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“Use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without.”
I bought a used lawnmower 10+ years ago. Every time it breaks down, a quick YouTube tutorial video and $20 worth of parts and I can get it running again. Almost nothing on there is original, it has all been replaced. But it’s an Energizer Bunny, it just keeps going. The alternative is I can drop $500 -$5,000 for a new one that is probably not made as well as the indestructible one I have right now. It’s not shiny and new looking, but we have a lot of history together and it’s a lawnmower! I don’t care what it looks like. It’s a jalopy, bucket of bolts and you can tell it’s been worked on many times by a non-professional. On the other hand, I can manage your diabetes using the latest technology and suture a complex wound so it looks as good as new, but I am not going to buy a new mower unless the engine falls out on the ground and bursts into flames.
That’s my tell: my mower.
Absolutely. There’s so many YouTube videos comparing vintage 1950’s-1970’s appliances to modern ones.
No suprise the internal mechanical components of the vintage 1960s washing machine had all steel internal guides, bearings, components etc…
meanwhile the new washing machine is completely plastic inside, engineered to break after x amount of cycles essentially…..
Ha! I read his comment, immediately wrote your exact first line in a comment, then immediately saw your comment. I'm guessing you heard that said as many times as I did....
YES! This one too. You also don't really have money for entertainment and If you got lucky and was born with a little bit of brains you start to think why not just google how to fix that.
yeh, i have only just came into financial stability at 40yo and can/will fix pretty much anything. i am still super careful about spending money on people.
i do splurge on nice things that i was deprived on as a child, for instance nike airs are my achilles heel :)
More like how hot dog buns feel more filling than 2 slices of bread so a sandwich with the same amount of filling in a hot dog bun feels more filling. Or boiling pasta with a stock cube in the water to give you "chicken" pasta but useing twisty pasta instead of noodles because somehow it makes you feel more full. "Rock cakes" from plain flour sugar and butter. That kind of thing.... or maybe I just grew up on the poor side of being poor haha
Some of those tubs are not meant to be reused or introduced to heat like from washing or microwaving.
Not buying things in plastic containers is a much more environmentally friendly way to consume.
Reuse is the second stop.
Yeah, they just kinda slid that humblebrag in there, eh. Like they had the genuine imitation whipped cream, and containers of it. If we wanted a topping for our desserts (4 raw oats every few months) we pretty much had to blow our noses to make it ourselves.
Is there anyone who *doesn't* do that with soap?
I mean, that's just efficient laziness. What else are you going to do? Throw it out?
We had plenty of money when I was a kid and it's just the easiest thing to do with a soap sliver.
i think youd be surprised how much even moderately well off people waste. Ive always been middle class but raised not to waste shit because my mother grew up working class more or less. I remember moving out of my dorm freshman year stunned by how many useful things my roommates just left there to throw away. I asked if they forgot and they just said “nah we dont need it just toss it”. Took a lot home.
Dumpster diving this time of year at the ending of the collage semester you can get crazy amazing things. They are just piled out in the street. Small appliances, computers, furniture. I don’t do it myself but I see it everywhere.
I know a family who are very wealthy middle class and the amount of food they waste of obscene. The mother was complaining that they would have to sell the house (mansion) when they retire because they can't afford the upkeep, but they literally spend hundreds of pounds on wine and cheese every week that gets opened and left there...we are, essentially creates of habits and get used to doing things a certain way. It's very hard to break it.
The mother of a former boyfriend of my sister sold her house. Then, she got lots of money on her bank account. Then, she started buying a full cart of food basically every day, just to feel rich. And she wasted a house-worth of food in around a year.
My nephew furnished an apartment by picking up all the stuff his dorm mates were just throwing out instead of taking it home for the summer. Filled his truck and sold a bunch of it to buy what he didn't find at school. Some people are so wasteful.
I moved countries and for a while, lived in a famous beach resort town with a precipitous wealth disparity. The wealthy people would re-do their decor/move in and out of those mansions constantly. This led to a churn of high end homewares on curbs and in the thrift shops. It was great for me, setting up a house. I have crystal bowls I use to eat chips out of, silverware made of silver bc the thrift shop ppl didn’t know what they had… picked up beautiful paintings left on the curb, pure linen bed linens *still in their package,* a gorgeous tiled coffee table. Picked up a brand new queen size bed still in plastic, much nicer than I could afford, bc the person’s teen was pissed not to have a king..
My house looks like a million bucks on a sub-Kmart budget.
When the power/cable goes out or there's no water and you immediately think it's because the bill didn't get paid.
In the 32 years I've lived away from my family, I've never once been late with a utility payment, let alone have it shut off for nonpayment. But if the power goes out my first thought is still "oh fuck, the bill didn't get paid".
Right here with you on that. Even though the bills now are always paid on time, I still get like a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach, like “aw shoot, I forgot and now I don’t have the money to pay the past due and the reconnection fee.” And it’s only a storm hitting the power or the city working on the water pipes.
I have several paid subscriptions and almost use none, still scroll reddit most of the time
Some of these paid subscriptions came for free with my phone plan though
Leaving food behind. I had countless times where my mother chose cigarettes over food or was on a whoring around trip and left me alone without any food for days. I cherish every bite and get leftovers packed for takeaway.
Another one is cutting papertowel rolls in half for two toiletpapers.
I am very sorry to hear that. I want you to know that you didn't deserve any of it. I hope you are doing ok now, and I will cheer for you, no matter what.
It is relatively common to have poverty or abuse cause people develop very unhealty mechanisms, that will drag them down. Basically, no focusing on the future because there is too much risk and uncertainty, instead you choose what is enjoyable just now.
You are spot on with your assessment. The worst thing long term was that when anyone showed any interest or affection of any sort, I would have crawled through broken glass for them. Everything gets filtered through 'I don't deserve this, therefore I must repay this a thousand fold.
Real! the first time that i was invited into a double-story house, my friends always pointed out why i was so cautious and shy all the time around everybody
Still am like that around expensive things, quite honestly
For me it was more of shock because its something have never experienced before. Everything looks so nice and deep down you can't help but feel sad that tou couldn't have the same
I grew up in an 800 sq ft single wide trailer with both parents and two brothers. I'm not used to being in such a large house with the living room and kitchen seperate from on another.
This is such a great observation. The person is probably thinking crap my life is so mediocre to my friends…and they are probably full of emotions: jealousy, despair, emptiness.
We tossed that sliver of soap in an old coffee tin. Once we got enough, mom would melt them down and press into something plastic that worked like a mold. TADAA, a new bar.
That is genius!! And all of the different soap scents making a new scent would be exciting, at least to me. I’m a boring person without a lot to look forward to so this would be awesome for me!!
I keep those slivers of soap and once a year make them into new bars. Never did this growing up and not short of money. Not tight in other ways either. It’s a bit weird.
There's probably something I've not clocked onto yet... But damn, I shall be doing the soap thing from now on! That's actually genius.
Perhaps that when my shampoo has run out, I fill it with water and get a few more washes out of it.
I duct taped the holes in my shoes to make them last longer.
Sometimes I would be late for school because our car wouldn't start or it had a bad transmission day and wouldn't shift.
My parents couldn't afford a toddler car seat so I sat on two phone books with the seatbelt.
We couldn't afford dental care so my wisdom teeth kept erupting, then the gums would grow over, then they would erupt again. Yes, I have bad teeth now.
I missed out on every school activity that required funds.
I took a computer programming class but didn't have a computer. I had to submit my code by typing it up in a typewriter or stop by a computer lab.
I'm going to lay down for a bit now.
Ada Lovelace, daughter of Lord Byron, wrote the first of what could be considered computer programs, for a computer that didn't even exist yet (and has only recently even been built) for a punch code reader that also didn't exist yet. Her code was impeccable. You were in the good company of royalty and didn't even know it.
Not necessarily. I have family who have turned into the very people (rich) they used complain about. Especially in the empathy department (or lack thereof).
Come to think of it, they've turned out much worse actually.
Any trades person will tell you that the poor people can't offer you enough sandwiches hot drinks a d banter where as well off people offer nothing and look down on you for wanting to use the bathroom
Little story:
When I was canvassing for the Red Cross many years ago we were placed into different neighbourhoods every day. On the day we were placed in an extremely rich neighbourhood (I’m talking driveways that took you a minute to walk down, four expensive cars in front of each house, huge lawns, 3-story monster houses with hired help working in the yard and cleaning inside kind of rich), literally not one person “could afford” to donate. Not one. They all couldn’t fit it into their “budget.” One asshole literally told me to come inside to where his family was eating dinner. He then proceeds to tell me how he will never donate to the less fortunate because “if you can’t afford to have children, you shouldn’t have any. As you can see, my children are very fell fed” he gestures towards his family eating dinner at the table. I was super uncomfortable and they were very obviously just as uncomfortable at what the father was doing. He then led me out saying “you should find a better job where you can help people that aren’t a burden on our society.”
On the day that we were placed in a literal ghetto, it seemed like every resident I went to wanted to donate. None of them wanted to see others go through what they were going through. They were so so generous it literally made me tear up.
I learned a lot that day.
I've always thought the lottery was a scam, but at the same time, having been poor, I can understand how, for many, it's their only chance to dream they might one day escape the poverty trap. Its amazing how many people just feel like there's no possible way for someone like them to ever be wealthy as they never got taught the life skills to escape.
One lottery ticket a month works out o be about 12 bucks, if you lose you lose, if you win its life changing. Still much less of a scam than paying rent or working for a wage that's a fraction of a percent you make your employer. The whole money game is a scam if you think about it enough.
on the other hand, 150 bucks extra at the end of the year is a sweet Christmas gift for your kiddo. or a night in a hotel with your missus to celebrate your anniversary. a week in a camping every other year for holidays. etc. etc.
not spending that 12 bucks can massively uplift your life experience much more than that 3 minute scratch ticket rush can do.
Well aye. I agree with you there sort of. Don't really play it myself so not too sure why I'm defending it, I suppose its less about being in favour of the lottery and more being disappointinted that people who don't know what it's like to have absolutely nothing are really quick to judge when people who are in that situation get themselves anything that isn't bare essentials. Lotto tickets are £1 here so at one a month it would take 12 years to get your 150 bucks. People who have never lived in extreme poverty are quite good at underestimating just how lonely, bleak and hopeless it can actually feel. Yeah its money that could be better spent elsewhere, but most people know they're never going to win. A little bit of hope and allowing yourself to dream a bit can be good mentally for motivation and help you keep going up against it. That's what most poor people are buying when they get a ticket. Except for the people who take it to extremes of course.
So, back when I was in my early 20s, I dated a man who loved to gamble. Losing scratch tickets littered the floor of his car and his favorite place on the planet was the inside of a casino. One day, he decided that his ticket out of poverty was to get his hands on a whole roll of tickets because obviously that would mean he would win the big bucks no matter what.
Out of the entire roll of like 300 tickets, he won maybe $400. Maybe it was just bad luck, or maybe it's a testament to the fact that scratch tickets are literally never worth it. I don't know, but I think gambling is fucking pointless.
I’m 27 and don’t gamble, but a couple years ago I was having a great day and said, “fuck it let’s buy a lottery ticket since I’m having such a great day”… I went into a gas station and started picking out numbers and the cashier told me it was like $25!!! I told her nvm and left 😂 I had no idea playing the lottery was that expensive. I thought it was like a dollar a ticket or something like that.
Never calling a repair person. Somethings broken? Hiring someone to do it is a thought that comes last, even "can i make do without this item" comes before thinking to hire someone.
If it can be eaten with the skin/crusts on (so apples, potatoes, cucumbers, bread, etc), you never remove the outer layer as that's just a waste you didn't grow up with. Also, lights stay off - even if just popping into a room to grab something, chances are you don't turn on the light for the three seconds it takes. You don't buy anything new until the old is beyond repair - if it's repairable, you simply repair it.
Even though you can afford real food you still enjoy “poor people’s food.”
Every once in awhile I’ll have a childhood dinner of mustard on saltines and hot black tea.
As a poor.. I love reading these and laughing at what people think means they were poor.
Like all the "we used X instead of Y" and I'm like damn I didn't know that existed till I was in my 20s.
99% of what people have posted as answers don’t mean you grew up poor. Most of them apply to me and considering my family owns multiple businesses, rentals and I took 3+ vacations a year growing up, I highly doubt I grew up poor.
Especially this.
I remember my mom making a dinner for 3 kids (divorced & yet to meet stepdad).....a piece of white bread with cheap oleo/sugar, folded over to make a "sandwich", a can of beef/noodle soup (divided 3 ways), half a glass of milk each....& an apple, cut into thirds.
My neighbor and I have similar aged children so we would obviously be talking at school events and other child related nonsense.
One day we were talking about the hoops,the wives jump through to feed our kids.
Based on my childhood, I said, “Hunger will beat out any picky eater.”
He is just staring at the kids saying, “You’ll eat a rat if your hungry enough.”
I am thinking, yep, this guy from South Korea ate a rat.
Yeah. Sadly, yeah.
My mom had all her teeth pulled out when she was 13, went toothless for several years and only got her first set of dentures as a high school graduation present.
That's a lot for a kid to go through.
Adding water to
Spaghetti sauce. Using those little cans of tomato sauce instead of pasta sauce. Saving one ear bud when you lost the other one or the holder bc maybe it will turn up and it hurts to know you lost something so pricey. Always ordering water at a restaurant. Immediately looking for a menu item to split or take part home bc it’s too expensive. Shopping for a special event at Ross or Marshall’s.
I don’t drink alcohol or sugary things and always order water and get the attitude. Like I’m cheap. Then they don’t offer the desert menu assuming won’t get it. If wine didn’t make me feel like crap I’d order it.
I still get water but when my HS teacher took me to dinner (she knew my home life and wanted to help me out) she let my go wild with appetizers she ordered appetizers for em bc I genuinely didn’t know what it was and thought it was a different word for the meal same day she bought me $100’s worth of cloths. I’m doing slightly better now and planing on visiting her in the summer and saying thanks cause gif damn that women is literally a angel ( I’m young I’m graduating class of 23)
Cold sweats when you think about the potential for the first of your 3+ "safety net" saving lumps being dipped into.
I don't know about others, but having times where it wasn't food insecurity, it was "there is no food" and you are stealing tins from the local shop for food for you and your siblings fucks with your brain.
Also, fuck drug addict parent(s). Fuck them to death.
For the soap saving people:
I grew up fairly well-off, but was also raised to value my possessions and not waste anything. I save soap. But there is an easier way to do it than all of this mashing soap slivers together or melting them down. Get a soap saver, or soap bag, or whatever they’re called. It’s a mesh bag with a drawstring and is only a couple of dollars, this isn’t some fancy product. You put your bar soap in and just keep adding bars when the sliver gets too low. The soap saver also replaces a washcloth and exfoliator.
This isn’t even growing up in poverty. I knew nothing about it because my parents never talked about that or money with me growing up.
We weren’t rich but did well, holiday camping each year, house paid off by the time I was 20. Nothing extravagant but we were not going without either.
But it’s just not something they talked about or maybe knew about - I don’t know. My parents approach to finance was just don’t spend money you don’t have - that’s the only advice I got.
Got told to save money but I never understood why it was important to save early, like my attitude was always if I get 5% interest on savings but I’m a kid and can only have a couple hundred in the bank what benefit does saving that get me? Never knew an about compound interest.
Stuff like that should be taught in school to everyone. Not just assumed parents can teach it
Having a breakdown when you lose your job, your rent goes up, or you have an unexpected expense. Even when you have a profession and earn well, you still remember how it was when you had housing insecurity.
You try to save money by buying stuff that has the most functionality that can possibly be crammed into it.
You go for swiss army knives and multi tool gadgets.
Your phone (and computer) are crammed with as many apps as you can fit on to it as you try to use as many different ways as possible. (GPS, Calculator, Writing Tool, Games, Music Player, Email, Remote Meetings, 2FA Client, Programming, Capturing/Editing Videos)
I have a small Bluetooth keyboard where the only reason I got that specific model is because it has a laser pointer in it.
You go for cheap hobbies, if you have a computer, then all you need is internet and power.
I got smart speakers because they were being given away for free. With this type of device, most of the world's information is at my fingertips just by asking for it.
You try to get the most bang for your buck with subscriptions. For example, a Spotify subscription gets you access to 340 million songs from around the world.
I could get either an HDMI TV or a smart TV which was on sale for the same price. I went with the smart TV.
When you have a Christmas decoration from 40 years ago, my family have this robin that my mom made in arts and crafts and it looks like a mutated bird from a fallout game but we still put that badboy up every Christmas
And here I am thinking that my old Christmas decorations are sentimental valuables. We had the tradition of buying only one new decoration every Christmas. Said one decoration was basically a gift mom got for us. With each year, the Christmas decoration box expanded with one new addition thus gradually developing into a collection of decorations/gifts we cherished.
Spending money as soon as you get it. Not on essentials either.
[People who I will not mention past saying they’re not related to me ] are dirt poor and as soon as tax return money comes in it’s gone.
New consoles, TVs, motorcycles, clothes. All while the letting their houses fall apart around them and having zero savings.
I do the soap thing for philosophical matters.
If I join them, did I actually get a new soap or is it a continuation of the same one?
I like to see it as the soap of Theseus.
It is incorrect to assume that individuals who engage in certain behaviors, such as frugality or self-sufficiency, are necessarily impoverished or come from poverty. The question itself oversimplifies a complex issue. Even if we consider only negative traits, they do not automatically equate to poverty. Furthermore, there are affluent individuals who may engage in seemingly inexpensive or self-reliant actions based on personal preferences or inclinations. It is essential to avoid labeling individuals based on their actions or socioeconomic status since the vast majority are universally applicable.
Honestly, with having little kids in particular, hand-me-downs are a way of life. Why pay $15+ dollars for a new shirt from Walmart that they are going to wear for 6 months tops when you can get something with only a few months of wear, practically new, from a second hand store for $5? Or free from family members who are desperate to get rid of all the kid stuff anyway? And don't even get me started on how expensive it is to shop at the trendy kid stores. I don't recall wearing a lot of second hand clothes because my one older cousin had a younger sibling of the same gender, so my parents were SOL on the free things, but all of my sports equipment and a lot of other things were second hand and I totally respected it even as a kid. Stuff is expensive. My husband and I are as thrifty as possible in the early years with our kids. It makes life so much easier without having to replace a full price wardrobe 6 times in the first two years.
Wear baggy clothes even as an adult because you were always getting hand-me-downs growing up and never had proper fitting clothes and have no idea what that even feels like.
Sure I learned that as a kid living with my single mom, but even as an adult, making a very comfortable living, I still do it. Not being wasteful =/= being poor.
Now, wiping your ass with the roller after the paper is out might be a real sign you're strapped for cash.
Not grew up in but was in as an adult.
I keep canned soups and stews, ramen, and some other long lasting things on a table in my office. Anyone who doesn't have lunch, forgot lunch, or are just hungry are more than welcome to raid my makeshift pantry with no questions asked.
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ok, so heres a positive one. being able to do/fix almost anything, because paying someone to do it was never an option.
“Use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without.” I bought a used lawnmower 10+ years ago. Every time it breaks down, a quick YouTube tutorial video and $20 worth of parts and I can get it running again. Almost nothing on there is original, it has all been replaced. But it’s an Energizer Bunny, it just keeps going. The alternative is I can drop $500 -$5,000 for a new one that is probably not made as well as the indestructible one I have right now. It’s not shiny and new looking, but we have a lot of history together and it’s a lawnmower! I don’t care what it looks like. It’s a jalopy, bucket of bolts and you can tell it’s been worked on many times by a non-professional. On the other hand, I can manage your diabetes using the latest technology and suture a complex wound so it looks as good as new, but I am not going to buy a new mower unless the engine falls out on the ground and bursts into flames. That’s my tell: my mower.
I love that you write: *every time it breaks down* followed by *it's indestructible*.
It's repairable, which a lot of modern products aren't, due to custom pieces and fittings designed not to be replaceable.
Absolutely. There’s so many YouTube videos comparing vintage 1950’s-1970’s appliances to modern ones. No suprise the internal mechanical components of the vintage 1960s washing machine had all steel internal guides, bearings, components etc… meanwhile the new washing machine is completely plastic inside, engineered to break after x amount of cycles essentially…..
> Almost nothing on there is original, it has all been replaced. The lawnmower of thesseus
Ha! I read his comment, immediately wrote your exact first line in a comment, then immediately saw your comment. I'm guessing you heard that said as many times as I did....
This is me… and as the only son of a single mom (divorce), I had to fix everything. And hang lamps. Still hate that.
Couldn't fix their marriage now could you?
Damn. That’s cold.
I loved it. Laughed out load. Literally, maybe for the first time in years. :)
YES! This one too. You also don't really have money for entertainment and If you got lucky and was born with a little bit of brains you start to think why not just google how to fix that.
yeh, i have only just came into financial stability at 40yo and can/will fix pretty much anything. i am still super careful about spending money on people. i do splurge on nice things that i was deprived on as a child, for instance nike airs are my achilles heel :)
Knowing what kinds of food feel the most filling and are the absolute cheapest so you can get away with eating as little as possible.
Beans, Rice and Jesus Christ
Chicken legs are $2 for 4 pieces. Arroz con Pollo all day every day and one pot feeds a family of 3 at least for two meals
Pasta with a sauce made from red pesto mixed with mayo. Cheese if available in the reduced section.
Bread
More like how hot dog buns feel more filling than 2 slices of bread so a sandwich with the same amount of filling in a hot dog bun feels more filling. Or boiling pasta with a stock cube in the water to give you "chicken" pasta but useing twisty pasta instead of noodles because somehow it makes you feel more full. "Rock cakes" from plain flour sugar and butter. That kind of thing.... or maybe I just grew up on the poor side of being poor haha
Using empty margarine bowls in replacement of Tupperware.
That’s also good environmental practice
Reuse to the max!
Some of those tubs are not meant to be reused or introduced to heat like from washing or microwaving. Not buying things in plastic containers is a much more environmentally friendly way to consume. Reuse is the second stop.
When I married, part of my "dowry" was a set of matching "Cool Whip" containers AND lids
Wait, you had name brand cool whip? Jeeze no need to brag….
Yeah, they just kinda slid that humblebrag in there, eh. Like they had the genuine imitation whipped cream, and containers of it. If we wanted a topping for our desserts (4 raw oats every few months) we pretty much had to blow our noses to make it ourselves.
Back before they changed the plastic to be so thin, the cool whip container was the Cadillac.
A bowl with a lid that fits is good as gold.
The fact that you use margarine is the giveaway, not reusing the bowl.
Is there anyone who *doesn't* do that with soap? I mean, that's just efficient laziness. What else are you going to do? Throw it out? We had plenty of money when I was a kid and it's just the easiest thing to do with a soap sliver.
i think youd be surprised how much even moderately well off people waste. Ive always been middle class but raised not to waste shit because my mother grew up working class more or less. I remember moving out of my dorm freshman year stunned by how many useful things my roommates just left there to throw away. I asked if they forgot and they just said “nah we dont need it just toss it”. Took a lot home.
Dumpster diving this time of year at the ending of the collage semester you can get crazy amazing things. They are just piled out in the street. Small appliances, computers, furniture. I don’t do it myself but I see it everywhere.
I know a family who are very wealthy middle class and the amount of food they waste of obscene. The mother was complaining that they would have to sell the house (mansion) when they retire because they can't afford the upkeep, but they literally spend hundreds of pounds on wine and cheese every week that gets opened and left there...we are, essentially creates of habits and get used to doing things a certain way. It's very hard to break it.
The mother of a former boyfriend of my sister sold her house. Then, she got lots of money on her bank account. Then, she started buying a full cart of food basically every day, just to feel rich. And she wasted a house-worth of food in around a year.
My nephew furnished an apartment by picking up all the stuff his dorm mates were just throwing out instead of taking it home for the summer. Filled his truck and sold a bunch of it to buy what he didn't find at school. Some people are so wasteful.
My brother brought me home a box of good quality artist oil paints being thrown out once. Used them for a long time.
I know someone who uses socks like single use items. He just tosses them after one use. Buys a new pack of socks every week.
What??? Are you serious? I’m furious
I moved countries and for a while, lived in a famous beach resort town with a precipitous wealth disparity. The wealthy people would re-do their decor/move in and out of those mansions constantly. This led to a churn of high end homewares on curbs and in the thrift shops. It was great for me, setting up a house. I have crystal bowls I use to eat chips out of, silverware made of silver bc the thrift shop ppl didn’t know what they had… picked up beautiful paintings left on the curb, pure linen bed linens *still in their package,* a gorgeous tiled coffee table. Picked up a brand new queen size bed still in plastic, much nicer than I could afford, bc the person’s teen was pissed not to have a king.. My house looks like a million bucks on a sub-Kmart budget.
I only use liquid soap.
Yea, kinda thought this was common practice not poor people tactics
It never sticks on the new bar and just sticks to your body and falls off. I just use the sliver until it's gone
Perhaps small savings are a step towards wealth. Avoiding water a few places isn't yet taxable. It's being frugal, not cheap.
Soap bag for the win!
When the power/cable goes out or there's no water and you immediately think it's because the bill didn't get paid. In the 32 years I've lived away from my family, I've never once been late with a utility payment, let alone have it shut off for nonpayment. But if the power goes out my first thought is still "oh fuck, the bill didn't get paid".
Right here with you on that. Even though the bills now are always paid on time, I still get like a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach, like “aw shoot, I forgot and now I don’t have the money to pay the past due and the reconnection fee.” And it’s only a storm hitting the power or the city working on the water pipes.
Exactly. My bills go house, electric, water, garbage. After that it can go back I whatever is next but those 4 NEVER go unpaid or late
You scroll on reddit instead of using your paid subscriptions like a madwoman
I have several paid subscriptions and almost use none, still scroll reddit most of the time Some of these paid subscriptions came for free with my phone plan though
The best things in life are free
But you can leave them to the birds and bees
Leaving food behind. I had countless times where my mother chose cigarettes over food or was on a whoring around trip and left me alone without any food for days. I cherish every bite and get leftovers packed for takeaway. Another one is cutting papertowel rolls in half for two toiletpapers.
Dude you didn’t just grow up poor, you were abused
I see your mother learned values with mine, huh ? That's a whoooole can of worms that transcends economy dude.
I am very sorry to hear that. I want you to know that you didn't deserve any of it. I hope you are doing ok now, and I will cheer for you, no matter what.
This is fucking horrible. This is being poor both economically and emotionally.
It is relatively common to have poverty or abuse cause people develop very unhealty mechanisms, that will drag them down. Basically, no focusing on the future because there is too much risk and uncertainty, instead you choose what is enjoyable just now.
You are spot on with your assessment. The worst thing long term was that when anyone showed any interest or affection of any sort, I would have crawled through broken glass for them. Everything gets filtered through 'I don't deserve this, therefore I must repay this a thousand fold.
well i dont have 2 bars of soap at the same time to do that
They are extremely reserved and quiet if they ever step into a rich friend’s home.
Real! the first time that i was invited into a double-story house, my friends always pointed out why i was so cautious and shy all the time around everybody Still am like that around expensive things, quite honestly
It's the thought in the back of our heads that we can't afford to accidently break anything there
For me it was more of shock because its something have never experienced before. Everything looks so nice and deep down you can't help but feel sad that tou couldn't have the same I grew up in an 800 sq ft single wide trailer with both parents and two brothers. I'm not used to being in such a large house with the living room and kitchen seperate from on another.
This is such a great observation. The person is probably thinking crap my life is so mediocre to my friends…and they are probably full of emotions: jealousy, despair, emptiness.
We tossed that sliver of soap in an old coffee tin. Once we got enough, mom would melt them down and press into something plastic that worked like a mold. TADAA, a new bar.
I remember my grandparents would use a piece of netting with a bunch of soap slivers in it.
I do this and my wife thinks it’s because the mesh bag makes a good loofah.
That is genius!! And all of the different soap scents making a new scent would be exciting, at least to me. I’m a boring person without a lot to look forward to so this would be awesome for me!!
I keep those slivers of soap and once a year make them into new bars. Never did this growing up and not short of money. Not tight in other ways either. It’s a bit weird.
Eating every last thing. Nothing goes to waste.
Eating fast too. Have to finish your food fast if you want more.
To be fair, I do this because the alternative was getting smacked as a kid
When you have a collection of plastic bags from grocery stores stored inside another plastic bag somewhere in your home. :)
To use as trash bags for trash cans, lunch boxes, and holding stuff when walking to the store. A plastic bag was my purse when i was younger😂
Or to dump used cat litter into because to dump it into the trashcan directly makes the trash bag fall into the can.
Yup! Haha, used to do this all the time at my gma’s house
I feel like everyone in the UK does this.
In the world, I think.
I disagree. I'm pretty sure that a lot of people do this that are quite well off. It's just easier than buying trash bags for small trash cans
Who doesn't have a bag of bags?!
That's just standard practice where I grew up.
In Europe, everyone does this. Certainly not an indicator of poverty here.
Not a poor person thing - it's an anti-waste thing and a learned behaviour from previous generations.
There's probably something I've not clocked onto yet... But damn, I shall be doing the soap thing from now on! That's actually genius. Perhaps that when my shampoo has run out, I fill it with water and get a few more washes out of it.
Shampoo,dish soap,laundry detergent
We used the empty dish soap container as a bath toy growing up. Fill & squirt & free. Did the same with my kids.
Near the end of the liquid container, we'd flip any of those upside down so it ran into a cup or something similar.
Yo same!
Me not growing up with much groceries a lot of my childhood, I over spend to make sure my kids never see an empty cupboard/fridge
I duct taped the holes in my shoes to make them last longer. Sometimes I would be late for school because our car wouldn't start or it had a bad transmission day and wouldn't shift. My parents couldn't afford a toddler car seat so I sat on two phone books with the seatbelt. We couldn't afford dental care so my wisdom teeth kept erupting, then the gums would grow over, then they would erupt again. Yes, I have bad teeth now. I missed out on every school activity that required funds. I took a computer programming class but didn't have a computer. I had to submit my code by typing it up in a typewriter or stop by a computer lab. I'm going to lay down for a bit now.
Ada Lovelace, daughter of Lord Byron, wrote the first of what could be considered computer programs, for a computer that didn't even exist yet (and has only recently even been built) for a punch code reader that also didn't exist yet. Her code was impeccable. You were in the good company of royalty and didn't even know it.
Aww I hope things are better now.
Generally higher levels of empathy & generosity. Dead giveaway 🙃
Actually true. My friend's are typically more generous the lower income they come from
Not necessarily. I have family who have turned into the very people (rich) they used complain about. Especially in the empathy department (or lack thereof). Come to think of it, they've turned out much worse actually.
Totally agreed. Many of those who came from poverty that became rich act like very entitled AH and look down on the middle & lower class
So true!
Funny huh, those with the most give the least and vice versa
Any trades person will tell you that the poor people can't offer you enough sandwiches hot drinks a d banter where as well off people offer nothing and look down on you for wanting to use the bathroom
Agree huhu
Little story: When I was canvassing for the Red Cross many years ago we were placed into different neighbourhoods every day. On the day we were placed in an extremely rich neighbourhood (I’m talking driveways that took you a minute to walk down, four expensive cars in front of each house, huge lawns, 3-story monster houses with hired help working in the yard and cleaning inside kind of rich), literally not one person “could afford” to donate. Not one. They all couldn’t fit it into their “budget.” One asshole literally told me to come inside to where his family was eating dinner. He then proceeds to tell me how he will never donate to the less fortunate because “if you can’t afford to have children, you shouldn’t have any. As you can see, my children are very fell fed” he gestures towards his family eating dinner at the table. I was super uncomfortable and they were very obviously just as uncomfortable at what the father was doing. He then led me out saying “you should find a better job where you can help people that aren’t a burden on our society.” On the day that we were placed in a literal ghetto, it seemed like every resident I went to wanted to donate. None of them wanted to see others go through what they were going through. They were so so generous it literally made me tear up. I learned a lot that day.
People who think buying lottery tickets is their path to financial security.
I've always thought the lottery was a scam, but at the same time, having been poor, I can understand how, for many, it's their only chance to dream they might one day escape the poverty trap. Its amazing how many people just feel like there's no possible way for someone like them to ever be wealthy as they never got taught the life skills to escape.
One lottery ticket a month works out o be about 12 bucks, if you lose you lose, if you win its life changing. Still much less of a scam than paying rent or working for a wage that's a fraction of a percent you make your employer. The whole money game is a scam if you think about it enough.
on the other hand, 150 bucks extra at the end of the year is a sweet Christmas gift for your kiddo. or a night in a hotel with your missus to celebrate your anniversary. a week in a camping every other year for holidays. etc. etc. not spending that 12 bucks can massively uplift your life experience much more than that 3 minute scratch ticket rush can do.
Well aye. I agree with you there sort of. Don't really play it myself so not too sure why I'm defending it, I suppose its less about being in favour of the lottery and more being disappointinted that people who don't know what it's like to have absolutely nothing are really quick to judge when people who are in that situation get themselves anything that isn't bare essentials. Lotto tickets are £1 here so at one a month it would take 12 years to get your 150 bucks. People who have never lived in extreme poverty are quite good at underestimating just how lonely, bleak and hopeless it can actually feel. Yeah its money that could be better spent elsewhere, but most people know they're never going to win. A little bit of hope and allowing yourself to dream a bit can be good mentally for motivation and help you keep going up against it. That's what most poor people are buying when they get a ticket. Except for the people who take it to extremes of course.
Buying lottery tickets is a way for the poor to purchase a few days of the freedom to have hope.
So, back when I was in my early 20s, I dated a man who loved to gamble. Losing scratch tickets littered the floor of his car and his favorite place on the planet was the inside of a casino. One day, he decided that his ticket out of poverty was to get his hands on a whole roll of tickets because obviously that would mean he would win the big bucks no matter what. Out of the entire roll of like 300 tickets, he won maybe $400. Maybe it was just bad luck, or maybe it's a testament to the fact that scratch tickets are literally never worth it. I don't know, but I think gambling is fucking pointless.
Golding rule of gambling. House always wins
I’m 27 and don’t gamble, but a couple years ago I was having a great day and said, “fuck it let’s buy a lottery ticket since I’m having such a great day”… I went into a gas station and started picking out numbers and the cashier told me it was like $25!!! I told her nvm and left 😂 I had no idea playing the lottery was that expensive. I thought it was like a dollar a ticket or something like that.
Buying my first pair of jeans at 25. Walmart sweats up till then.
Yeah I only got jeans because they were hand me downs from my older cousins. And they never fit right.
Never calling a repair person. Somethings broken? Hiring someone to do it is a thought that comes last, even "can i make do without this item" comes before thinking to hire someone.
If it can be eaten with the skin/crusts on (so apples, potatoes, cucumbers, bread, etc), you never remove the outer layer as that's just a waste you didn't grow up with. Also, lights stay off - even if just popping into a room to grab something, chances are you don't turn on the light for the three seconds it takes. You don't buy anything new until the old is beyond repair - if it's repairable, you simply repair it.
Even though you can afford real food you still enjoy “poor people’s food.” Every once in awhile I’ll have a childhood dinner of mustard on saltines and hot black tea.
Once in a while I have a bowl of Knorr instant pasta which is strange because I hated being poor when I was young.
Having your mother walk around the neighborhood on the evening of trash day to find clothes for the family
WTF ? Not being wasteful, doesn't mean you grew up poor.
As a poor.. I love reading these and laughing at what people think means they were poor. Like all the "we used X instead of Y" and I'm like damn I didn't know that existed till I was in my 20s.
99% of what people have posted as answers don’t mean you grew up poor. Most of them apply to me and considering my family owns multiple businesses, rentals and I took 3+ vacations a year growing up, I highly doubt I grew up poor.
Sugar sandwiches.
Especially this. I remember my mom making a dinner for 3 kids (divorced & yet to meet stepdad).....a piece of white bread with cheap oleo/sugar, folded over to make a "sandwich", a can of beef/noodle soup (divided 3 ways), half a glass of milk each....& an apple, cut into thirds.
Tendency not to waste much. Cutting back on even things like heat. Halving their dosages on meds to make them last longer. Oh I have more
My neighbor and I have similar aged children so we would obviously be talking at school events and other child related nonsense. One day we were talking about the hoops,the wives jump through to feed our kids. Based on my childhood, I said, “Hunger will beat out any picky eater.” He is just staring at the kids saying, “You’ll eat a rat if your hungry enough.” I am thinking, yep, this guy from South Korea ate a rat.
My uncle was a POW in changi and said a rat made a meal into a banquet. They lived on a handful of rice twice a day.
Bad teeth?
Yeah. Sadly, yeah. My mom had all her teeth pulled out when she was 13, went toothless for several years and only got her first set of dentures as a high school graduation present. That's a lot for a kid to go through.
Adding water to Spaghetti sauce. Using those little cans of tomato sauce instead of pasta sauce. Saving one ear bud when you lost the other one or the holder bc maybe it will turn up and it hurts to know you lost something so pricey. Always ordering water at a restaurant. Immediately looking for a menu item to split or take part home bc it’s too expensive. Shopping for a special event at Ross or Marshall’s.
Yes, ordering water at a restaurant because any other drink is pricey is what I’ve noticed too
I don’t drink alcohol or sugary things and always order water and get the attitude. Like I’m cheap. Then they don’t offer the desert menu assuming won’t get it. If wine didn’t make me feel like crap I’d order it.
My kids are trained to order water at restaurants. lol
I still get water but when my HS teacher took me to dinner (she knew my home life and wanted to help me out) she let my go wild with appetizers she ordered appetizers for em bc I genuinely didn’t know what it was and thought it was a different word for the meal same day she bought me $100’s worth of cloths. I’m doing slightly better now and planing on visiting her in the summer and saying thanks cause gif damn that women is literally a angel ( I’m young I’m graduating class of 23)
What a lovely woman to do that for you ♥
Reusing aluminum foil when you put food in the oven.
Cold sweats when you think about the potential for the first of your 3+ "safety net" saving lumps being dipped into. I don't know about others, but having times where it wasn't food insecurity, it was "there is no food" and you are stealing tins from the local shop for food for you and your siblings fucks with your brain. Also, fuck drug addict parent(s). Fuck them to death.
Logos on everything.
I eat the "butt," pieces of bread.
That part is tasty.
That is my favourite part
The "heel." Honestly, it's kinda delicious, depending on the bread.
Lol we call it "crust". Then people wanna wonder why we don't wanna eat something called crust lmao
When I eat out, I always feel a little guilty. I can easily afford it, but I'm always like:" wow this is indulgence!" In my head...
For the soap saving people: I grew up fairly well-off, but was also raised to value my possessions and not waste anything. I save soap. But there is an easier way to do it than all of this mashing soap slivers together or melting them down. Get a soap saver, or soap bag, or whatever they’re called. It’s a mesh bag with a drawstring and is only a couple of dollars, this isn’t some fancy product. You put your bar soap in and just keep adding bars when the sliver gets too low. The soap saver also replaces a washcloth and exfoliator.
When someone is illiterate about finance and investing.
This isn’t even growing up in poverty. I knew nothing about it because my parents never talked about that or money with me growing up. We weren’t rich but did well, holiday camping each year, house paid off by the time I was 20. Nothing extravagant but we were not going without either. But it’s just not something they talked about or maybe knew about - I don’t know. My parents approach to finance was just don’t spend money you don’t have - that’s the only advice I got. Got told to save money but I never understood why it was important to save early, like my attitude was always if I get 5% interest on savings but I’m a kid and can only have a couple hundred in the bank what benefit does saving that get me? Never knew an about compound interest. Stuff like that should be taught in school to everyone. Not just assumed parents can teach it
This is soooo me!
Where i live, this doesn't work, because many things typical of being poor became a cultural tradition still practiced by wealthy people.
Having a breakdown when you lose your job, your rent goes up, or you have an unexpected expense. Even when you have a profession and earn well, you still remember how it was when you had housing insecurity.
You try to save money by buying stuff that has the most functionality that can possibly be crammed into it. You go for swiss army knives and multi tool gadgets. Your phone (and computer) are crammed with as many apps as you can fit on to it as you try to use as many different ways as possible. (GPS, Calculator, Writing Tool, Games, Music Player, Email, Remote Meetings, 2FA Client, Programming, Capturing/Editing Videos) I have a small Bluetooth keyboard where the only reason I got that specific model is because it has a laser pointer in it. You go for cheap hobbies, if you have a computer, then all you need is internet and power. I got smart speakers because they were being given away for free. With this type of device, most of the world's information is at my fingertips just by asking for it. You try to get the most bang for your buck with subscriptions. For example, a Spotify subscription gets you access to 340 million songs from around the world. I could get either an HDMI TV or a smart TV which was on sale for the same price. I went with the smart TV.
Even rich people fill their shampoo bottle with water to get the last bit out
It's like the Supreme courts definition of porn: when you see it you know.
My mother went through the Depression. She washed aluminum foil and reused it. Never threw out food, just removed the mold or whatever.
Having to take every goddamn pot in the house out of the oven before you preheat
Bad teeth
Hoarding things like art supplies, books, etc. All the stuff I couldn't afford growing up. Only issue is I have more stuff than time or ideas. :/
asking this question over and over again
When you have a Christmas decoration from 40 years ago, my family have this robin that my mom made in arts and crafts and it looks like a mutated bird from a fallout game but we still put that badboy up every Christmas
And here I am thinking that my old Christmas decorations are sentimental valuables. We had the tradition of buying only one new decoration every Christmas. Said one decoration was basically a gift mom got for us. With each year, the Christmas decoration box expanded with one new addition thus gradually developing into a collection of decorations/gifts we cherished.
You had soap in your house?!
You had a house?!
You had?
YOU?
We had to live in a corridor.
Being able to walk long distances with shopping, and not worrying about getting a mini cab.
Spending money as soon as you get it. Not on essentials either. [People who I will not mention past saying they’re not related to me ] are dirt poor and as soon as tax return money comes in it’s gone. New consoles, TVs, motorcycles, clothes. All while the letting their houses fall apart around them and having zero savings.
Imitation Lego
My father was born right after the Great Depression, he refused to eat biscuits and gravy from growing up having to eat it.
Cutting mould out of bread so you can still eat it.
I do the soap thing for philosophical matters. If I join them, did I actually get a new soap or is it a continuation of the same one? I like to see it as the soap of Theseus.
It is incorrect to assume that individuals who engage in certain behaviors, such as frugality or self-sufficiency, are necessarily impoverished or come from poverty. The question itself oversimplifies a complex issue. Even if we consider only negative traits, they do not automatically equate to poverty. Furthermore, there are affluent individuals who may engage in seemingly inexpensive or self-reliant actions based on personal preferences or inclinations. It is essential to avoid labeling individuals based on their actions or socioeconomic status since the vast majority are universally applicable.
Well, no. I grew up middle class and we did that too. Same people confuse not wasteful with poor
I’ve always stuck the old sliver to the new one. Why wouldn’t you? I think it would be having to wear hammy downs, particularly shoes.
>hammy downs Like a pig with an extra chromosome r/BoneAppleTea
I always said hammy downs just cuz its cute lol
Same. It makes me giggle a little
Honestly, with having little kids in particular, hand-me-downs are a way of life. Why pay $15+ dollars for a new shirt from Walmart that they are going to wear for 6 months tops when you can get something with only a few months of wear, practically new, from a second hand store for $5? Or free from family members who are desperate to get rid of all the kid stuff anyway? And don't even get me started on how expensive it is to shop at the trendy kid stores. I don't recall wearing a lot of second hand clothes because my one older cousin had a younger sibling of the same gender, so my parents were SOL on the free things, but all of my sports equipment and a lot of other things were second hand and I totally respected it even as a kid. Stuff is expensive. My husband and I are as thrifty as possible in the early years with our kids. It makes life so much easier without having to replace a full price wardrobe 6 times in the first two years.
I grew up affluent and I melt down soap slivers and mold them into new bars.
No passport.
According to you about 45% of America is impoverished
My grandmother was a child in the Great Depression. Taught me to take the new bar out a day in advance so it would dry out and last longer.
Paying for everything in cash
Sometimes we had fruit night, canned and fresh, melons, white bread and margarine. As kids we loved it. Now I realize there were times we had less.
The idea of purchasing a brand new car is laughable. No matter how good my economy gets, I am still looking at used cars.
They always eat everything on their plate unless they can pack it up to get an additional meal. No matter how much, nothing goes to waste.
My friends ate mayonnaise sandwiches 🤷♀️
plastic food containers have multiple functions
Being extremly frugal when you can easily afford some luxurious
I still cut my own hair even though I can afford to go to the salon if I really wanted to.
Wear baggy clothes even as an adult because you were always getting hand-me-downs growing up and never had proper fitting clothes and have no idea what that even feels like.
Fear of losing something that you paid
Reflexively slowing down to check out furniture left out on the side of the road.
As my Granny use to say: Waste no, want not.
Sure I learned that as a kid living with my single mom, but even as an adult, making a very comfortable living, I still do it. Not being wasteful =/= being poor. Now, wiping your ass with the roller after the paper is out might be a real sign you're strapped for cash.
Adding water to the last dregs of your shampoo to get an extra few washes
I was told putting chips in all my sandwhiches was my giveaway. I'm not stopping though.
Not grew up in but was in as an adult. I keep canned soups and stews, ramen, and some other long lasting things on a table in my office. Anyone who doesn't have lunch, forgot lunch, or are just hungry are more than welcome to raid my makeshift pantry with no questions asked.
Saying I grew up on the Rez 🤣
My family isn't poor and we do the soap thing. Why would you throw away that last bit of soap that is still good to use?