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In America, nearly 11 million children are poor. That’s 1 in 7 kids, who make up almost one-third of all people living in poverty in this country. After growing up, none of those kids take things for granted, and they can clearly see the obvious prerogatives that the privileged and rich are lucky to have.
So when someone posed a question to people “who grew up poor, what do you associate with being rich?” on r/AskReddit, it immediately turned into an eye-opening thread. Below we selected some of the most interesting and thought-provoking responses that make us question simple things like going to Disneyland, buying new, not used furniture, and not having to dread grocery shopping.
Scroll down below, and after you’re done, be sure to check out our previous post with small subtle things about wealthy people that scream they are insanely rich.
This post may include affiliate links.
#1
Eating pizza because you want to not because it's $2. That and mom eating along with us normally instead of pretending that the crust is her favorite part and that's why she'd eat the crust we leave.
Chris Freeman 4 years ago
Why sad. Its what parents do, give to their children even if it means nothing left for them. I find it a great way to remember your mother and love her even more for her sacrifices.
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Kanuli 4 years ago
Been there. My grandpa did it, my father did it. I did it. Starve for your loved ones. Wish pizza was only $2. Frozen pizza is 5, delivery 12-20. But I finally earn enough, that I can really eat good pizza when I want to. And rest of my family doesn’t have to starve either.
Trillian 4 years ago
5 $ for frozen pizza? Wow. I pay 2 € and that‘s brand kind.
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Casey McAlister 4 years ago
Here where I live pizza isn't that cheap, so if you are struggling with finances, that definitely wouldn't be your food of choice.
Paola Martz 4 years ago
Same here. For us, eating pizza while growing up was a treat.
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Mari 4 years ago
I'm doing it sometimes, saying I'm not hungry and let the kids eat. I can fill my stomac with bread but they need a healty warm meal.
Tamra Stiffler 4 years ago
There is enough food in this world for every belly to be full, but it is a sad and broken system, and a lot of people suffer for it. I truly hope better times are in store for you.
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Brian Brown 4 years ago
I have known some people say the very same thing and never thought about how they grew up or that this may be a ploy... I have something new to think about now...
ZooMom 4 years ago
There was a point in time where I only ate what my kids and husband left on their plates. Anything else (unserved) could be used for lunches, snacks, leftovers. And don't judge my husband, i was clever. I would say I wasn't hungry or not feeling well and then eat as I cleared the table. They would go to work and school and I would eat nothing until I ate their scraps at dinner. I was sick and he was working 60 hours a week. I wanted to be sure they all had enough energy and nutrition.
RELATED:
#2
There's a line from Nick in new girl that describes being well off as 'filling your gas tank up all the way rich.' That was the rich I wanted to be. Comfortable. Also not having to do math in the grocery store to see what food you can buy.
BusLady 4 years ago
I love that I can fill my tank all the way up now, something I couldn't do just a few years ago. I constantly stressed about having enough gas to get to work.
Bob Cakin 4 years ago
It suvks that a lot of North American cities prescribe to car-centric urban design practices. It's practically impossible to live without a car where I am (there are literally no sidewalks near me... want to walk somewhere? You have to walk on the side of a busy road... with a 50 mph speed limit...). If I could, I would move out of the US to a country that actually focuses on designing walkable/bike able cities in a heartbeat because I I just so tired of the constant cost of maintenance, insurance, and other costs that come with a car (a car I don't want but am forced to have because of where I was born). But I can't move because i get paid s**t and moving to a whole new country is unaffordable for me and my family. I am honestly dreading the day my car finally breaks down... because I can't afford a new one... but I am required to have one.
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Robert T 4 years ago (edited)
Unless the petrol station is actually on your way, you waste fuel by not filling the tank, just by driving to and from the petrol station more often, so it really is a double-whammy.
13 4 years ago
There's not enough left in your wallet to fill the tank up completely after paying the bills. Your only choice is getting just enough gas to get to work untill the next paycheck comes in. Or go hungry for the next two days so you can fill the tank up completely.
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DennyS (denzoren) 4 years ago
I still can't do this really, I try to keep it about half so I can get to work and back home.
absolute zero 4 years ago
Took me several years, but now I do it every time. Putting $5 a day every day sucked.
#3
Vacations that weren't visiting family.
Otter 4 years ago
Or camping. Camping is cheap, once you've got a tent and a couple of sleeping bags from the army surplus store.
GlipGlop 4 years ago
This! Not that I didn't enjoy some of the family camping trips, but every single vacation was either visiting family or camping or frequently both.
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Auntriarch 4 years ago
The first time we holidayed properly, I called the owner of the b&b aunty, I assumed she was a relative I'd never met before. I didn't realise you could pay to stay in places
Martha Meyer 4 years ago
That's not being "rich", that's only "not being very poor". My single mother managed to go on vacation with me and she sure as hell wasn't earning well.
Billie Templeton 4 years ago
We went to my dad's and grandparents grave sites twice a year. That was vacation. My mom was morbid.
Mark Kelly 4 years ago
I went to Disneyland form here in Canada. We were a bit above middle class. My dad was a fire fighter here in Canada which pays well and my mom was a union Safeway worker.
Bored Panda reached out to the Redditor Awkward_Name5898 who said that “being able to buy something you need without having to ask yourself how badly you need it” is something they associate with being rich.
When asked what was the hardest part of growing up poor, the Redditor was honest to say that it was the “feeling like you’ve failed, you think you’ll always be poor and won’t be able to get yourself out of that situation.” They also added that “as a kid, I remember feeling like a burden and that was hard to deal with.”
#4
Having enough money to go to a psychologist for mental health.
Caro Caro 4 years ago
This is infuriating that people who need help don't recieve it because it's unaffordable.
Paul Davis 4 years ago
mental health care is even further behind other health care...way too many people think mental health problems are imaginary or a sign of moral weakness.
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Dustin Herberman 4 years ago
This one hurts. Mental health is not for the rich. It's for everyone
Paula Marowsky 4 years ago
Only rich people can have the luxury of mental health. Or odontologist
Load More Replies... Yara Balabanova 4 years ago
In the Netherlands this is covered by the basic medical insurance, you only need to pay the deductible
Kyra van Rijzingen 4 years ago
But the deductible is still 350 euros. For people with mental health issues, who might also struggle more with holding down a job, that is often still quite a lot of money. I know it was a problem for me when I was a student and really needed the help. Not to mention the waiting lists, which just keep getting longer.
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Lldhhdh Hdhdhfhfhhf 4 years ago
Many of young patients died because can’t paid or no support with my country. Very sad. Hospital had problem with money and busy.
DennyS (denzoren) 4 years ago
Therapy is so expensive. One session is basically a day's pay for me. When I compare that to bills etc. it always has to take a back seat.
Joana Martins 4 years ago
I got lucky I started being followed in an hospital with my psychiatrist at 100€ I barely could afford there was no way I could get an psychologist at the same time.
Load More Replies... Vanessa Lautzenheiser 4 years ago
If you have Medicare/Medicaid check with your insurance provider mine actually covers my mental health treatment.
Paula Marowsky 4 years ago
Having enough money to go to a normal doctor for any health issue. Or being able to afford a simple dentist. For me just having a mental disease is already such a luxury, so instead of it, better may cope anyway with anything
Marco Conti 4 years ago
Especially when your mental health is mostly affected by poverty. It's a positive feedback loop. Or a negative one, I guess?
Jennifer Mcmahan 4 years ago
I can't afford Health Care because in the US it's not free and then you pay too much to have it and can't afford the co pays to get anything done... So you have Health Care but it just sits there in case you break a leg/or have a heart attack because that's your only choice...Also, US offers free, but only to low income and if I was that low I don't know how I'd live (rent/food/car)
Earl Grey 4 years ago
Some years back, a professor who taught in the Dept of Psychiatry at a prestigious US university was lamenting the state of the profession during a radio interview. He explained that although the schools were cranking out plenty of qualified professionals, almost all of them would immediately open a private practice so that they charge $400/hour listening to privileged, ultra-rich clients whine about their insignificant “problems” and enjoy more business than they could handle. Mental healthcare does not get delivered to where it is needed the most, and where it would make an enormous difference.
#5
Hiring moving men. Especially if they're the ones who pack all your s**t for you, too.
So many times, I would borrow a friend's pickup (and buy my friend's help with offers of pizza and beer) to move from one s**tty place to another.
For my most recent move, my wife and I packed everything, but hired professionals to load and unload it. I felt like a king.
ZAPanda 4 years ago
last time i did this the buggers stole a valuable collectors' item coin that had no monetary value in our country. really annoying.
Mark Kelly 4 years ago
Why you take that kind of stuff with you not just because of that but also so it won't be lost.
Load More Replies... Anne 4 years ago
oh that's how I move.. key to old place, key to new place. And I go on a holiday with the dog. After the holiday, I drive to the new place.. tadaa.. even the silverware is in the drawers.
Billie Templeton 4 years ago
You can do this?? This is a thing???!! I'm gobsmacked!
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Lou Cam 4 years ago
Not moved as many times as you (9 times) and same. Sometimes a car, sometimes a van if we know someone with one. Pack it all and carry it yourself.
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Jessica Gunn 4 years ago
Totally! And they will pack up every single thing they see. I've had them actually pack trash (my parents were with foreign service and we moved to a different country every 3 or 4 years. But I definitely can't afford packers myself as an adult, lol) You definitely have to keep an eye on them to make sure your stuff won't get damaged
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Celtic Pirate Queen 4 years ago
I feel you. Mine was buying a brand new mattress & box spring from Costco. Never felt so "grown-up" in my life!
Tracy Jones 4 years ago
yea we felt pretty fancy when we moved in here because we were able to rent a Uhaul
Helen 4 years ago
I may be weird, but I would not be able to stand somebody else touching my stuff. Needless to say, I don't trust others to pack my things safely enough and to handle them with care. Yes, you can send them the invoice for all broken stuff afterwards.. but that's not how I want my move to work.
absolute zero 4 years ago
There's an amazing Japanese company that packs everything you own and unpacks it at the new place. They are hired by their ability to remember exact locations of everything.
SabbeRubbish 4 years ago
It's not because you CAN afford it, that you will - out of principle to just not be lazy and pack/move your own stuff :-)
#6
Being able to buy something you need without having to ask yourself how badly you need it
Trashemotions Showflyer 4 years ago
Exactly. Barely had breakfast. There was no food to just walk by in the house. Once I was invited to neighbours around my birthday bc they heard me say to my parents, that once in my lifetime I would like to eat until i'm not hungry anymore. And: warmth! Wore jackets at home. You could see your breath in winter when you showered or went to toilet (no bathroom). 20 years later I am still struggling with poor roots, but grateful to be able to enter a warm flat now. (Switzerland. I know others had less.)
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plain bOrEd not panda 4 years ago
I always ask myself twice do I really need this, and I don't consider myself poor (maybe because of this habit to not clutter and save up).
BabaBizzle 4 years ago
One time my mom has 38 cents left for the week. She drove to Burger King when it was end of night BOGO 30 cent Hamburgers so we could eat “meat”. I never ate fast food again, went vegetarian early 20’s. It was depressing and humiliating but also eye opening that food costs money so the crap is cheap. But poor means bad food choices. Also don’t have kids you can’t afford to properly care for like giving them actual healthy food. Birth control is free and saves money in the long run. We have too many babies born into poor families.
Vasana Phong 4 years ago
Or just to do the calculations if you’ll have enough money until next paycheck if you get this non essential item
Matebogo Dorothy Seape 4 years ago
For me it’s never worrying about the price of whatever you wanna buy when you get into a store ( lol within reason, of course 😅😂. )
The Redditor shared that growing up on a tight budget made them learn some life hacks. “I did learn how to maximize my food purchases, if I was able to buy food I’d buy things that would have leftovers and be filling, Spaghetti noodles, instant mashed potatoes, hamburger helper or Mac n cheese if I had milk. I lived in a house that didn’t have AC, so in the spring/summer I’d get a towel, wet it, and then lay it over me to keep me cool, the house didn’t have blinds so I used foil to cover the windows to keep out the sun and help keep the room cooler,” they recounted.
#7
Indifference. I realized what real wealth meant in high school when we cleaned up trash from a creek and the rich kids wore their Polo shirts, Guess jeans, and Jordan's because if they were trashed they simply would get new. The poor kids wore their grubby clothes they do labor in.
Wealth is shown most acutely by indifference, nothing matters because money will fix it and there is plenty enough to fill black holes.
Matebogo Dorothy Seape 4 years ago
I didn’t grow up rich or anything, and I’m still far from it but whenever my shoes are dirty ( like beyond normal dirty because I can’t bring myself to wash them) I usually feel like throwing them away. My late granny used to take and wash them and then afterwards they would be hers automatically.
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Sky Render 4 years ago
There's an old parable about that. A man with four bags of grain will share one with the birds. A man with three will share one with his neighbors. A man with two will share one with his family. If he has only one bag, he will protect that with his life.
Bob Cakin 4 years ago
Once saw a kid throwing like $3 in change at a person as a "joke" and was going to leave it on the ground. I looked at that money and thought, "that's a full meal... or a bus ticket... or something"... so I picked it up... cause I could use any money I could get. The rich kid who threw it saw me and made fun of me for it... I didn't care much in the moment though. I was just thinking about the stuff I could buy with the supposed "chump change".
Suz66 4 years ago
If I wanted anything designer to wear, I had to work to get it. I worked babysitting and I did ironing for a neighbor. I get an office job at 16 so I had my own money. I would go to discount stores. The rich kids would say my clothes were "seconds" or used because I didn't shop at big department stores.
absolute zero 4 years ago
My mother was tiny, 4'11 and about 90 pounds. Every year around the beginning of the school year she went to the second hand shops and got all the expensive designer clothes high school girls discarded because they were so last year.
Mark Kelly 4 years ago
I had clothes like Tommy Hilfiger and Silver Jeans but still had grubby clothes for that work
#8
Having nice teeth that don't cause constant, debilitating pain
Holesalongthebottom 4 years ago
Painful to agree with. Not only could be a sign if wealth, but can cause debilitating self esteem issues. Where I live, the best dental care is provided for the poor. I know this because when my children were little I was on government assistance. My teeth were perfect and well taken care of. Years later I’m a responsible adult who makes a decent wage and have the crappiest dental coverage. Despite all of this, I’ve had to skip cleanings and dental work that is desperately needed. I can’t afford it. And I’m not poor. I’m not well off either.
Bob Cakin 4 years ago (edited)
And this is why means testing is an awful thing. Not only does it drastically increase the cost of programs like this, but it takes away coverage from people who need it the most simply because of a perceived "well offness". Just give people healthcare so they can live long happy lives America (and all other countries that don't do this yet)! Taking care of your citizens to make sure more people can flourish will pay off in the long run! It's an investment! Trust me!
Load More Replies... Casey McAlister 4 years ago
My grandfather had perfect teeth and visited a dentist for the first time when he was 65. Sometimes it's genetics and pure luck.
Jessica Gunn 4 years ago
Cavities and bad teeth are, in fact, genetic. But, of course, neglect plays a big part as well
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Rockstar 4 years ago
...i mean...i don't really think about this much but i had my entire smile redone last year....i chipped my tooth so i just decided to replace the front four and redesigned my smile...I never really thought of it as being rich?? But then again, I'm a minor so I never saw the bill.
Michael Fuhry 4 years ago
Downvoters, English is not this person's first language. Be nice.
Load More Replies... A Jones 4 years ago
It's expensive with getting things to straighten teeth, procedures, repairs (accidents happen), and whitenings. Brushing and flossing can only do so much. Keeping up at the docs ain't so cheap even with yearly cleanings. Things like genetics and lifestyle play a part too.
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#9
Regular doctor's office visits or seeing a dentist at all for anything other than an emergency.
“The rich assume money isn’t an issue for anyone simply because they have lots of it. They tend to think that poor people stay poor because they don’t invest their money as they do,” the Redditor said. For anyone who’s struggling to make their ends meet, Awkward_Name5898 urges not to feel ashamed to ask for help. “People are more kind and generous than you might think. Hold onto hope, things won’t always be this way,” they concluded.
#10
Those fridges with the water dispenser on it
mulk 4 years ago (edited)
I think it's an american thing... here (Switzerland) even the richest buy rarely such thing
Matebogo Dorothy Seape 4 years ago
In South African it’s very common for the upper class to have fridges with water dispensers.
Load More Replies... Brian Brown 4 years ago
I recently bought a fridge with such features; Ice and water, at your beckon, is truly a first-world luxury that is taken for granted.
Suz66 4 years ago
I had to use those metal ice trays with the lever that broke the ice out of the tray. I never had enough strength to work the lever so couldn't get ice until Dad can home. I finally got an automated ice maker and water in the drawer in my 2nd house.
Load More Replies... Dre Mosley 4 years ago
That blew me way the first time I encountered one. Especially the ones that also do ice. We always kept ice cube trays in the freezer.
LOttawa 4 years ago
Having one doesn't mean you are rich. I found a used (but looks new) stainless steel refrigerator with double french doors, bottom drawer freezer, it dispenses water, ice cubes/crushed ice (with different settings for I don't remember what) and it has a digital display for the SAME price as the other regular used refrigerators. Was I lucky, yes, do I have money, no.
Huddo's sister 4 years ago
I've always wondered, do they cost more to run? I always buy appliances that have a high energy rating and feel like these wouldn't be.
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Rachel Cobb 4 years ago
My parents JUST got one of these. It's used. The fridge itself is 2/3 the size of our old one. But it is a bit of a luxury item...
ben woskje 4 years ago
i grew up poor, but me and the missus are in the "comfortable" bracket now - and i had wanted a fridge with a water/ice dispenser in it forever... and it did not disappoint.... bloody awesome!
#11
Not having to panic if your car breaks down
Mark Kelly 4 years ago
It's $120 a year for the middle level service here in Canada
Load More Replies... Vasana Phong 4 years ago
We’ve never had a car that’s not 15 years old or older, so when the car we have breaks down and there’s no $, it’s hello mr/ms bus driver until we can fix it, longest time was almost 2 years
absolute zero 4 years ago
Especially when you break the bank with towing and now can't afford the repair. I once junked a car when the $50 fuel pump blew. I knew it would get impounded before I had $50, and this way I at least got $25 for it.
Mark Kelly 4 years ago
I work on cars, not a mechanic though and do a lot of my own repairs and get a very good price on parts.
Paula Marowsky 4 years ago
yeah... or just praying your car don't breaks down,because you could never afford any replacements... or make it do with second hand car parts
Jennifer Mcmahan 4 years ago
I love my mechanic because he's w/me when it comes to money... He really is a god send
#12
Not knowing EXACTLY how much money you have at any given time.
Kanuli 4 years ago
I know exactly how much we have, how much we spent, and how much we most likely will spend in the next 6 months.
El muerto 4 years ago
and always fearing any possible unexpected expenses that might come your way...
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Karin Jansen 4 years ago
Nooo it's the other way around! Being poor, afraid to look at my bankaccount, never really knowing exactly how much I had. Now I consider myself "rich" and I proudly look at my account multiple times a week. I now know exactly what I've got.
Earl Grey 4 years ago
Exactly. I keep a spreadsheet and inspect all my accounts every single day. You have to remain on the alert for fraudulent activity. People who don’t know how much money they have are fools, whether rich or poor. You needn’t obsess over it, just pay attention.
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BusLady 4 years ago
And actually having money left over at the end of the month.
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Paula Marowsky 4 years ago
ja, I always know EXACTLY thay the money I have is not enough for basic grocery items.
#13
Parents buying a car for your 16th birthday
Mark Kelly 4 years ago
Not filthy. I got my 2005 RSX with 129kms for $1650 and it runs perfectly and shift well. Some paint sucks and has a small issue with a wire. NO major body damage or any rust.
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Claire Stanfield 4 years ago
Happened to have a grandfather old enough to stop driving around the time that I was moving out and could use my own car. Way older than 16 though - and would like to point out that I am aware this means that both my grandpa and my family had cars, which isn't true for everyone.
Isaac7lego 4 years ago (edited)
im pretty well of and that didn't happen to me I get the hand me down, I am not complaining though.......my friends parents bought him a mustang.........
MyOpinionHasBeenServed 4 years ago
'I still think that only rich people get cas for their birthday.
Chris Freeman 4 years ago
I had to work for over a year, averaging about 30 hours a week even through HS, to buy my first car. My mother simply could not help. I will find it a luxury to buy a car for my kids when they turn 16. What I would buy would be an 8 year old Japanese SUV, (winters here). To be fair, there are a lot of upper class around us, and I see 16 year olds with new Cayennes and BMWs regularly. I would never do that to my kids. Talk about setting them up for disappointment and failure potentially later in life.
#14
A new mattress.
Patrick O'Harris 4 years ago
My Mom told me to invest in two very importants things in my appartement: A good matress and one good pan/pot each. She was right :D
Ivana 4 years ago
Got my first new mattress at the age of 32. First 20 years of my life I shared the full sized mattress with my sister that had been my parents' mattress before that so god knows how old it was. Bought a used mattress off my neighbor who was being evicted and kept that for 12 years. I bought a really nice mattress just 3 or 4 months ago and it took weeks to adjust to not sinking into a human sized hole in the middle when you lay down.
Denny Cwiek 4 years ago
Mattresses can cost big bucks. I bought the cheapest mattress the store sold and then invested in a memory foam topper. I sleep like a baby!
#15
Going to a store to pick out furniture. Like, actually buying NEW stuff, not just taking whatever you can find at thrift stores or garage sales. That seems so luxurious!
Helenium 4 years ago
i have money not loaded but i still buy second hand stuff, especially furniture, new stuff is over priced and you get some real bargains
Sam Chilton 4 years ago
Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. We already make enough trash, don't need to make more!
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Beth Sito 4 years ago (edited)
I would like to remind everyone that buys thrift/second hand to check the furniture for bedbugs. I bought a second hand office chair one time and it had bedbugs. Infested my entire office and took forever to get rid of them. Not a happy time in my life. I am super careful now when purchasing second hand furniture.
Grady'sRaider 4 years ago
Fleas too. If you live in a cold climate, leave your buys in a place where they can freeze out the biters.
Load More Replies... Lara Verne 4 years ago
I can buy new furniture, but I like thrift stores, you can buy nice furniturethere that's not overpriced. Sometimes it's better quality than new, and better design.
Ivana 4 years ago
90% of my home is furnished with curb side furniture. I got really good at picking up pieces that are good candidates to refurbish. I also got really good at refurbishing furniture. On the other hand, at the age of 32 I bought my first brand new mattress. It is the 3rd mattress I have ever slept on and the only one that wasn't used when I got it. Yes I did cry.
A Jones 4 years ago
Curbside furnishing (that's good) can be great. I scored so much good furniture that one would see at a 2nd hand shop. Of course they get sanitized af (before and after the whole covid thing).
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Jessica Gunn 4 years ago
New furniture: industrial consumerism at its finest. Buy old or make your own, industrial consumerism is destroying the planet
Eglė Bukauskaitė 3 years ago
i made a full 180 to stop buying old c**p and buy antique furniture for the exact same price!
Lori Oostendorp 3 years ago
Or what you find on the curb in the rich neighborhood........we called it curb shopping.
Vaida Kuodytė 4 years ago (edited)
Cheap-ish new furniture (like IKEA) is absolute crap quality that won't last you 5 years.
Tigger O 4 years ago
Not so. You just have to know what you're buying -- and why. I do a lot of 'customising' both new and old stuff. But some of my best (and most beautiful) bargains come from foraging, the morning the garbage trucks come round. Getting there before them, I have some amazing stuff and it's all unique too. My latest great deal lives in my garden. It looks like a huge, Persian bird cage (like for a peacock, for example) but was actually a chandelier from which I removed the central pole and some glass surrounds. Magnificent, i fits exactly over another find - a huge Moroccan 'dish' with a green glaze and copper inserts, which functions as a bird bath.
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#16
Hiring people to either cook, clean, mow the grass or do snow removal in the winter.
Showing my age but rich people didn't need lay away to afford back to school or Christmas shopping
I don't remember ever having name brand items, food or clothing. It was all generic Kmart. I bought my son a pair of Nike shoes and thought I felt rich for doing so.
BusLady 4 years ago
Going back to school was always embarrassing because the other kids had new supplies and we didn't. My mom did the best she could.Teachers would get onto us for not having things on the list and humiliate us in front of the other kids, and the other kids could be so mean. On the other hand, sometimes there would be a kind teacher who would discreetly hand me some things, or a fellow student who would share.
Kristal 4 years ago
That is awful of those teachers. I remember being really embarrassed starting at a new school in 2nd grade because I had to bring my school stuff in a paper bag (no backpack)
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Suz66 4 years ago
I remember when I saved enough money for Nikes and Ditto brand Jeans (very popular in the late 70's. I remember just staring at them both and feeling like a badass wearing them. I wanted to do anything to fit in. Rich kids didn't value the hard work needed to buy designer stuff.
Vasana Phong 4 years ago
With the school thing, lots of public schools have been doing uniforms now eliminate this issue
Dolly_of TheCowboy 4 years ago
Uniforms are standard at most schools in Australia. When I was in primary (like 5yrs-11/12yrs old) we could not even afford to buy uniforms so my grandmother somehow scrounged material that was the same check and made them and we lucked into some hand me down socks and shoes that had to last no matter if my feet grew or not. I thought everyone got given pencils and exercise books and then I found out years later only the most needy kids got given supplies from a government fund otherwise I would have had nothing with which to do my schoolwork. Luckily by high school (12yrs-18yrs old) there was a great aunt whom had passed away and left an education fund so I had actual second hand uniforms, shoes and school bag etc. If not for her have no idea what would have happened
Load More Replies... Claire Stanfield 4 years ago
During the winters, Papa cleared our drive and then cleared the drive of elderly people on our street to save them the trouble/cost of hiring it out.
Collette Moisan 3 years ago
I was always given K-Tel presents for Christmas. K-Tel one needle knotter, etc. They were garbage.
Huddo's sister 4 years ago
My mum thankfully was able to mostly afford the required things for school. We got most from kmart as well or reused the same backpack, pencil case etc from the previous year. When I was in school it was a bit easier than my sister who is 9 years younger. By the time she was at Primary School they had to order all new things such as books, pencils etc through their supplier. Luckily by then she had more money coming in and only the one child at that school. It was worse at High School. By the time my sister was there, there was no second hand uniform or book sale (although the uniforms she could get from me) at school and she had to get an ipad. Then a new Principal started and he wanted to make the low socio-economic area school to look like a private school, with all new uniforms including blazers from a more expensive outfitter. I can only assume that my sister wasn't the only one who had to receive a new uniform from the Smith Family charity that year.
Don't Look 4 years ago
Some people hire landscapers (lawn mowers, snow removers, etc) because they cannot afford the equipment to do the job. I had all generic Kmart growing up. Now, I also grew up in a stupidly affluent neighborhood in the 80s/90s in one of the costliest metro areas in the country (but in easily the ugliest, poorest, most rundown house in the area). This wasn't by choice. Except my dad's employers. It was definitely their choice.
Claire Stanfield 4 years ago
An older, inexpensive department store that had many locations across the country and will now be shuttering their last shop in the continental US a week before christmas. There's a handful more locations in Guam, Puerto Rico, and the US Virgin Islands.
Load More Replies... #17
Everyone having their own room. We all slept in a single room.
BusLady 4 years ago
In our 7 person family, there was never any privacy. Or quiet. Not even in the bathroom. Someone was always banging on the door.
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Monica Sargent 4 years ago
We grew up in abject poverty, I mean real poor. I woke up one summer morning and there was nothing in the refrigerator except a jug of ice water. Nothing in the cupboards but a can of yams. To make matters much worse my older brother and sister, "the tortures" were being nice to me. But, we all had our own rooms. My mom worked hard to make sure that we had our own rooms. for some reason that was really important to her. Oh, later that same day my mom came home with a crap load of groceries and then took us to Knott's Berry Farm.
Ivana 4 years ago
I have never had my own room. Never. When I moved out I moved in with my boyfriend and apart of me regrets that I have never had a completely private space or slept alone in bed. On the other hand, I way prefer sleeping next to my husband than my sister and mother. Being 17 and sleeping in the same bed as your mother and sibling really sucks.
Celtic Pirate Queen 4 years ago
When my son was about 2, we were broke ass poor & lived in a one bedroom apartment. We had bunkbeds, which we often turned into a reading "fort". Some of the best memories of single parenthood I have.
BabaBizzle 4 years ago
If parents realized how humiliating it is for kids to have no privacy they’d stop their baby breeding.
#18
Getting an appetizer and/or dessert at a restaurant in addition to an entree.
Niall Mac Iomera 4 years ago
Why do Americans call the main course an "entree"? It literally means 'entry', as in the first part of the meal.
Veronica Sjöberg 4 years ago
When i was a child my mom (single mom) and i would eat at home first and then go to a restaurant for dessert when we celebrated something special. That way we could save money on food but still go out.
Jessica Gunn 4 years ago
I'm not rich, but I definitely can't put away an app, a main AND a desert! That's a lot of food, especially by American standards
Jules Marten-Feldmann 4 years ago
I was just taking to my husband about this. It feels so extravagant to be able to just go to a restaurant whenever, not just special occasions, and the get entree and dessert, plus drinks if I want. I'm living the dream😊
Rembrandt Q. Einstein 4 years ago
If I eat my apple pie from McDonalds before my food does that count as an appetizer?
Bob Cakin 4 years ago
Rarely ever ate out. Too expensive even for my family and we were kinda well of. Y'know America if you paid more people in the lower classes more money... you'd have a lot more people spending money on things like going out to eat and actually participating in the economy... which would make the economy better/healthier as a result. Just sayin... the best way to boost the economy is to raise the min wage
#19
Parents that didn’t fight. Mine and my other poor friends’ parents were always fighting. Most of the time my parents fought it was over money. You could tell that they were just scared whether or not we were going to make it and that’s how it manifested. You just never really saw that same type of fighting at the friends parents who were comfortable.
Like obviously there’s more factors but there’s a unique chaotic tension in poor households that is hard to describe.
BusLady 4 years ago
Because the constant lack of money just never lets up. Add to that, the fact that partners will disagree how the money is spent. Something that is important to one is not important to the other.
Leodavinci 4 years ago
Speaking from observations of well off families I know and personal experience, this isn't solely an issue of poverty. This situation is not at all uncommon in families in all economic levels.
Load More Replies... WilvanderHeijden 4 years ago
A lot of marriages break up because of financial worries. The stress is enough to kill all romance and love. For that reason alone it should be illegal to pay workers anything less than a livable wage.
Ivana 4 years ago (edited)
So they did a study on this and couples who fight about money will fight about money no matter how little or how much they have. I once rationed 1 cup of rice between my husband and I for 3 months. 3 months living on 1/2 cup a rice a day. We never fought that entire time. Our pipes broke in winter and we had to heat up water every morning on the stove and use a bucket to shower for 6 months before we could fix it and never once fought. My parents lived in poverty and so did my husband and I, but my parents would have fought everyday if they had Bezos money.
Matebogo Dorothy Seape 4 years ago (edited)
As for bezos money 😂🤣! Maybe Elon’s money will do the trick!
Load More Replies... MikeWheelerFan 4 years ago
Parents can fight if they have money too. My dad can get irritated over the smallest things and sometimes my parents fight…it’s never over money though.
Immortal Emperor Paradox 4 years ago
I would like to add something even worse, one party thrashing the other. Another word for that is 'domestic violence'.
BabaBizzle 4 years ago
If they got birth control they’d have minimal kids and maximum funds so less fighting.
Giulia Fortunati 4 years ago
I noticed that people who say "Money don't buy happiness" never had any real money problem!
#20
Paying all your bills without eating Ramen noodles.
Chris Freeman 4 years ago
Lol, brings back a sharp memory of mine from college. One week before a paycheck or national guard check arrives, no gas in the tank, and absolutely no food. Scrounge around car seats and couch and find $1.35. Free pop at work so I work extra shifts, and walk to grocery store and Ramen on sale for 12 for a dollar, (1990). That is what I did all week, walk to school and work, and ate Ramen at home. I now appreciate having $20 in my pocket and credit cards. Its a life changing experience to be THAT broke. It teaches you discipline when it comes to money.
Celtic Pirate Queen 4 years ago
My husband & I love Top Ramen - we call it "Faux Pho". We add some grated ginger, chopped cilantro & green onions, a little garlic chili paste & fresh lime wedges. I almost always have a bag of frozen shrimp, so we add some of those as well. A side of pot stickers & we're HAPPY!
#21
Stairs. I've always lived in an apartment, so for me, I really hope that I'll one day have a house with stairs.
Also well balanced meals, three meals a day.
Samantha Lomb 4 years ago
After you fall down the stairs a couple of times ( particularly if you wear socks but no shoes) you will find they are overrated.
Nicole O'Hara 4 years ago (edited)
Yes, I always thought I'd be happy as a grown up, buying a house with stairs. Truth is, it makes everything more difficult. And dangerous. If I were rich, I would sell my house and move into a one-level house, much like the one I grew up poor in. Cruel irony, your barbs are razor sharp
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Ivana 4 years ago
My husband was talking about how hard it was to find a house because I would only look at two story houses. His friend looked at me and said, "You grew up in a trailer?" He knew automatically why I was so focused on getting a two story house. He hugged me and it felt good to have someone understand immediately.
John C 4 years ago
THIS. It became one of my big life goals to live in a 2-story house. Mission accomplished!
Pezor Zass 4 years ago
i bought a house when i could and discovered that houses are way, way more trouble than i want. Best wishes to those who it works for, but i'm much happier in an apartment
Huddo's sister 4 years ago
Yes, since we were little we always wanted 'an upstairs' and we would say, the roof's flat, surely that wouldn't cost too much?
#22
Have the heating on in the winter
BusLady 4 years ago
I can remember my mom turning on the oven and all the burners, and us huddling around, because we had no heater. We were kids; we didn't know how dangerous it was.
Mark Howell 4 years ago
I can remember, from my childhood in the 60's, frost not just on the inside of the windows; but also on the walls.
mcborge1 4 years ago
Same for me growing up in the 70's, you could scrape the ice crystals off the walls in my bedroom and this was in the UK.
Load More Replies... Jules Marten-Feldmann 4 years ago
Having heating at all. We had a wood stove, which we collected wood for all summer from free places. Wood pallets that were being thrown out, my uncle had property that we would collect fallen trees and branches from. My grandfather was friends with a guy who owned a bowling alley, so when they got new pins, we got the old ones.
Vicky Zar 4 years ago
… can‘t relate. Our houses are stone and other materials, which isolate from cold or heat from the outside, so heating isn‘t expensive..
Llewella 4 years ago
I live in a big 90 year old stone house, heating that is verry expensive. We only heat the livingroom and kitchen, can't afford heating the whole house
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Karl Baxter 4 years ago
We grew up in a house with no central heating and one coal fire to heat everything. In winter I had blankets pegged up over the windows and coats laid across the bed. When I left home and moved into a bedsit with a gas heater I thought I was in the lap of luxury.
Lori Oostendorp 3 years ago
An apartment I had had those electric baseboard heaters....every one of then under a leaky window. $180/month for a 600sq ft apartment in 1998. I shudder to think how much heating that place would cost now as I know they have NOT changed those heaters for more efficient ones for the folks who live there now.
Huddo's sister 4 years ago
We had an in-floor hydro system when we moved into the house my grandad built and I didn't appreciate it enough while I was there. It could heat the whole house for relatively little money. Then it broke (after about 40 years) and mum couldn't afford to replace it. Even heating one room with a standing heater cost about the same and I could never get warm enough. Mum took to cooking things in the oven as often as possible because it was cheaper to run that than get something else. Now I am in the process of redeeming a government grant for a reverse cycle air con for my new place that will be much more energy efficient and both summer and winter will be more bearable.
#23
Not having to worry about food or bills. Paying out of pocket at the dentist
BusLady 4 years ago
Most of my parent's fights seemed to be about money and bills. That's another thing poverty causes.
Lord Mysticlaw 4 years ago
Yes. My mom and I live together and she's been unemployed since the start of lockdown. All the fights in our house are about money and bills.
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#24
Being allowed to go in the fridge and get something to drink or eat without having to ask or worry about being yelled at
Holesalongthebottom 4 years ago
This was my entire childhood. A lot of “food” issues as a result of this.
Linda Lee 4 years ago
I often went to bed hungry. Now if I am cooking for others I make too much food. I don't want anyone to leave my table hungry.
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GaeFrog 4 years ago
Wow the fact that I never even knew some kids aren't allowed to do this makes me feel very lucky...
Aria Whitaker 4 years ago
Same here...some of these comments have been very enlightening.
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Got Myself 4 Dwarves 4 years ago
My kids always ask before taking anything - not because we're poor or I'm trying to control them, but just to be polite and/or check it's not too close to dinner or something I need for the dinner I've planned - I very very rarely say no and they know that but they'll still check with me first. I'd do the same at my mums house, still do since I'm not the one buying it
lisa thomas 4 years ago
Depends on the situation. Two different ways of looking at it. One is looking for control so that everyone gets to eat. The other one is just trying to exhert control over the child.
Paula Marowsky 4 years ago
Having something to eat in the fridge for starters. I bet this would feel nice.
Aria Whitaker 4 years ago (edited)
If your mom has shopped for enough food for exactly 5 days, planned the meals out so that each family member gets a decent portion, and there is no room for others to take any prematurely or someone will go without...that is FAR from a "shitty parent"...its a poor one that wants to be sure ALL her family is fed properly....Lets not judge until you have ran in their shoes.
Load More Replies... #25
Fresh fruit and vegetables. Anything we ever got was frozen or from a can. Frozen and canned last longer too.
People that openly had fruit bowls on their tables was the epitome of lavish for me as a kid.
Dre Mosley 4 years ago
We only had that because we grew our own oranges, grapefruits, and peaches.
Chris Freeman 4 years ago
Tell me you grew up in CA or FL without telling me you grew up in CA or FL. :) We did the same, but we grew our own vegetables and got apples from a friend who owned a few trees and we offered to clean them up for her.
Load More Replies... Celtic Pirate Queen 4 years ago
Right? When my son was little I'd get: a loaf of (government) cheese, a bag of apples, a bag of potatoes, a log of bologna, eggs, butter & a few loaves of French bread - to last at LEAST 3-4 weeks. I can't complain because it kept us alive, but these few menu items ALL THE TIME got really old.
Linda Harrelson 4 years ago
Back in my days it was wax fake fruit on the table...lol Boy am I getting old.
Mark Kelly 4 years ago
Frozen and canned have as much or more nutrients because they are packed and frozen when at peak of ripeness.
Paula Marowsky 4 years ago
just being able to afford eating outside... at least I can still dream of it
Marco Conti 4 years ago
To be fair, a few, not all by any means, but a few fruits and vegetables are better canned than fresh. Examples: tomatoes for sauces, pickled anything (if you like pickled foods), canned pears and peaches when out of season, and so on. But yes, fresh fruits are a luxury, especially in food deserts like the one I live in.
Vasana Phong 4 years ago
My husband told me all his fruits and vegetables were in a can form from the food bank
#26
Kids that went to summer camp. I got sent to long distant family and worked on family farm.
Otter 4 years ago
I got kept at home to scrub the floors and paint the exterior of the house, and we were NOT poor.
Sam Chilton 4 years ago
Good to teach kids the value of hard work. Noone should just get money, unless they are in need.
Load More Replies... DennyS (denzoren) 4 years ago
Summer was just a time to do extra chores and help out around the house. Is dad gardening...then you're gardening...is mom cooking or cleaning...then you're also cooking and cleaning. (That sounded kind of gender stereotyped but that's just how it was).
Marco Conti 4 years ago
Here is a trick for summer camp that worked great for my daughter. Have her study an instrument in school, but pick something other than piano, violin, guitar or trumpet. In my daughter's case, it was viola. Close enough to violin for the technique to cross over, but rare enough that she got free youth orchestra spots, free or greatly reduced summer camp rates and other benefits. All the while, the Violinists either had to pay through the nose or simply couldn't find summer camp spots at any price.
BabaBizzle 4 years ago
We sat in our grandparents den while they fought all day. We had to watch tv , no friends over and no swimming or summer activities. The rage I had is still with me as an adult. My idiot mother was too “proud” to ask for help as a single poor mom to get us free summer camp so we could socialize and learn skills and not be fat sitting by a tv for 8 hours a day. Also hearing fighting made me resentful of my mother.
Martha Higgins 4 years ago
I did manage to go to one week of summer camp three years in a row because the church paid for it. Loved church camp!
Linda Lee 4 years ago
When i was a kid, I earned a week long, summer camp, art scholarship but still had to pay almost $200. I knew there was no way that I could pay that and I didn't even mention it to my parents because they would just yell at me and tell me I should be thankful for having a roof over my head.
#27
Eating out. Birthday presents and Christmas presents that's not clothes or school supply. New clothes that's not hand me downs. And haircuts at a hair dresser.
BusLady 4 years ago
We almost never got new clothes. When we got new clothes as gifts, we got really excited. Even today, I buy used most of the time. You can get some great stuff at thrift stores.
J.Taylor 4 years ago
This mentality only comes from growing up in a lower class home, I still shop at discount stores to.
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LavenderAxolotl 4 years ago
I feel like most hair salons are overrated. Take a free online class, buy a pair of hair scissors for a couple bucks, and you walk away with a suitable cut and $60 more in your pocket.
Mz Fitz 4 years ago
I despise going to the salon, my hair is almost to my waist and all one length it takes less than 3 minutes for them to trim my hair. Now I just have my daughter do it.
Load More Replies... Marco Conti 4 years ago
I can afford haircuts, but I cut my hair with a buzzer anyway. For me it's about getting in the car and drive, only to then wait in line, get a cut and come back. I watch them using the buzzer on me, I asked the "number" they used and then I started doing it myself. Since I prefer the "Barely regulation Military Junior Officer" haircut, it works fine for me. Indeed, I was a Junior Officer in the Army, that's how I know the haircut so well (also, best thing ever. My father was bald at 22, so he had us kids wear our hair long to compensate. After joining the Army, it was a revelation how easy it was to do anything with short hair. I still have all my hair at 60).
Lyone Fein 4 years ago
OMG. This. We were always so excited when a box of handmedowns arrived via a neighbor or relative. To us, those were new clothes.
Ivana 4 years ago
I got best dressed all the time in school but all my stuff came from thrift stores. I get complements on my clothing all the time at work and 90% of my clothing is pre-owned. I am now financially secure and could buy new clothing, but old habits die hard and I find really great things. I have to super want a specific item to take the time to buy it new. I do buy new shoes now though, used shoes just seem to be cheap and fall apart way too fast.
ALEXIS CISNEROS 4 years ago
i always got hand me downs from my mother, aunts and cousins growing up unless it was underwear, and my aunt cut my hair as a kid, so i always looked like a coconut
#28
Having food delivered. $5-$10 mark up?? Are you kidding?
For that matter, just going OUT to eat was a luxury.
Ivana 4 years ago
Never order delivery. I day dream about it. I put it all in my cart and go to checkout then see the total that doesn't include tip and I click out of it and decide I would rather starve.
Matebogo Dorothy Seape 4 years ago
😅😂 hope you get over your fear someday real soon. It’s not the worst thing in the world. You deserve it!
Load More Replies... Marco Conti 4 years ago
I can afford it, but I don't do it on principle. I can cook better than most restaurants (especially Italian) and after their food has been sitting in styrofoam for 45 minutes, mine is positively 3 Michelin stars in comparison.
Blue Jade Rare 4 years ago
Before fast food,, only one time a year for Chinese for Mother's Day. Otherwise we never ate out, never.
Celtic Pirate Queen 4 years ago
I live in San Diego, CA (USA) and STILL have to budget if we want to order a pizza or go out to - I don't know, Panda Express!
Aidan Pite 4 years ago
Growing up, I think the only time we ever got delivery was on New Year's Eve.
Claire Stanfield 4 years ago
On the rare occasions we had restaurant food, carry out always. Never delivery.
#29
Knowing what a duvet cover is and owning one. I remember when my wife and I were newly weds and she was telling me how we needed a duvet cover for our bed. I had no clue what a duvet cover was prior as I always though people just purchase sheets and/or the big ass blankets with the lion/tiger prints. Suffice to say, my mind was blown away.
Monday 4 years ago
Pretty sure that's just a sign of not being American. Buying a duvet and a duvet cover is usually cheaper than buying comforters or blankets.
Kat Rob 4 years ago
Duvets are very expensive in the US whereas a warm king size blanket can be had for fairly cheap.
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Vicky Zar 4 years ago
We only have one word for all of these things. Comforter, Duvet, Blanket, Quilt, Coverlet… it‘s all „Bettdecke“. So, I don‘t know what this is about. Lol
Marco Conti 4 years ago
Guys are not born knowing "duvet covers". I sure as s#it wasn't. Marriage also means learning such things and suddenly owning more pillows you had ever seen all at once as a bachelor. It's one of the great life truths, like evolution, the formation of stars and there is always someone better than you at whatever it is you choose to do.
Jennifer Mcmahan 4 years ago
I must be really poor...What's a duvet cover? I'll have to look it up.
Ines Olabarria-Smith 4 years ago
Dont think so, having good sheets and blankets is not cheap either.
Load More Replies... MikeWheelerFan 4 years ago
My family is upper middle class and I’ve never heard of a duvet cover…
My Name Is Mars 4 years ago
I didn't know duvet covers were a thing until a few years ago and I'm 40. I grew up in a middle upper class family, and have lived comfortably my entire life. My parents just never bought things like that because mom said they were frivolous and dad was career military and had fully embraced the spartan lifestyle he learned in the Navy.
ZAPanda 4 years ago
so you used ... sheets? blankets ? we normally use those sorts of blankets for dogs...
Load More Replies... Eglė Bukauskaitė 3 years ago
dunno just 6months ago i bought one super simple one for 16€. Can't imagine that being a luxury (for people who have a place to live that is)
rumade 4 years ago
Washing a whole duvet requires a massive drum machine. We have the covers so you can change and wash them weekly, like sheets. Millions of people use a duvet and cover without any problems, they don't get messed up inside unless you are putting it on incorrectly or doing very strange things in your sleep!
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#30
Showing my age but having a shower in your house. Back in the day only people with money had showers, we all only had baths.
Otter 4 years ago
Now the low-rent apartments have just shower stalls, and just the better places have bathtubs.
Martha Meyer 4 years ago
I'd definitely miss something in an apartment without a tub.
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Georgia Hebert 4 years ago
I grew up without any inside plumbing except for the faucet in the kitchen that was only cold water. Used the outhouse. When I was older I would hang a hose on the clothesline and shower outside with a bathing suit on.
My Name Is Mars 4 years ago
I wish I had a bath tub. After my dad got sick, I moved home to be his caretaker and my parents had all the bath tubs replaced with showers so dad could easily get in and out. Dad passed in 2019 and the house is mine now but I consider it a luxury when I stay in a hotel with a bath tub.
Leodavinci 4 years ago
I grew up in a home with a tub and no shower. Today I much, much prefer using a shower. I like the feel... and it's less wasteful of water.
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Denny Cwiek 4 years ago
Depends on how much water you fill your tub with. Six inches of water is plenty to bathe in.
Load More Replies... Warrior Mama 4 years ago
Oh man, I remember this! I hated having to bend my head forward under the bathtub faucet to rinse out shampoo, especially one extra I was old enough to have experienced the luxury of a shower at someone else's house. These days I do enjoy a good bath when I want one to relax, but nothing beats a shower for regular washing.
Elizabeth Butler 4 years ago
In the 50s standard housing was tubs, no shower. Our new house, 1949, had tub only and my dad, who got used to showers in the Navy, had a shower installed in the basement. I encountered showers only in college. I think once folks encountered showers and liked them, they became standard. Then landlords found they were cheaper.
Martha Higgins 4 years ago
I hate sitting in dirty water in a bathtub. Give me a shower any day!
#31
Being able to invest.
Leodavinci 4 years ago
If you're talking about the stock market, that's actually legalized gambling.
#32
College.
Despite the amount of financial aid some people in poverty can get, the debt, no matter how much smaller it may be, will still strangle you until there is nothing left.
Especially when you're already in a financial class that already struggles with paying for food. That is one of the reasons I never personally bothered going to college; because I knew there was no way I would be able to pay it off without killing myself in the process
ZAPanda 4 years ago
unless you're in germany or another civilised country where the state provides it.
The Dude 4 years ago
Because college in your country is a business, not a public service. Thanks, rampant capitalism. In my country, education to degree level is free for everyone regardless of their financial status.
Loki’s Lil Butter Knife 4 years ago
The cost of College and post-graudate school in the United States can border on high-way robbery. More high-school students need to be made aware that going to College abroad is an excellent opportunity that can actually be more affordable in the long run.
Leodavinci 4 years ago
Trouble is that even though higher education may be free for non-citizens, living there is not. Good luck finding a job there.
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NoneYa41 4 years ago
scholarships and grants paid for my entire 6 years of college and university. $0 out of pocket.
Matebogo Dorothy Seape 4 years ago
Same here!! It even paid for my therapy sessions when the going got tough academically and otherwise. So grateful.
Load More Replies... #33
Having snacks in the house a week after grocery day.
#34
Ordering whatever you want on a restaurant menu.
Bobby 4 years ago
I make sure to only go to places I can do this. I feel like having to restrict my choice would ruin the meal.
Ivana 4 years ago (edited)
Same. I take my friends out sometimes because now I have the money to do that. Thing is, all my friends grew up poor like me and even though I am paying they actively avoid getting high priced items. I told them I wouldn't have offered if I couldn't afford to get what they wanted and I want them to get exactly what they want. Extremely difficult for my friends to get what they actually want so I set the example by buying a lot of things and we do family style. I always order dessert too so that they feel comfortable doing the same.
Load More Replies... Claire Stanfield 4 years ago
Yeah, I get nervous about this. I was also raised to not order anything expensive on someone else's dime. So I'm very conscious of what others order at restaurants. If they say "order whatever", but their meal is $12, I make sure mine is $10 or less.
#35
Having dinners that aren't 90% rice.
#36
Parents having time to show up in school events or parents throwing birthday parties in school for their kid.
Ivana 4 years ago
I remember when my mother made it to a school event for the first time. It was 3rd grade and I did a presentation on Argentina. I even remember what I was wearing, a leopard print jacket because I was dressed up like jaguar to talk about the wildlife and forests. I also remember when my mom asked me how much money I needed for a field trip. I asked for $20 but felt so terrible that I asked for so much that I didn't spend any and didn't get food so I could bring it back to her.
#37
not knowing how to use public transport.
Felix Feline 4 years ago
Where I live we have great bus service but I'm unsure how to use it. I have never been on a bus.. Do the drivers give change? How do you get off the bus? It makes me anxious thinking about this.
BusLady 4 years ago
I take it this means that rich people have never, and will never, use public transport. I once heard a man complain that he had to drive his teenage daughter everywhere. I told him to get her a bus pass. He exclaimed "Oh, no! That's too dangerous!" Then I informed him that I rode the bus on a daily basis. But it was not good enough for his little princess. And he wasn't even rich.
MikeWheelerFan 4 years ago
Hey, there’s nothing wrong with taking public transport. Sure I won’t take it in more dangerous parts of town but otherwise I’m fine with it.
Load More Replies... #38
People who had marble counter islands in the kitchen
Vasana Phong 4 years ago
Sad thing is, lots of these rich folks have a kitchen we would die for since we both love to cook that do not even cook
Seabeast 4 years ago
Marble is a poor choice for kitchen countertops, it's soft and porous and breaks easily.
WilvanderHeijden 4 years ago
It's not a sign of wealth in the Netherlands. Merely another hype in interior decorating. Which will be ripped out in 15 years because it's soooo 2020.
Load More Replies... #39
Taking your kids to activities.
Samantha Lomb 4 years ago (edited)
I dunno. Where I grew up churches used to host lots of free activities for kids ( and churches where where most of the non school activities happened anyway) and when I was in Girl Scouts girls from poor families could participate for free. And libraries frequently offer free children's programming
Paul Davis 4 years ago
you still have to get there, so either have good transportation or live close enough to those facilities to walk there
Load More Replies... Ivana 4 years ago
Every single building that housed an extra curricular I was in burnt down. Gymnastics, had to quit because the building burnt down. Piano teacher, house burnt down, violin, wouldn't you know the community center burnt down. Art...well, there is so much flammable material in an art room. Mom got really lazy with her lies towards the end. Didn't join sports because was in fear I would kill my teammates.
#40
Parents not working 7 days a week.
Claire Stanfield 4 years ago
My parent was self employed and set a higher rate for Sundays - we'd still find people who would pay it. That's how it is. When you're working, you get paid. When you're not, you don't.
heather morris 4 years ago
I know im the one who works that schedule now it sucks but thats what i gotta do to pay bills
#41
Box Tops for Education. When I was a kid, a whole bunch of food companies ran some sort of fundraising thing where you could cut a little coupon called a box top off of whatever name-brand product you bought and they would donate money to public schools. My elementary school always had prizes for kids who brought in box tops. I remember the lowest tier prize was a scratch and sniff sticker if you brought 5 box tops. The trouble was, at the time my parents had just divorced and my mom was having trouble making ends meet so we could never afford more than the generic versions. I was never able to save enough box tops to get a prize.
Chris Freeman 4 years ago
It was General Mills. Not a bad program, but I heard some schools embarrassed kids like this. Same with sales of overpriced products no one wanted. Those with rich relatives always won the prizes. Something is very wrong for any prize in a school going to those based on wealth rather than academic achievement. Needless to say I never won either. The only time we would get one of these would be if the product happened to be at the "bent and dent" store where people went to buy banged up food for a discount.
Load More Replies... Ivana 4 years ago
I got publicly shamed by my 4th grade teacher for being the only student not to bring canned food in for the canned food drive. I was crying in the middle of class and ended up shouting at him "Who you think gets the cans! I do, we don't have any food. I haven't eaten in two days." Like come on guy, I was literally 40lbs in the 4th grade and was severely malnourished. Really that hard to put one and one together. He got really sick that year and died and I won't lie, I was really happy about it.
Pilot Chick 4 years ago
I remember going to neighbors trying to collect box tops because we never had any of that stuff. We’d get the extended family involved too but it still never got me any prizes.
John C 4 years ago
This - we never bought brand names either, but always made a moderate success of the drives like this by involving family. It costs nothing to get some help for something like this.
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Axolotl King 4 years ago
We had something like this but it was a classroom effort. So the class that got the most got a pizza party or whatever, not individual prizes.
Gabriele Alfredo Pini 4 years ago
We have this type of fundraising, but they are all anonymous: the children leave their coupons in a box or give them to their teacher.
#42
Having a kitchen big enough that your gas stove is on an island. Also a decent bathtub. The kind you can actually soak in if you’re an adult.
Julie Cohn 4 years ago
I was the only rich kid in the public school I attended and you guys are spot on about this. Any time I had a friend come over they would always rave about how our stove was in our island & wanted to hang out in the kitchen instead of in my bedroom like we did at their homes.
#43
Kids who showed up to the dress-up days at school with an actual store-bought costume rather than an old t-shirt their mother adapted. Kids who came to the school disco and not only had the money to get their ticket, but also extra for sweets. Kids who always had the best stories about their exciting holidays and the cool things they did there. Kids whose school uniforms were brand new and had those sewn-in name labels instead of bought from the school second hand store. Kids who had so much food in their lunch boxes that they actually left some because they were full, and they had a snack for morning break.
Claire Stanfield 4 years ago
Ngl we had some pretty creative Halloween costumes on a budget. I was a tin of McCormick brand ground nutmeg once, painted a cardboard box, wore a red outfit, and cut out holes to fit my head, arms and legs.
Pezor Zass 4 years ago
agreed: home made costumes are the best. I don't see the point of a bought costume at all, like it means nothing to me. Oh, you picked that out at store, eh? clever you...
Load More Replies... #44
Choosing not to eat food you were given because you don't enjoy it.
John Smith 4 years ago
it is nice to not have to eat things just because its what you have. Even though it tastes nasty.
Paula Marowsky 4 years ago
Try eating only musty cabbage or boiled eggs every dinner for years and then tell me you enjoy them
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#45
Having proper buns with hot dogs or hamburgers instead of white bread was living high class to me.
Pungent Sauce 4 years ago
51 and bread still comes from the day-old shelf (unless I make it myself)
Bettie-Jean Neal 4 years ago
For me, it was a treat to have white bread for a hot dog. I still do it because I like it so much. It got started when we went camping for vacation. A loaf of bread could be used for so much, why bring buns too? Only so much space in the cooler to store food.
Monica Sargent 4 years ago
....and because of this, I prefer my hot dog wrapped in a slice of wheat bread. It just tastes better.
#46
Glassware designed for certain liquids (wine glasses, martini glasses, beer steins, etc.). I grew up with plastic cups and coffee mugs.
Valley Girl 4 years ago
I remember these......I think I had the Garfield ones.
Load More Replies... #47
Eating meat that actually looks like meat: steak, chops etc. As opposed to sausages, meatloaf, pies etc.
Samantha Lomb 4 years ago
Where I grew up it was common for families to go shoot a deer or two to get through the winter or have household hogs and do butchering so we always had meat that looked like meat, you just had to process it yourself. My dad butchering deer freaked me out horribly as a kid.
Evil Little Thing 4 years ago (edited)
Same! But I would much rather earn my share of the meat by butchering a deer than by stomping around on a mountain at 4am in October-November. Plus, venison is delicious.
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#48
Decorating a whole room at once
#50
Not having debt collectors coming round.
Samantha PandaNotBored 4 years ago
Terrified of the bailiffs , hiding behind the sofa, while your mum was in the pub . Just before leaving she’d tell me, they’d have the right to break in . She knew by ,waving me alone they’d walk away and try again another time .
Ivana 4 years ago
They send out the sheriff and it was my job to always keep and eye out for them to get the summons so my dad wouldn't find out that we were being sued. My mother also made me pick up the phone so my dad wouldn't figure out how many bill collectors were calling. I hold a huge grudge against my parents for that. My mother for hiding the debt and my father for willingly let himself be lied to even though he had married my mother 4 times and it always ended in bankruptcy. I was too stressed to do anything and dropped out of high school after the 9th grade.
April Bertolino 4 years ago
We used to have a "secret" ring for the phone if it was a family member calling...
#51
a dishwasher machine, a trash disposal, air conditioning and hot weather
#52
Vacation house
Leodavinci 4 years ago
Yeah... no. SO's family really was poor and their home was a cramped, little house that had been added to to give it 2 of its 3 bedrooms. It was located in what could be described as the "wrong side of the tracks"... had there been a railroad there. When a child, SO's parents had a one room, "vacation" cabin in MI.
#53
Having space. House is too damn small for all of us and my parents can be pretty toxic
#54
Pistachios
#55
Having the crayons that have the sharpener built into the box.
#56
Garage fridge.
Evil Little Thing 4 years ago
They mean an *extra* fridge in the garage to keep all the beer and soda.
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#57
An in-ground swimming pool
#58
Automatic payments.
Kevin Beard 4 years ago
I think they mean having enough money that you don't have to worry if you can afford to pay the bill on the due date, you can just let it auto withdraw because you know you have enough money.
Load More Replies... #59
Going to Disneyland.
Lara Verne 4 years ago (edited)
Going to any amusement park. Nearest Disneyland is halfway across the continent, so even wealthy people can't go there very often.
You kidding me 4 years ago
I live minutes from Disneyland (always have) and have not been there in many years. Not because I can't afford it, because it's over hyped, over rated, over priced and over crowded.
Autumn Artemis 4 years ago
Disney will always be special to me, but dear god I cannot believe the theme parks...
Valley Girl 4 years ago
I have a coworker whose brother is in his 50s and planning to get married at Disney next year. I've been able to take my daughter ONCE and then had to budget everything. Eating right before we got there etc. I don't understand how grown ass people can't find anything better to spend their money on.
Kristal 4 years ago (edited)
Most definitely not. People from all over visit the US parks but there are also Disneylands in Paris, Hong Kong, Shanghai, and Tokyo.
Load More Replies... #60
a) Throwing away leftovers and b) cooking the same quantity again next time.
Bobby 4 years ago
My mom had a lot of trouble with this after my sister's and I moved out. She'd been cooking for 6 for 20 years and now it was just 2
Load More Replies... Karl Baxter 4 years ago
No matter how rich you are, wasting food is terrible. My wife worked with someone who prided herself on how much food she threw out since re-using it was ‘just for poor people”. I never felt more like smacking someone so hard for their snobbery, wastefulness and stupidity.
Ivana 4 years ago
Took me a while but I got really good at cooking just enough for no left overs. The scraps get put in the fridge and at the end of the week I make soup with whatever ingredients were left over. I also coordinate my weekly shopping list to have similar ingredients so things don't go to waste.
#61
Throwing away the ketchup when it's "empty" instead of putting water in it so you can use what is left in the bottle.
Paula Marowsky 4 years ago
Ketchup. Soap. Shampoo. Conditioner, lotions.., Really everything you can still use by putting water
Autumn Artemis 4 years ago
We do that with all kinds of condiments- syrup, honey, ranch, etc. It really does let ya get everything out of the bottle.
#62
Playing games and going on rides at a carnival.
Valley Girl 4 years ago
That we could do. Just don't ask for anything to eat or drink. Put a water bottle in the freezer before you go and walk around with a purse full of $ store stuff
#63
Hand towels for drying your hands in the washroom
#64
Not having to use the oven to heat the house up during winter.
Remi Flynne 4 years ago
Isnt that an expensive way to heat a room? Also read that if it was a gas oven it could be dangerous unless you had a window open (making it a lot less effective).
Ivana 4 years ago
My mom would do this in the mornings. Instead of turning on the heat she would put our clothes in the dryer and leave the oven open while we got ready for school. Then you turn it all off before you leave.
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#65
Multiple game systems
Dre Mosley 4 years ago
My mom scraped together enough to get me an NES, but I had to hook it up to an old back and white TV. I never wanted friends to come over and see that.
#66
Buying icecream in the lunch line
Samantha Lomb 4 years ago
I don't remember ice cream even being an option. Only occasionally would we get that "vanilla ice cream" ( don't think it was legally ice cream) at school for some kind of event. The one that came with the wooden stick and tasted like stick.
#67
Owning a newer car or holidays abroad.
#68
Not making payments on a car, just buying it.
WilvanderHeijden 4 years ago
Not a sign of wealth. Lots of people buy cars without taking out loans. In the Netherlands most people think that you're a special kind of stupid to take out a loan for a car. That's why the average age of Dutch private cars (11 years) is one of the highest in Europe.
Brian bell 4 years ago
No offense intended at all here!! But in USA if you intend to have a car at all, even one that is 11 years old, you're gonna' need a loan.
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#69
Basketball hoop in the driveway.
#70
Getting cold lunches (parents would pack them lunch that would have a ton of goodies in them)
Nikki Haines 4 years ago
I never got cold lunch because school lunch was free. Definitely felt like it was just for the wealthy.
#71
Not living in an apartment complex
Samantha Lomb 4 years ago
Most poor people I knew lived in trailers or borderline derelict houses. Apartments are rare and expensive
Erik Lawrence 4 years ago
surprisingly, theres a whole lot of the country outside of who you knew.
Load More Replies... Otter 4 years ago
I'm a grown adult who makes good money, and I LIKE living in an apartment complex! It's a good one, with comfy apartments and big old trees, and a nice manager and a staff of maintenance people. They're great, and I mean just fantastic, I broke my leg on vacation and I called the manager asking for help, and there was a handicapped ramp at my door by the time I got home! I mean there are huge advantages to owning a home, and that's on my to-do list, but homeowning doesn't make free handicap ramps appear while you're in another state.
Ivana 4 years ago
I was a rural poverty person, I lived in trailer parks. Lived in apartments when I went to college and I can't say which is worse but at least in the apartment complex I never had the toilet fall through the floor. All my childhood homes no longer exist because the trailers we lived in were all 40+ years old when we lived in them and the floors just crumble.
#72
Buying food from the school canteen
Rembrandt Q. Einstein 4 years ago
I'm thinking this is like a school store? We had one where we could buy a coke or something between classes or after school.
ZAPanda 4 years ago
American thing. We don't have canteens. We have standard "tuck shops" here which have sweets and similar nonsense that kids buy, usually a small serving hatch window with a small shop behind it.
Samantha Lomb 4 years ago
Americans don't call them "canteens" unless its on an Army base, so try again
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#73
Silverware that isn’t plastic. Toaster oven. More than one frying pan
Ivana 4 years ago
Wait, no. You can buy metal silverware for $10 or less. I know because I bought the set at Walmart and used it for 15 years and guess what, just checked on the Walmart website and the set that lasted me for 15 years is $7.48. So who on Earth is buying plastic silverware to save money?
Lyone Fein 4 years ago
Not everyone has 7.48 for silverware. You don't buy the plastic stuff, you just grab the free ones at the deli counter, etc and keep washing them off until they break.
Load More Replies... What do you think ?
Caro Caro 4 years ago (edited)
I once heard someone say "If you have to ask the price then you can't afford it" and for some things it's true but it sounds very arrogant.
Aliquid 4 years ago
Many rich people are extreme penny pinchers... so I don't know if the saying is true or not. But I guess they don't HAVE to ask, they just choose to ask.
Load More Replies... DennyS (denzoren) 4 years ago
Anxiety caused by growing up poor is also such a big thing. Not wanting to do something or buy something because you're scared you wouldn't have enough in case something happens. This still plagues me to this day and I can't take risks or invest because of it.
Brian bell 4 years ago
This! The real damage is after growing up poor (we) continue to "think poor," and do things like settle for lower pay than we are worth, don't dare to spend money (the whole save it for a rainy day thing but it gets spent on fixing cars/ replacing appliances, so never ends up for fun)... Yeah, the poor thing is W A Y overrated, Highly NOT recommended!
Load More Replies...
Lyone Fein 4 years ago
I am 58, and it has been many years since my desperately poor childhood. But those anxieties still reside in my personality. I can't stand it when anyone throws out food or leaves lights on when they leave the room or uses too much water for something, etc. It is definitely a neurosis.
Tami 4 years ago
The world would be such a better place if everyone stopped such wasteful habits! Regarding food, about 40% of food in the US is wasted. With such disregard being so commonplace, we can imagine how much of our other resources are wasted as well.
Load More Replies... BusLady 4 years ago
I don't have much, but I appreciate what I do have. My background of growing up in poverty has helped me to see the big picture. It also taught me how to budget and stretch a dollar.
Stephanie Keith 4 years ago
All of these things, for most of them are actual necessities. Things all humans need equally. Crazy that we've been made to think needs are a luxury or you have to be rich to afford them.
Kristy Nelson 4 years ago
Parents needing to feed you food that would fill you up versus healthy food. It's much cheaper and goes much further to buy a cake mix than to buy fresh fruit. It's expensive to eat healthy, not to mention embarrassing and stressful. Poverty trauma is real.
Leo Domitrix 4 years ago
Yes. It can lead to really screwed-up behaviors as a result: Controlling attitudes about money, food, possessions, and it's terrifying how it can manifest. Some people become downright abusive due to it. I know poverty led into my dad's abusive behaviors. (His childhood.)
Load More Replies... kjorn 4 years ago
not be stuck to a job you hate because you can't affort to not working for few weeks or days to looking for a new job
Demi Zwaan 4 years ago
Which is why you look for a new job before you quit. Who quits before they have something new?
Load More Replies...
Lady Lava 4 years ago
I appreciate so much what I have now after my relatively poor childhood. Choosing the products I want in the supermarket, eating out whenever we feel like it, going on vacations to foreign countries, going to the hairdresser and decent clothing stores, buying new pieces of furniture, buy a house instead of lifelong renting. All things that were certainly not evident when I grew up. I know my parents have been struggling to make ends meet for a long time. Fortunately, healthcare was never a problem in my country. I feel lucky about that, it could have been worse. Now I'm definitely not literally rich, as in being a millionaire or so. But I do feel rich, just because of all those things I can do now, knowing I can afford them.
Caro Caro 4 years ago (edited)
I once heard someone say "If you have to ask the price then you can't afford it" and for some things it's true but it sounds very arrogant.
Aliquid 4 years ago
Many rich people are extreme penny pinchers... so I don't know if the saying is true or not. But I guess they don't HAVE to ask, they just choose to ask.
Load More Replies... DennyS (denzoren) 4 years ago
Anxiety caused by growing up poor is also such a big thing. Not wanting to do something or buy something because you're scared you wouldn't have enough in case something happens. This still plagues me to this day and I can't take risks or invest because of it.
Brian bell 4 years ago
This! The real damage is after growing up poor (we) continue to "think poor," and do things like settle for lower pay than we are worth, don't dare to spend money (the whole save it for a rainy day thing but it gets spent on fixing cars/ replacing appliances, so never ends up for fun)... Yeah, the poor thing is W A Y overrated, Highly NOT recommended!
Load More Replies... Lyone Fein 4 years ago
I am 58, and it has been many years since my desperately poor childhood. But those anxieties still reside in my personality. I can't stand it when anyone throws out food or leaves lights on when they leave the room or uses too much water for something, etc. It is definitely a neurosis.
Tami 4 years ago
The world would be such a better place if everyone stopped such wasteful habits! Regarding food, about 40% of food in the US is wasted. With such disregard being so commonplace, we can imagine how much of our other resources are wasted as well.
Load More Replies... BusLady 4 years ago
I don't have much, but I appreciate what I do have. My background of growing up in poverty has helped me to see the big picture. It also taught me how to budget and stretch a dollar.
Stephanie Keith 4 years ago
All of these things, for most of them are actual necessities. Things all humans need equally. Crazy that we've been made to think needs are a luxury or you have to be rich to afford them.
Kristy Nelson 4 years ago
Parents needing to feed you food that would fill you up versus healthy food. It's much cheaper and goes much further to buy a cake mix than to buy fresh fruit. It's expensive to eat healthy, not to mention embarrassing and stressful. Poverty trauma is real.
Leo Domitrix 4 years ago
Yes. It can lead to really screwed-up behaviors as a result: Controlling attitudes about money, food, possessions, and it's terrifying how it can manifest. Some people become downright abusive due to it. I know poverty led into my dad's abusive behaviors. (His childhood.)
Load More Replies... kjorn 4 years ago
not be stuck to a job you hate because you can't affort to not working for few weeks or days to looking for a new job
Demi Zwaan 4 years ago
Which is why you look for a new job before you quit. Who quits before they have something new?
Load More Replies... Lady Lava 4 years ago
I appreciate so much what I have now after my relatively poor childhood. Choosing the products I want in the supermarket, eating out whenever we feel like it, going on vacations to foreign countries, going to the hairdresser and decent clothing stores, buying new pieces of furniture, buy a house instead of lifelong renting. All things that were certainly not evident when I grew up. I know my parents have been struggling to make ends meet for a long time. Fortunately, healthcare was never a problem in my country. I feel lucky about that, it could have been worse. Now I'm definitely not literally rich, as in being a millionaire or so. But I do feel rich, just because of all those things I can do now, knowing I can afford them.
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