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If you grew up poor (or at least relatively poor), some of the things you and your family did (or didn’t do) because of this have probably stuck with you through the years. Even if you’ve found a better life and aren’t poor now, it’s quite likely that you still remember all of the things your family did differently compared to some other well-off families.

Well, Redditors have recently got together to share their stories on this topic. Reddit user u/SnooBeaz went to r/AskReddit to ask everyone who grew up poor what was a thing that they considered a luxury. Over 26,000 people responded in the comments (and the post itself got over 60,000 upvotes), explaining some of the most interesting things that they considered a luxury back in the day.

Bored Panda has collected some of the best answers and made it into a list. Scroll down to read them all, and upvote as well as comment on the ones you liked or related to the most! Oh, and if this isn’t enough, you can check out our other list on the same topic here.

This post may include affiliate links.

#1

40 Things That People Thought Were A Luxury Because They Grew Up Poor, Shared In This Viral Reddit Post Mom's are the best, she is a boss. My mom was single and I was the youngest of 3 children so I only ever got hand me downs. At Christmas time we couldn't even afford a tree so she made one out of lights on the wall and asked us each which 1 present we wanted the most. She somehow always made it happen. Years later she told me it was her lunch money she saved for weeks by not eating. She gave everything for us and always did her best. My mom lost her battle to colon cancer in July of 2017. She fought for 3 years and went through 7 rounds of chemotherapy. I was lucky enough to be there and take care of her during it all and was with her the moment her heart stopped. It warms my heart to feel so much love from you all and helps me to know that humanity will always prevail. Please stay safe and continue to be amazing human beings.

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#2

40 Things That People Thought Were A Luxury Because They Grew Up Poor, Shared In This Viral Reddit Post I don’t know if anyone can relate, but in about 3rd maybe 4th grade, me and my twin brother had a music class where we were both required to buy a recorder. (Like a plastic flute thing) well my mom said we didn’t have the money so my twin brother and I tore the whole house up in search of $6 for two recorders. We brought a ziploc bag full of change pennies, nickels, dimes etc.

I think the teacher felt sorry for us, cause she paid for our recorders when the rest of the students left the room. Gave us the ziploc bag back.

Thank you Mrs. Albrecht

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Bama Belle
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

My parents were poor like this, but could somehow always find money for their cigarettes.

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#3

40 Things That People Thought Were A Luxury Because They Grew Up Poor, Shared In This Viral Reddit Post In high school, my boyfriend (who became my husband) and his family picked up pretty early on that I was poor, and that my family was pretty dysfunctional. They really let me into their family and took care of me in a sweet, not pity, way.

I was super into art, so his mom found a neighborhood art teacher that did like basically small group art classes and it was so so cool. Anyways she usually charged like $100 for all the supplies, time, etc. My mom knew how excited I was, and I never asked for anything so she told me to ask the teacher to wait until her next paycheck. The teacher was like “sure!” By the time I brought that check to her, I think my boyfriend’s mom talked to her, and she ripped it up and said I got a “scholarship” for the class. Honestly it gives me such good vibes thinking about it till this day.

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#4

40 Things That People Thought Were A Luxury Because They Grew Up Poor, Shared In This Viral Reddit Post Grew up pretty poor in Arkansas in a trailer. I literally got a door to my bedroom for Christmas one year. It probably still was the best gift I ever received.

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#5

40 Things That People Thought Were A Luxury Because They Grew Up Poor, Shared In This Viral Reddit Post My parents won 1500 bucks at a lottery once. They bought a new sofa (to replace a 25yo sofa), a phone, and we went to a mid-range steakhouse, first restaurant for whole family. I was 20.

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#6

40 Things That People Thought Were A Luxury Because They Grew Up Poor, Shared In This Viral Reddit Post School parties where everyone brought something to share for lunch.

“If you don’t bring something, you don’t get to participate...”

I brought two carrots after not being able to afford school lunch for two years. Even the teacher laughed at me. My young self just decided that day that some people don’t deserve lunch.

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RoseTheMad
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

You are correct. That teacher, and the rest of the class who laughed at you, do not deserve lunch.

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#7

40 Things That People Thought Were A Luxury Because They Grew Up Poor, Shared In This Viral Reddit Post My folks always had three meals a day for us but clothes were always a treat.

It might be a pair of pants and a shirt but my folks always made sure it was something that we were able to pick out and it always felt so special. They sacrificed a lot for it.

In fact, my Mom told me a few years ago that in order to provide that my parents didn't buy new clothes (or much of anything) for well over a decade when we were younger.

With my first real job out of school I was able to take my Dad to a shop and have him pick out a suit of his choice and get it fitted. He's confessed that it's one of the moments that's really stuck with him; he still has that suit and has worn it to both my sister's and my weddings.

But yeah, some of those feelings and habits don't really go away. Regarding clothes, they still get worn till they can't be patched anymore and I loathe to throw them away.

I gotta stop there because this is actually making me surprisingly emotional.

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#8

40 Things That People Thought Were A Luxury Because They Grew Up Poor, Shared In This Viral Reddit Post I see nobody says this but going to the dentist or any doctor at all

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Joanne Haywood
Joanne Haywood
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Dentistry, ophthalmology and doctor appointments and any treatment needed including free glasses are provided until the age of 16 or until further education is completed for kids in the UK. So we were made to see the dentist twice a year and he NEVER used any pain medication if we needed a filling.

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#9

40 Things That People Thought Were A Luxury Because They Grew Up Poor, Shared In This Viral Reddit Post In middle school I was on reduced school meals so it would be .40 for lunch. So my parents would always give me 2 quarters every morning for lunch, now the cafeteria would also sell cookies which wasn’t part of the lunch set for .50 each. So saving .10 each day I could afford one cookie by Fridays lunch. Good times

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BoredPundits
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This is actually a great way for OP to learn the value of money and to save up for something special.

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#10

40 Things That People Thought Were A Luxury Because They Grew Up Poor, Shared In This Viral Reddit Post Staying at someone's house who wasn't poor, like a relative or friend. Their house was also so clean, beautiful, pictures on the wall, knick knacks on the counter, and carpet you could play on because it was clean.

I spent my entire teenage years hiding where I lived.

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Neva Nevičica
Neva Nevičica
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Me too. I was affraid my colegues from school would see where i live. And envied everyone who had a dry bathroom floor, our was always kind of wet, probably because of leaky things.

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#11

40 Things That People Thought Were A Luxury Because They Grew Up Poor, Shared In This Viral Reddit Post Going places during school vacation. The kids would be all like “what!? you’ve never been to xyz amusement park!?” No, Trisha. My family doesn’t even have a car.” Which is another luxury to me.

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GirlFriday
GirlFriday
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I feel this one. We had a car, but I never went to amusement parks or vacations that weren't camping.

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#12

40 Things That People Thought Were A Luxury Because They Grew Up Poor, Shared In This Viral Reddit Post I got pretty excited to be given my own bed

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History Fan
History Fan
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Getting your own bed IS exciting, I don't care if its a couch, as long as its mine, and comfortable, I'm grateful. Better than the floor.

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#13

40 Things That People Thought Were A Luxury Because They Grew Up Poor, Shared In This Viral Reddit Post I remember in 8th grade on my birthday at school one of my teachers asked me what gifts I had received. He asked in front of the whole class, I excitedly shared that I would be getting contact lenses. My parents let me choose one thing that I wanted and I desperately wanted to stop wearing the broken glasses I had, which I usually didn’t wear. One of the boys in class made a comment like “contacts aren’t a present..?” And my teacher had to explain to him- again in front of everyone- that for some families they were too expensive not to be a luxury. After that experience I worked two and three jobs in high school so I could buy myself and my brothers the things we needed. The first thing I bought with my money from my first job as a hostess at a diner was a queen size bed because my twin mattress was about 20 years old and at 15 I was having back problems and issues with rusted springs poking me.

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tangy chip
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

how are contacts not a present? id love contacts as a gift, especially if i was wearing broken glasses!

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#14

40 Things That People Thought Were A Luxury Because They Grew Up Poor, Shared In This Viral Reddit Post Christmas presents.

I was a kid and one year for Christmas when I was young, before I could recognize that I was making any kind of larger point, I said that I wanted my parents to just give my presents to the kids who didn't have anything. But I didn't know that I was one of those kids. I wonder what they thought when a kid said that to them. I wonder if it hurt them or inspired them.

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#15

40 Things That People Thought Were A Luxury Because They Grew Up Poor, Shared In This Viral Reddit Post Until the age of 12, I thought that you weren’t allowed to buy things that weren’t on sale. My mom only bought things when they were on sale and/or she had a coupon, so I thought that the “non-sale” items weren’t being sold.

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tangy chip
tangy chip
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

that logic actually makes sense. it was the same with my mom (still is)

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#16

40 Things That People Thought Were A Luxury Because They Grew Up Poor, Shared In This Viral Reddit Post going out to eat at a restaurant

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로희
로희
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I grew up poor and fast food restaurants like Pizza Hut and McDonald's used to be a luxury for my family. I had my first pizza when I was already a teenager.

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#17

40 Things That People Thought Were A Luxury Because They Grew Up Poor, Shared In This Viral Reddit Post My Mom had 7 children in 10 years, 1950-1960. I remember having a whole bottle (those smallish glass ones that came out of the machine for 10cents) of soft drink to my self instead of sharing 1 bottle between all 7 of us. I was perhaps 5 years old. I still remember this as the best thing ever.

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lara
lara
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

For me it is being able to buy a "creamsicle" for 5 cents when the ice cream man came by. I never did. We lived in a housing project in Kansas City while my dad was going to medical school. I knew we didn't have any money, but it never occurred to me that we were "poor."

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#18

A hot shower. Cold showers were always available, but when you scraped enough cash to get some diesel fuel and get the burner to kick on long enough to have a hot shower man, absolutely nothing better.

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#19

40 Things That People Thought Were A Luxury Because They Grew Up Poor, Shared In This Viral Reddit Post New clothes.

I grew up pretty poor (no TV, no toys, but had a Sears catalog). My dad got in a serious accident when I was in 4th grade and almost lost his life. He won a small settlement from the community college he was working at and I was able to buy new clothes for the first time in my life. Before this all I ever had were hand me downs from my cousin and donation clothes from the church. Most were worn to the point of having patches on the knees.

The worst part about getting new clothes for the first time is I felt terrible the whole time picking out new clothes because I always felt like a financial burden to my parents. I remember going to Miller’s Outpost and picking out typical 80’s clothes (OP, TnC, etc.).

It’s funny how growing up poor affects my everyday choices, for better or worse. I’ll never outgrow some of the feelings I had as a poor kid and I feel for any kid who has to endure a childhood of poverty. It will affect them and their choices for the rest of their life.

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lara
lara
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I wore "hand me downs" until I was 16, didn't think a thing about it. They were nice clothes and it never, ever occurred to me that it was "embarrassing."

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#20

Restaurants were definitely somewhere at the top of my list. I lived through the tail end of Apartheid in South Africa so we weren’t allowed into restaurants. Also, non-iceberg lettuce. Dairy products, like a full glass of milk, cheese, cottage cheese, yogurt, flavored milk. Lawns.

A dining table and family meals at the table. Vacations that didn’t involve staying with relatives.

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Nikki Hilton
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I hope you are able to enjoy so of the things you missed out on as a child.

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#21

40 Things That People Thought Were A Luxury Because They Grew Up Poor, Shared In This Viral Reddit Post Pancakes

But now as an adult and knowing how cheap pancakes really are, I think my mom just didn't want to make them

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#22

40 Things That People Thought Were A Luxury Because They Grew Up Poor, Shared In This Viral Reddit Post Man, new school supplies! An actual Trapper Keeper is all I wanted.

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M O'Connell
M O'Connell
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I made a habit of 'harvesting' good used school supplies from the trash cans in the hallway on the last day of school so I had good stuff in the fall for the next school year. I'm in my 30's and I still have pens and pencils left from that effort.

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#23

Parents staying home. I was always alone.

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izzy.kitsune
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

yeah, it sucks when your parents had to be always working :(

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#24

40 Things That People Thought Were A Luxury Because They Grew Up Poor, Shared In This Viral Reddit Post New shoes

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Average Grizzlies Fan
Average Grizzlies Fan
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I know a lot of people need shoes. Some don't even have shoes, let alone have worn ones. Luckily, there are good people that make organizations to provide people with this.

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#25

Being allowed to turn on the heat during the winter, and also being able to hire a professional to fix broken appliances, plumbing, etc

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#26

My mom bought me the bag of chips I wanted as a birthday present.

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#27

Having a fridge full of food.

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Jean H.
Jean H.
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Our freezer was always packed with discount bread from the bakery....and it was locked with a chain and key lock! Mom slept with the key attached to her PJ's. There was never a brand name anything in the fridge and government cheese.

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#28

40 Things That People Thought Were A Luxury Because They Grew Up Poor, Shared In This Viral Reddit Post "We're ordering pizza for dinner"

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#29

40 Things That People Thought Were A Luxury Because They Grew Up Poor, Shared In This Viral Reddit Post Being able to get candy at a store.

New school supplies.

Brand name food.

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tangy chip
tangy chip
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

my parents always bought "fruit o's" instead of froot loops because "it tastes the same and saves us money". we were middle-class...?

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#30

Honestly didn't know that pasta roni was 1$ until I was a grown ass man. I thought that was some gourmet s***.

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#31

McDonald's

Clothes that fit

Soda

Having a toy that other kids thought was cool

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Pagan Child of Fire
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

@Robert Catte, shut the f**k up, asshole. Stop being a d**k, no one thinks it's funny.

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#32

Electricity lol. Thanks for paying the bill this month, mom.

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Janet Bird
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

In order of importance rent, electricity, gas for heating and then food. Somebody will always give you food I'm sure, but not those others. To this day I hate to be cold.

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#33

Taking a bath. I mean we bathed every night, but it was by heating up water (that we would go to the park down the road to get in 5 gallon jugs) and filling up a mop bucket to wash off with. Staying over at a friend or family members house and getting to take an actual shower was amazing though.

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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Robert, how long have you? I just started seeing you, and all I hear is "Okay". I don't get the joke.

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#34

Owning books.

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Joey Marlin
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

My parents always took us to the library once a week. That was a treat.

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#35

It's a long time ago - but when I was young (about 6-8 years old) back in the early 1960's we had meat once a week for the family dinner - on Sundays.

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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Sunday dinner was always a highlight of the week. Meat was on the menu!

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#36

40 Things That People Thought Were A Luxury Because They Grew Up Poor, Shared In This Viral Reddit Post For my school's spirit week, they had a "thrift shop" day, where most everyone dressed in old ratty clothes, or the weirdest stuff they could find in a thrift shop. Needless to say, as someone who's clothes were 80% second hand, it was an eye opener.

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#37

Renting a movie from blockbuster the first weekend of every month. My brother and I got to pick any movie we wanted as long as it wasn’t rated R. On really special nights, we even got a 2-liter bottle of Sprite for the family to share.

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Benjamin McDonald
Benjamin McDonald
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

YAS my small town still had one until 2008 then we just rewatched movies we could find at yard sale

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#38

Having breakfast. It's gotten to the point where I can't eat in the morning because my body is so used to waiting

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Ninja Nonna
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I know this one well, I always made sure my kids had a cooked breakfast,

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#39

Air conditioning.

Sometimes we had a jacked up old window unit that would cool down my parents room on the hottest of summer nights and we would sleep in sleeping bags on their floor.

Sometimes it was broke.

Sometimes it just wasn't hot enough to justify running it.

Never during the day though, that's what the library was for.

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lara
lara
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Never had air conditioning until after my dad finished his internship and he started his practice. He and mom bought a house. Spent 8000 bucks on it.

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#40

A new winter coat. I don’t remember having a new winter coat until I was probably 14 or 15, they had always been hand-me-downs from my cousins. They were usually at least ten years old by the time I got them and the stuffing would be all clumped up.

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Joanne Haywood
Joanne Haywood
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

How I got my nickname of Ferret. My nana bought me a winter coat made from cony fur and my mum said I would have to wear it as she couldn’t really afford to buy another one (and I shouldn’t be so ungrateful!). Every morning when I got on the school bus all the lads would grab little bits of the fur and say it was ferret fur. Nearly 40 years later and whenever I see anyone from school they’ll call me Ferret.

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#41

Buying new clothes. The days I justify ordering all kinds of dumb stuff online but I’ve always felt a mental block on buying new clothes. It feels like an unjustified luxury because I always got by on second hand clothes and free tee shirts

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Bird Mom
Bird Mom
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I always feel guilty asking for things on Christmas and stuff. I'm not forcing anyone to buy it, it just seems like I am being greedy.

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#42

40 Things That People Thought Were A Luxury Because They Grew Up Poor, Shared In This Viral Reddit Post My mother used to consider any kind of cereal a luxury, they only had one box a month.

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Janet Bird
Janet Bird
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

It wasn't so much the cereal as the milk. We couldn't have cereal growing up because it would "use up all the milk."

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#43

Having my own bedroom

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Kari Panda
Kari Panda
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

We only had one bedroom and I shared a full-size bed with my mother until I moved out at 18. Never having any place to retreat to is not the worst part of being poor of course, but it definitely has a significant impact...

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#44

My gramma would take me to Chuckee Cheese on my bday and give me a bunch of tokens. That s*** was lux!

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TheGayPandas
TheGayPandas
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I've only been there once for a friends bday. I don't even remember it. I was 2.

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#45

Jeans from the mall

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Petra, princess of Brigid
Petra, princess of Brigid
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Robert Catte. Stop saying "okay" to everything. It's annoying. Kinda disrespectful too. (I sound like my dad and I'm only a teenager!)

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#46

Going to the movie theater!

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#47

Chef Boyardee.

Not even kidding.

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Larry Helms
Larry Helms
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

We used to eat Spaghetti-Os ALL the time, cause they were dirt cheap and that's all mom could afford. The smell of them today... makes me want to hurl.

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#48

Doritos. Or any name brand chips, actually.

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I love izuku midoriya
I love izuku midoriya
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I like cheddar and sour cream and onion pringles and nacho cheese doritos I'm glad you are able to get the stuff you want

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#49

Brand name cereal was for the upper class, man.

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Lonely Leafeon
Lonely Leafeon
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3 years ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Hey, several of you are acting very rude to Robert Catte. Giving someone advice is one thing but telling them to stfu is another. Don't be jerks over something silly! Let's talk about this in a mature way ok?

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#50

Poptarts and Toaster Strudels!

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Arctic Fox Lover
Arctic Fox Lover
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Whenever we get Poptarts or toaster strudels, ma and my family have to split them equally and eat them for dessert. On the other hand, my brother's friend eats them for breakfast lunch and dinner.

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