaning that if their pay was late for any reason they would not be able to meet their financial obligations, according to a 2024 survey of 36,729 American adults by Payroll.org.
It took the cashier seven minutes to count the coins for the small purchase.
Fenley is using her TikTok account to sell her nail sets and support her young family.
“My content on TikTok has been steadily increasing and my nail sets are selling out,” she said.
“My ultimate goal is to defeat poverty and run a successful business, so that my daughters can live a carefree life.”
“Life will only get better from here,” he said. ‘I manifest that.’
Nearly half of Americans (47 percent) said 2024 was the most stressful financial year of their lives, according to MarketWatch guides.
“As the cost of living crisis continues to impact households across the country, many people who are already struggling will find it increasingly difficult to manage their finances,” Liz Hunter, director of Money Expert, told Newsweek.
“While some people on low incomes may have become accustomed to dealing with debt and financial uncertainty, the current crisis has also meant that there are many people experiencing financial difficulties for the first time in their lives.”
Recently, a Walmart customer sparked outrage after filming herself shoplifting at a self-checkout register and posting it online.
The woman, who goes by Nesha on TikTok, she posted a video of herself pretending to scan items at a self-checkout.
She demonstrated the “fake scanning” tactic used by thieves at self-checkout registers.
Thieves scan some items but not others, hoping staff won’t notice. If they get caught, they pretend it was an accident.
However, the woman was caught by a clerk and was then reportedly banned from her local Walmart for two years.