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When we’re kids, we all feel the same—little courageous adventurers ready to soak in the world with open arms. Children have no prejudice about the world, and no sense of disparity that only emerges later in life.
When looking back at your childhood years, mixed emotions may come up. For some it’s nostalgia of carefree days, for others it’s things that they didn’t notice back then that struck a chord. Like, eating chili beans for days in a row or taking it as a usual thing not to expect anything fancy for Christmas.
In fact, these are among the tweets that people shared when Twitter user Trevor Donovan asked people “Tell me you grew up poor, without telling me you grew up poor.” The thread is an eye-opening read about growing up impoverished as told by the little details that often stay unnoticed from an outsider's eye.
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#1
Didn’t have enough food because mother spent our money on church. Paid tuition to parochial school. Put cash in 2 collection plates & an envelope for The Bishops Fund special collection on Sundays. Paid coins to light candles. Her piety kept her kids hungry & cold
I hate religion
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#2
One Christmas, all three of us kids each got only a letter from my mom. Beautifully handwritten with her ink pen. I still treasure it to this day, 45 years later. I can only imagine how painful that was for her, working so hard but still always broke.
Mohammad Ammar 3 years ago
Not a Christian or even someone from the west, but I find gift giving on Christmas kind of materialistic. I don't like the idea of expecting something from someone at a particular time. The best gifts are the ones given with genuine consideration ,when you least expect it.
#3
Making lots of friends meant you could go to other kids houses and get invited to stay for dinner. I would always sneak something to eat back home for my mom. She never asked me to do that, but I knew she was hungry.
#4
Day 1 chili no beans Day 2 chili with beans Day 3 add macaroni to the remaining chili Day 4 add tomato juice to day 3 leftovers with paprika, it becomes goulash! Day 5 spoon remaining goulash over a baked potato How to Stretch your groceries at the end of the month
Jo Johannsen 3 years ago
And still make it taste good. Necessity is, after all, the mother of invention.
#5
Used to pray for clothing that my mom didn’t sew. Now that I’m older I look back and marvel at how she did all of those things for us and I just see so much love.
#6
We had a school uniform, so that was fine. But the occasional 'non-uniform day' would be horrifically embarrassing. I often pretended to forget and turn up in uniform anyway. Now I earn a reasonable amount, I still can't believe I can buy stuff whenever, like a book or a coffee or a new shirt. Part of my 32 year old head of department brain is still a poor 8 year old waiting patiently for Christmas.
#7
Every piece of produce I ate at home, from 8-18 was grown in our backyard (and trust me we had it all). Seeds are cheaper, and weeding is a great punishment that doesn’t involve hitting your kids…
#9
That teachers and lunch ladies are godsends. My teachers always asked me if I was hungry, had clothes, etc. The lunch ladies always gave me my lunch and breakfast for free, with extra food, because they knew it was the best opportunity for me to eat that day.
#10
Have you ever had a sugar sandwich? Because I have.
#11
How bad powdered milk tastes after you've had real milk, and how good powdered milk tastes when you're truly hungry.
#12
Going to bed hungry. Or purposefully leaving food so your parents could eat the leftovers since that would be their only meal... That hurts to think about, even now.
Vasana Phong 3 years ago
When we first immigrated here back in the early 80’s, my parents of course spoke no English, they worked then went to night school, I remember my parents would have all of us 5 eat first, then whatever was left they would eat, after seeing that I only ate less to make sure they had enough
#13
Margarine and cinnamon on bread? Cinnamon toast! Ate that all the time growing up
#14
McDonald's can be a place for special occasions only.
Mihai Mara 3 years ago
39, been to McD only once to meet with a friend. Never understood the hype.
#15
Packages of socks and underwear and other necessities wrapped up under the Christmas tree. Funny thing was, I thought those were the standard Christmas gifts until I got married and my husband was like, what’s with the socks and underwear for Christmas?
#16
For fun, I would go to the city dump with my grandpa to peel proof of purchase labels off cereal boxes to be redeemed for refunds or prizes. I still have some of the dolls my grandpa got for me.
#17
I am not attached to the concept of "liking" everything I eat. My son hates it, because I'm like "It's what we're having, and if you don't like it, better luck tomorrow." He's never had to learn from actual experience to be grateful he was getting anything at all.
#18
My classmates used to make fun of me because I would wear the same shirt every day and my sneakers had holes in them. This is one of the reasons why we started our charity, Alice's Kids. Thanks for raising this issue, Trevor.
#19
The guilt and anxiety in adulthood when you buy anything for yourself.
The need to not feel like you could lose everything at any minute.
Limiting your processions on the chance that any moment you may need to gather everything and leave never to come back.
#20
Got a cold? Grab a roll of toilet paper. I still feel like kleenex is a luxury item for the Queen of Sheba but my partner has chipped away at that, apparently it's not actually that expensive.
Pan Narrans 3 years ago
I still use toiletpaper. It's convenient and contains storage space for used paper.
#21
Feeling guilty about getting Xmas presents as a child
#22
Never answer the phone. It was always the bill collectors looking for money. Same with the front door. Go away nobody's home.
#23
We reused aluminum foil.
Yeah, you heard 3 years ago
I do this. Not because I'm so poor i have to, but to be less wasteful. Everyone should reuse foil if they can
#24
Everything around you can be a toy. My action figure collection included a stick, a mason jar, an off brand Barbie given to me by an older cousin, and a bunch of melted green army men that looked like a giant. We had the best adventures.
#25
The only cheese we could get was the government commodities cheese ( which made delicious grilled cheese sandwiches BTW ) and the peanut butter that came with the commodities made yummy cookies
grotesqueer 3 years ago
This breaks my heart. 💔 All these were kids had to worry about the money and wanted to / felt the need to help their parents financially.
#26
Drinking a lot of water before or during a meal makes you feel much more full
WilvanderHeijden 3 years ago
And the food digests slower so you're not feeling hungry for a longer time.
#27
The generic isle at the grocery store. White boxes with black lettering.
Vasana Phong 3 years ago
Oh man memories, back then our Pathmark super market had their own black and white label brand , was called no-frills
#28
My parents dumpster diving at the mall for birthday presents for us.
#29
When you're at the end of your pay it is possible to live off instant coffee and biscuits stolen from the office tea room just so your cat can have food.
Adam C 3 years ago (edited)
Two colleague from Poland was in London for training for a week. Company would pay for the food if you get receipt. Course-leader only said there's only 1 vending machine. So they never had lunch they just had some free biscuts from hotel. Day 3 I found a food truck and you'll get a receipt.
#30
being excited to watch a Nickelodeon or Cartoon Network show at a friend's house
#31
Picked up soda bottles from along the roadside to turn in for the deposit money.
#32
Our Christmas toy was from the S&H Green Stamp store. New PJs & underwear completed the gifts. Fridays was soup Mom made from little bits left over during the week. It was pretty random. It emptied the frig, Sat was grocery day. She knew the price of everything in the store.
Kathryn Baylis 3 years ago
My mother was a faithful S&H Green Stamp saver! I remember her stamp books, and how happy she’d be when the6 were finally full.
#33
Good hygiene isn't always an easy thing to have.
MellonCollie 3 years ago
I want to refer to a deleted comment about how personal hygiene is not a difficult thing. For someone who does not know anything about poverty, it may be difficult to understand that it can in fact easilt become a difficult thing. Dental care for example can be expensive, and the fear of needing an intervention can keep people from making an appointment, leading only to more problems and more fear of the costs. People in poverty do not always have access to the necessary information that seems so obvious to those in a better situation. This lack of access (or even knowing you can access this information) can lead to all sorts of missed opportunities. Good hygiene is not always an easy thing to have, and that's a sad truth.
#34
Used plain bread for hotdog AND hamburger buns. Also had a big container of powdered milk in the pantry for the kids to use.
#35
We cut open the toothpaste to get every last drop out of the tube.
#36
Did you have lettuce and mayonnaise sandwiches? On a good day we had bologna on it, too.
#37
Nothing was name brand. Instead of Fruit Loops we had Fruity O's
Instead of Fruit Punch we had Red Juice (gallon with a sticker on it that said Red Juice), instead of Chip Ahoy we had Captain Chipleys.
#39
How to invent foods based on the limited amount of what you already have
K Killian 3 years ago
My favorite childhood meal came as a result of no money for groceries. My mother found a leftover half can of kidney beans and half a tube of breakfast sausage and threw them both in the pot with a box of Kraft macaroni and cheese. Thinking about it still makes my mouth water.
#40
Boiled wieners for lunch... wiener water soup for dinner
What do you think ?
Kayla Halleur 3 years ago
It's strange, I didn't realise how poor my family was when I was growing up until reading all of these and recognising so many of them as very common things we did. Just goes to show how much your parents can hide from you or make into a fun thing to do when you're little.
Ivana 3 years ago
I didn't know I was homeless until my friend's mother was dropping me off at the homeless shelter and said "Oh, your homeless." I told her no, that we were just waiting on our new place to get set up, this was the in-between place. She argued with a 9 year old to make sure I knew I was homeless. When we did get a place to live I had my first and last birthday party, it was my last because she convinced all the other parents that our trailer park wasn't safe and all of the parents wouldn't let my friends stay, so I ate my birthday pizza while watching my first and last ice cream cake melt for my 10th birthday. Kids don't know they are poor until someone shames them for it.
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Rhea 3 years ago
A lot of people react with "I also do this" and "I enjoy eating Y". A huge difference is in the "why": Some people have the luxury of CHOOSING to do/eat certain things. It doens't compare to the situation of people who HAVE to go dumpsterdiving, or only wear secondhand clothing, or eat bread with lettuce as a meal.
Leo Domitrix 3 years ago
Exactly. If your ONLY option is a five-year-old shirt already worn half-transparent by an older sibling... that isn't thrift. And if you want to eat like crap, fine, but kids should never have to eat poorly.
Load More Replies...
Kat 3 years ago
My mother had me when our country was still under Russian reign. We gained independence in 1991 (in August, and January next year my sister was born) and times were really really hard for several years. Nobody knew that this was going to happen. Things were stabile until then and basically changed overnight. The whole system took time to rebuild. We actually had almost nothing to eat sometimes. I remember one birthday. My mother asked if I wanted cake or present and I said cake, because that was something we could all share. I remember how she redesigned her skirt for my first class beginning so that I had something fancier to wear. Things got gradually better with time and we could afford travelling, better life standards etc. But yeah, I remember hard times.
Kayla Halleur 3 years ago
It's strange, I didn't realise how poor my family was when I was growing up until reading all of these and recognising so many of them as very common things we did. Just goes to show how much your parents can hide from you or make into a fun thing to do when you're little.
Ivana 3 years ago
I didn't know I was homeless until my friend's mother was dropping me off at the homeless shelter and said "Oh, your homeless." I told her no, that we were just waiting on our new place to get set up, this was the in-between place. She argued with a 9 year old to make sure I knew I was homeless. When we did get a place to live I had my first and last birthday party, it was my last because she convinced all the other parents that our trailer park wasn't safe and all of the parents wouldn't let my friends stay, so I ate my birthday pizza while watching my first and last ice cream cake melt for my 10th birthday. Kids don't know they are poor until someone shames them for it.
Load More Replies... Rhea 3 years ago
A lot of people react with "I also do this" and "I enjoy eating Y". A huge difference is in the "why": Some people have the luxury of CHOOSING to do/eat certain things. It doens't compare to the situation of people who HAVE to go dumpsterdiving, or only wear secondhand clothing, or eat bread with lettuce as a meal.
Leo Domitrix 3 years ago
Exactly. If your ONLY option is a five-year-old shirt already worn half-transparent by an older sibling... that isn't thrift. And if you want to eat like crap, fine, but kids should never have to eat poorly.
Load More Replies... Kat 3 years ago
My mother had me when our country was still under Russian reign. We gained independence in 1991 (in August, and January next year my sister was born) and times were really really hard for several years. Nobody knew that this was going to happen. Things were stabile until then and basically changed overnight. The whole system took time to rebuild. We actually had almost nothing to eat sometimes. I remember one birthday. My mother asked if I wanted cake or present and I said cake, because that was something we could all share. I remember how she redesigned her skirt for my first class beginning so that I had something fancier to wear. Things got gradually better with time and we could afford travelling, better life standards etc. But yeah, I remember hard times.
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