How do poor People Think? Nobody can ever truly comprehend what it
resembles to be poor until they are forced to get by on not as much as nothing.
It can calm, shocking and customarily unfortunate, yet the individuals who are
less lucky are left with minimal decision until they can get recovered. For
everyone else, we have the internet.
In an askreddit discussion titled "What
Do Poor People Buy that Ordinary People Know Nothing About?," users
shared what it resembled growing up poor and the things they'd need to do to
survive that most "normal" individuals couldn't envision. Their
stories will make you reconsider what it resembles to live.
Here are 20 stories that will make you value all that you have in life.
permitbyrule
“My office only has a unisex bathroom so it has the facilities for men and
women. Naturally there’s a tampon machine, and tampons are only 5 cents. Once a
month I’ll work late, get a roll of nickels and fill up a grocery sack with
tampons for my wife.”
AlgernusPrime
“I learned how to be resourceful when I was dirt poor. That skillset is
still with me. Nowadays, I’m no longer poor but I could not put myself to
buying something that I do not need and if I did; I feel like shit. Some people
get a high from shopping, I get that shit feeling when I buy something.”
Honzo427
“When I was child, Burger King ran a special kids meal where it was two
mini Burgers that were attached to each other like a weird conjoined burger
experiment. Sometimes we would go. My dinner was 1.5 of the mini burgers, my moms
dinner was the half I didn’t eat and she would fill up on the free refills of
soda.”
ShotgunMeLove
“my mom would buy a small personal pizza for my brother on special
occasions like if he did really well on a test at school or something. Even
though it was only like $2, she couldnt afford anything for herself so she
would eat his leftover crust. She told me he would always tell her “Mommy are
you hungry? Go buy one just for you” and she would just say “No I’m not hungry,
I only want a little snack”
She only just told me this a few years ago and I was shocked because by the
time I came along my dad had gotten a good job and we lived just like anyone
else… I had no idea that my older brother grew up like that.”
skettch
“This got me too because I remember my mom doing the same thing at Burger
King. They had this deal where you could get 2 burgers and 2 fries for $2.22.
There were five of us boys and she was a single mom, so she’d order like 3 or 4
of these deals and just eat whatever was left (if anything).
Texting her now to say thank you.”
ToddTheOdd
“I was so poor once that I would go to Long John Silvers and order a water
and crunchies (which used to be free) then sit there and watch the people that
would dine in.
It was amazing how little they ate. And then they would leave without
dumping their tray off in the trash.
Fries, hushpuppies, chicken, fish… all untouched. No I didn’t eat a piece
that was bitten off of.
I once saw a woman order a 2 piece fish and more for her kid, that ate 1
hushpuppy and a few fries, and then left the rest of it there. It was the best
I had eaten in weeks.
Glad that’s behind me now.”
pyromaster55
“Lots of school systems do free lunches for kids under 18 during the
summer. When I was a kid I remember my dad taking us to get lunch at the school
then go play disc golf, soccer, or do something else free and fun, it was a
blast and I had no clue it was because we were poor.
Dollar theaters, and sometimes they have a free afternoon/evening show for
kids with the purchase of a parent ticket. Many movies were seen by the three
of us for $4 with a shared popcorn and coke.
My dad was amazing at making us feel rich on basically nothing.
EDIT
A lot of people seem to pointing out my dad was irresponsible for having
children without being financially prepared. My mom left us when I was 6,
little brother was 2. She had her own stuff to work out, but she wasn’t there
to help out. My dad was an assistant teacher at the time,working to become a
teacher, which was plenty to support us with her help, but alone and suddenly
without any help he struggled. He ended up getting a second job, but we were
still pretty poor for several years before he got his teaching position.”
Olivers_Dad
“I had to move out on my own when I was 17. I had no money at all and drove
an old clunker Camry. I got a flat tire to match the flat spare in the trunk. I
went to the Discount Tire on the East Side of Indianapolis, where I was living,
to see if they could patch it.
When they got it on the rack, they said that belts were showing around the
tire–in fact, all of the tires–and I would have to replace all four tires.
I thanked them, went outside, sat in my car and started crying. The manager came out and knocked on the window. He said that he had a set of tires that would fit my wheels that someone left when they got new tires. I told him thanks, but didn’t have any money. He told me not to worry about it and when I graduate, to come back and buy my tires from them.”
techytecherson
“I had a really odd childhood. Until age 9 my family would have been
classed as upper middle class. Then my father left and my mum went bat-shit
crazy.
From 9 to 18 we were dirt poor.
I remember being 10 years old and our weekly treat was to go to the
Littlewoods cafe (I think they went bust) and they did a 99p 5 piece breakfast.
We shared that among my mum, brother, sister, and me. One of us got the extra
item; we’d take turns.
As an adult I have made sure my children will never know poverty because of
excellent memories like that. Nothing motivates you more than memories of
fighting over a solitary sausage.”
NinjaShira
“I had just switched jobs, just moved to a new town, my car was broken, my
boyfriend and I just split up so I was trying to make rent on my own, and my
dog had a really bad ear infection that ended up costing almost $200 in
medicine. I had -$6 in my bank account for another five days until payday and
had zero food in the kitchen.
I posted there on a whim, and ended up with about $70 in Papa John’s gift
cards. Damn good people there.”
duluoz1
“That's like me. I feel sick buying anything, and guilty unless I got an
amazing deal or if it was used.”
notmaurypovich
“Extended stay housing or motels/hotels. When you can't qualify to get an
apartment because you don't have proof of income, you end up wasting more money
to stay for a week at extended day housing or a cheap motel. It sucks ass
having no home/being a transient, I promise myself never to be in the same
situation again.”
LyonessNasty
"My Dad was also king of this too.
Our bonding nights consisted of a couple rented movies from Blockbuster,
turkey bacon on the George Foreman grill, and instant cappuccino powder in
milk. He would save up the entire time between visits and when my sister and I
visited, we would go on one big "adventure". One time we went
horseback riding, another time we went cave exploring. We didn't have fancy
camping gear either, we had his basic issue field stuff from the Army. He would
make the coolest forts and we'd spend a day/night out in the woods and play
euchre or rummy by the campfire. My sister, my dad and I played a game called
super spy, where my dad would leave clues, draw maps, pretend to be a character
and give confessions. My sister and I would have to figure out the plot, who
was the bad guy, and save the day.
My favorite thing we ever did was follow the creek out on my grandparents
land and discover these little water falls. He bought a disposable camera and
took my picture in front of every one of them. We made a colored map on poster
paper, colored a legend, and he glued the pictures of me and my waterfalls on
to it. I would lead my cousins on trips along the creek with my super spiffy
map me and my dad made.
I get overwhelmed at times thinking about how hard he tried to make the
time we had together awesome and never about what we couldn't do because we
were too poor.
Meepshesaid
"I have been both very poor and very comfortable. A lot of very true
statements already posted here, but here's what I have noticed. When you are
broke, you can't plan ahead or shop sales or buy in bulk. Poor people wait to
buy something until they absolutely need it, so they have to pay whatever the
going price is at that moment. If ten-packs of paper towels are on sale for
half price, that's great, but you can only afford one roll anyway. In this way,
poor people actually pay more than others for common staple goods. Edit: Holy
cats!
eeyore102
"Stuff on layaway. My mom would always go to this store that sold heavily
discounted irregulars and put it on layaway for our new school clothes.
Freekmagnet
"Near where I live there is one of those guys who cleans out basements and
storage buildings for a living. he also has these huge yard sales 2 or three
times a year along a main highway; pretty incredible to see. he even puts up
traffic control and parking signs because so many people stop when it is busy.
This guy saves up all of the kid's clothes he comes across during the year,
and toward the beginning of August he has a yard sale that is mostly clothing.
The moms from the local trailer parks all come to this sale and fill bags with
clothes for their kids, which he then puts in his garage and holds on layaway.
These mothers come to his back door and make weekly payments on used school
clothes and shoes for their kids all month.
onehunglow58
"After selling plasma i would walk to wendys and eat the crackers and
ketchup for dinner.
Rhie
"I drove on a flat spare to a discount tire here in austin one morning. My
husband's (then boyfriend) car was our only means of transportation and i had
to take home to work first. I got to discount tire to get them to patch my flat
and it was the same thing, the tire was bald to the mesh stuff, and another
tire was, too. We had $23 to our names, we had just (thankfully) paid our rent,
and i asked him to please just fix the flat and we would deal with it when we
could.
He told me that he couldnt, in good conscience, let me drive on those
tires, and then gave me two tires, just gave them to me. He said that he
couldnt stand the thought of a tire blowing out on me, so he would take care of
it. (It should be noted that I'm not even a cute girl)
We are much better off now, and whenever I need anything tire related, I go
to that discount tire.
WatchingJeremyKyle
"Learning the times of the day when meat, bakery, fish, vegetable and misc.
items are reduced to 75% at the local supermarket.
I've been learning for years, but it's a good day when you find 400g of
fresh mince for 99p, and you have warm filling food that you used to take for
granted when living with parents.
One thing Ive noticed about being poor is that you become almost vegetarian
because meat just costs too damn much. Frozen or fresh.
Another thing would be buying the cheapest large container of yoghurt, and
mixing in jam for fruity yoghurt. But that's not about being poor, that's just
a good idea.
FFalldayerryday
"A buddy of mine went through a tough time a few years back, and I didn't
know about it until he told me about a year ago. One thing that stuck with me
was that he made just enough money to survive. By survive, he meant literally
enough money to pay rent, utilities and the cheapest, worst food he could buy.
He couldn't afford transportation. Not even the bus.
He told me about a span of a few months he went through where he literally
only ate water, dry noodles and peanut butter. For a few months...
He worked at a restaurant and they cut his hours. He couldn't find other
work. His first big reality check was that he had to sell his car to make rent
one month. The next month he started selling other "unnecessary
items"...like his old TV, some old appliances and his nicer clothes.
He got to the point where he was doing his laundry with dish soap in his
sink. He couldn't afford deodorant, razors or any of the things we take for
granted...so he'd steal them from the grocery store. He didn't like to do it,
but he had no choice. He never got caught.
When he told me all of this, I was floored. I wish he would have told me
when it was happening. I would have helped any way I could. At that time, I was
by no means living a fancy lifestyle, but I could have thrown him a $20 spot
here and there to help him put some groceries in the house or some TP in the
bathroom. Fuck, just thinking about it makes me ill.
He's still poor today, but he works full time and is happy...at least from
what I see.
FINAL
QUOTE
All the things can be bought with money. But money can't buy the values, the characters and the meaning in life that give us the motivation to continue living.
