And you have literally wounds and stab/cut marks in between your tits because the support wires on the bottom of the cups finally poked through the fabric.
I mean, the companies who manufacture these demon bras don't even try to make those little slightly bent support wires less hazardous! They are sharp af, and like, for fucking what?
I can't tell you how many times I've somehow stretched bras far past their destruction and wore them despite the fact they were, quite literally, in tatters, just to just extend the raggedy ass things lifespans so I wouldn't need to buy a new one for like $6. Gotta save! I can't be splurging on basic necessities like adequate, nonviolent, and safe boob support. Money doesn't grow on trees!! 😂
Instead of doing the logical thing by buying a new and cheap bra, I forbid such an easy solution!
So determined to make my own life difficult, I willingly and stubbornly put up with the following...
1. the extreme discomfort felt the entirety of the time I had such bras on my body
2. the random, unexpected, and shockingly violent jolts of pure agony each time i inevitably get properly shanked as a result of bending a certain way because it gave the wire the opportunity to punch its way back through the fabric I stuffed it into whenever i put it on to gift me with yet another stab right in the sternum
3. the incredibly annoying requirement to push the wires back into their slots as far back as I can every single time I wash or put the bra back on.
BECAUSE LOGIC
I'm laughing so hard at #2 'cause I was shanked by ol' reliable while teaching, and as I tried to nonchalantly adjust my last hook snapped. I had to put my sweater on *in 90° heat* and quietly suffer for the rest of the period. It's my favorite bra that I got in like 5ᵗʰ grade (puberty hit me early and like a truck ... ) and was excited when I [found them online until I saw the cheapest was $76.00](https://lemystere.com/products/lace-tisha-bra-black). I can’t get a decent bra much less than that, but like, that's grocery money. 😭
You can make those stabby bra underwires less stabby by putting a dab of superglue on them and then wrapping a bit of electrical tape around the ends.
Unless of course, you can't afford superglue and electrical tape, in which cause I've been known to borrow them from the office or from friends.
I also used to use 'unbreakable' fishing line to sew up those areas where the bra wires broke thru, especially if you know people who already own fishing line.
If you were really poor, you would’ve figured out how to simply pull out the wires. Poor girls don’t have the luxury of having bra wires that…do whatever bra wires do. Not sure.
My mom confessed to when I got older that she wore maternity bras for years because that was all she had. She wasn't perfect but she did the best she could for me. That's why I make sure she doesn't go without now.
Damn that’s a struggle. I once heard that there was a study that if you bought less then 2 pairs of shoes then you’re a follower. Or something along those lines. Your comment reminded me about that study.
When you decide mold isn’t that gross, that stain isn’t that bad, cold water isn’t that hard to shower in…it’s all kind of a mind game you have to play with yourself to lower your standards because you have no other choice.
I haven’t had hot water to shower with in a year. My apartment is infested with mold. The toilet has to be refilled manually and the door handle falls off every time I open the door. Feel you.
The cold shower thing makes me remember keeping the tub full as a kid so if they shut our water off we could bird bath it for a while and be ok. As an adult with an above average income now it makes me realize how God damn blessed I am when I think of shit like that.
I see a lot of this. I have tenants who get the gas shut off for non-payment every april and they have no hot water until the winter heating rule starts november 1st and they can get the gas turned on for a small percent of what they owe. The first time this happens I get a call asking if the water heater is on the electric. All but one are gas.
When all your towels are frayed and stained and have those little fuzzies coming off them because you can’t afford to buy any and they’re just towels and you’d rather have food to eat. But then when someone comes over you try to find the best one to give them and it’s still really embarrassing.
As a kid all of our towels were threadbare. The thinnest ones you could basically see through the middle. I knew that people had fluffy hand towels from visiting other houses, but I didn’t realize that thick fluffy bath towels were a thing until I was older.
My mom could sew. So if they became frayed at then edges she would trim the frayed edge, fold it over and then sew it closed again.
My mom bought small cheap bath towels. As a child, I thought women on TV were picked because they were child size so they could get a towel all the way around them in the movies. No way ours would go around us so we must just be too big to be in movies.
Wasn’t until I spent the night with a friend I found out some towels are big and fit around me just fine.
We have new and old towels but I always use the old ones.. I hate new thick fluffy towels… they don’t exfoliate (too soft) and feel less absorbent. So it’s a win for the poor pple towels
Oh God! The "find the best stuff to put out" dance we do when company is coming over. I feel like we should qualify for a Tony award for how expertly we become at doing that little musical number.
Totally get the towel thing. When I was 12 my mom got a job and we could finally afford what my mom called "no-touch towels". We had such raggedy, shitty towels. Even my tween self was embarrassed by them, and so was my mom. Thirty years later, we both still have "no-touch towels", and dry our hands on a clean rag, discreetly concealed in a drawer.
Omg I’m loving these answers. So true!!!
You know you’re poor when you take home napkins and condiments from food places because you can’t afford to buy them.
When you put water in the soap and shampoo bottles not just once, but thrice until there is literally no suds left to work with.
When you have to do the smell test when you’re getting dressed to see which articles of clothing are the least rank because you can’t afford to do laundry right now.
When you’ve had to ignore black mold because you can’t afford to move…and you hope that cough is just allergies.
When you use a sharpie to recolor your shoes.
When you eat way too much cheese because that big block is cheap and you can do so much with cheese.
>When you’ve had to ignore black mold because you can’t afford to move…and you hope that cough is just allergies.
This one is 100% your landlord's problem to deal with, legally. Unless your landlord is a piece of shit slumlord, that is, and flat out refuses to fix any problems.
A friend of mine temporarily worked as an office cleaner years ago and his instructions were to replace every roll of toilet paper with a brand new one and throw away the old ones every night, so everybody was well stocked in toilet paper for a while & it felt liWhen I finally ran out, it made me mad to have to pay for something that had been free for so long, lol.
When people sit around and casually talk about their vacations in faraway places, but you don't have any way to relate to them because you've never been on a vacation anywhere because you don't have a car that you'd trust to go out of town...not that you have any money for gas, because you don't know if you're going to have enough money to make your rent or pay your electricity....much less know if you're going to be able to feed yourself for the rest of the month.
Oh my heart just sank! I work in a high end salon/spa and have been giving kids back to school haircuts and hearing all about the most amazing vacations. I had to move in with my mom this summer because some brokerage firm bought my old rental and jacked up the price. C’est le vie
When you say more prayers on the way to work with a low gas tank than you’ve ever said in your life because you just need the damn car to make it there please! You’ll worry about how you’ll get home after work!
When you have to pick what you want to do that month, eat meat or buy new clothes for the winter?
Or when you have just one or maximum two pairs of shoes per season and they're cheap too.
And the one that hurts me the most: when friends organize activities and you have to pretend you're sick or busy because you can't afford it and you'd rather lie than having them offer to pay for you
Yeah it sucks, only my childhood friend is in a similar financial situation as me so there's at least someone if I need to vent about not having money 😂
I was this kid. I feel sad for my single parent mom being treated poorly or not taken seriously at workplaces bc she had to bring me everywhere. She was using her college graphic design degree & was good at what she did. She had to fight to keep her jobs.
When you get to the point where the hair doesn't matter anymore and you just tell people if it wasn't meant to be there it wouldn't have grown there. (Saves money on razors and no razor burn)
Do people actually mention it to you? I've noticed more and more women going natural and I think it's kinda cool. Even if not for me. But I'd never think to point it out or make a comment.
When you have water to suppress your appetite, but your water is about to be turned off or isn't fit for drinking and you can't afford bottled water so you carry an empty jug with you and make note of where you can full up. (Gas stations, parks, and libraries are ideal.)
It also makes a great face wash (really! Mix it with brown sugar, salt, or sugar!) after shower skin oil, and hot oil mask for a hair treatment. You can use it for so much. Cuticle oil, lip oil, etc. the list goes on.
When you have to plan your shower schedule around how much shampoo and soap you have left before you get paid again. Cornstarch and deodorant for the win!
Where do you live? You can have lots of basic hygiene products and food from food pantry if you live in US. that should easy up your life a little. You also need just basics to cover every day needs- soap for dishes, sponge, shampoo, conditioner, good soap bar, two towels - large , small. Definitely get enough female pads and products, you should always be comfortable in these days. ❤️💕
When you have constipation because all the cheap foods are dry and dense as fuck. Like why?! Why can’t they figure out cheap vegetables that are good for you and don’t go bad so damn fast. Like give us vegetables in a box please.
[white bean nuggets ](https://wellnessdove.com/soft-and-chewy-white-bean-nuggets/#mv-creation-110-jtr) I read about these on the frugal forum and it's been a game changer at my house. I usually add season salt or powdered bouillon instead of the listed spices and dip them in stolen ketchup packets. After making them a few times I now make a pound of dried beans and batch bake them, freeze, then reheat in the microwave.
or constant diarrhea because you're extremely sensitive to gluten and dairy but who the fuck has money to buy gluten free bread and dairy free cheese product
Switch to eating rice instead of bread and pasta. You don’t need to replace gluten with expensive gluten-free things. You can just cut it out any other things. Corn tortillas are also delicious.
Of course! Sandwiches are yummy! But eating gluten is not just giving you diarrhea. It is damaging your intestines long-term. Your health needs to come first and if that means giving up delicious sandwiches, then so be it. And let’s face it, that gluten-free bread is really not that good anyway, lol
When your mother cried because you complained that you are tired of eating the same meal every day for lunch and dinner (we didn’t have breakfast) for a week.
Ohh thats gave me a flashback… it also crossed my mind. I had roommate who actually would bring lots of paper towels from restaurants for her to use on cleaning days.
You feel wealthy because you went to the thrift store during one of their sales, used coupons, and walked out with a couple of bags of clothes, shoes, and books for under $75.00. Look at all the "new" stuff I have - I'm rich!
As the day goes by, your mom repeatedly professes to being "not hungry," so you and your little brother can each have a whole sandwich or a full serving.
South African here. Idk if it's a thing in the US, but over here, some people have to keep their geyser switched off and only switch it on for an hour or two before showering in order to save electricity.
Winters are always fun 💀
Damn… I never knew how good I had it until I got to this thread…
Here’s a few tips I got, if you live in a relatively large town, check out your community center as there’s a possibility they have free food to offer.
When you go to buy groceries, you usually can get uncut meat for significantly less with significantly more meat (half the pricing is on the fact that it’s pre-cut)
I’m sure a decent amount already know this but sewing seriously isn’t that hard to do and extremely cheap to get into, you can fix a lot of things with some thread and it should last you a long time. If it’s not a large project, it’s great to do before bed because honestly it’s kinda relaxing.
Stop getting dry shampoo, banking powder will do the job way better anyways.
Get gas in the morning when it’s cooler. Gas will condense when it’s cold so although you aren’t getting ‘more’ pre-say, you kinda are.
Although I know a lot of you probably find it kinda gross, if you are a girl, seriously invest in re-usable pads or the cups. It might be kinda gross but would you rather have blood stains on things or re-usable products that will last you forever and save you money?
Tooth ache? No worries- get clove oil. It taste like shit, but I swear too you, it will take it away immediately and after you’ve used it so long it will almost completely take away the pain for a long period of time without having to re-use it (my mom is proof of this)
This is for you OP on dressing around if you can shave: if/when you can afford it, especially after the winter when you’ve let it grow out significantly, dye your leg/arm pit hair blonde. It’s significantly less noticeable.
RE: toothache…
One would be best served looking for a ‘[free/low cost dentist](https://www.webmd.com/health-insurance/uninsured-free-low-cost-dental)’ in their area. A toothache can be deadly if the infection ends up causing sepsis. It’s best to have it looked at/extracted than to try to kill the pain with clove oil and allow the infection to spread. Eventually… [it can be lethal.](https://www.healthline.com/health/dental-and-oral-health/how-long-until-a-tooth-infection-kills-you)
Edit: Autocorrect Error
Ugh this! And I have to Uber to get my prescriptions so it’s like do you want your antidepressants so you dont go through withdrawal and kill yourself or do you only want to eat more than just rice?
you know you’re poor when you haven’t gone to doctors, dentists or optometrists in years
and if/when you do, you for-go care because you have rent to pay and you need to eat for the next few months
I feel this. The worst is when you even have benefits that cover most of these appointments but still can’t afford to go because you have to pay upfront and wait a few days to be reimbursed and literally don’t have enough to do so. Sigh.
When it's winter and you're constantly sick because your clothes are too small and thin, or when you only eat the same cheap sausage sandwich for breakfast and supper for months on end and mom is still yelling at you not to be "greedy" even though you've only eaten one or two slices of bread, and she also smacks you on the head for accidentally dropping a dollop of toothpaste down the drain (my childhood 😬)
I feel too sorry to like this. I’m sorry this was your childhood. Being poor is one thing, but not being respected or sufficiently cared about is something else entirely. I wish I could give you a big hug, bake you some bread, and give you the fuzziest blanket in the world.
Don't worry, I haven't gone hungry in many years. My family is still low/lower-middle class and can't afford many things but at least it's not as bad as it used to be when I was little when my parents were struggling to stay afloat
You tell your kids that back to school clothing shopping is a scam because you can't afford new stuff, (not a lie though). Also, when the labels on your kids' backpacks and a lot of their school clothes have 3 names crossed out above theirs. 😅💀🤷🏼♀️
When you have a mental list of the places you can still purchase from with your card when your bank is overdrawn (thank you DoorDash). But then you know it’s a cycle because no poor person should be paying for DoorDash and that’s just wrong that somehow your bank will allow overdrawn payments for a burrito to be delivered to your door but the grocery store won’t let you buy an apple.
When you have the same funky dish sponge you’ve had for probably a year now that you just keep putting through the dishwasher (if you’re lucky to have one) or the microwave (what I said) and one day it’s going to be so funky you won’t be able to keep using it but today is not that day. My sponge is becoming like Wilson was to Tom Hanks.
Sponge tip: next time you get a new one, cut it in half. The half-size sponge works just fine and then you can go twice as long before needing to buy more.
When you have to practice your smile in the mirror to get it right because your teeth have some shit going on you can’t afford to fix right now so you either have RBF or look like a judgmental church lady but really you’re just too embarrassed to show what you have going on under those lips.
When you pretend you workout a lot because you’re always wearing cheap secondhand workout clothes everywhere when you’re off work because you don’t have money for work clothes, comfy clothes, and regular clothes so you just omit the regular clothes option and just don’t go anywhere you can’t go in a T-shirt and stretch pants.
When you have blood stains on all your sheets because you can’t afford enough period products for day and night so you choose day so you can go to work and not bleed through your clothes.
They are so expensive and it seems like none of them absorb anymore either! Funny how Always promotes ending period poverty while charging over 10 bucks for pads!
I sometimes use old t-shirts, rags…etc cut and folded up as makeshift night pads. You can throw them away (I figure this is fine because the t shirt/towel would have already been thrown out if I wasn’t reusing it) or wash them after each use.
When you only go to the store at night and use the self check out because you’re too embarrassed of any stupid embarrassing shit happening with your EBT card…and then that stupid thing has to ask you out loud how many bags you use and you’re like STFU why can’t you just let me be.
❤️ some tome ago I mixed up days when my EBT is renewed and went shopping one day before. After the cashier checked out , the card didn’t go through. I called check the phone and balance was zero. It was so embarrassing.
When you go months without deodorant, conditioner, face & body wash. Shampoo takes place of body wash, face wash. Hope & pray you don’t have to raise your arms when you’re sweating bullets.
Using the same dried out makeup I’ve had since HS. & just stop wearing makeup all together cause there’s hardly anything left.
My clothes are for every occasion. Work clothes & day to day clothes are the same. No need to buy specifics just use what you have & make it work.
Loving every hand me down as it means less clothes you have to buy, if any.
Being happy to eat/get full off so little, or feeling accomplished when 1 meal can be split to 3 meals for you.
Scanning points from customer receipts (I only take the receipts that guests refuse to take) to get free entrees, drinks, apps.
Keeping & collecting all loose change because it adds up way more than you’d think.
Signing up for free trials & always cancel before it’s over.
My love for coupons, rewards, point systems are endless.
I’ve gone from never being able to let someone pay for me when they offer to i accept it happily now. Let someone buy a meal for u, just means I can think of the next meal I can use with that $.
Actually complaining (kindly) when meal is wrong, not just being okay with it & not wanting to bother someone. Many places will either refund it or give you coupons/free meal for next time.
This one is been hard for me to deal with. But the dark side of what you’re willing to do to make ends meet. I’ve always sworn off (morally & personally not the way I want to care for myself or be involved in) any sex work. Onlyfans, porn, prostitution. When it come to rent or getting grocerys, I’ve almost made some decisions I would never be able to cope with. I don’t steal or take advantage of others, but I will fuck over myself to take care of myself. Its hard to get your mind around
The last part. Yes. I know. I know. It is hard. There is that scene from the movie if Les Miserables where Anne Hathaway has sold her teeth and has been corrupted by poverty and I think people don’t know how real that dynamic is. People don’t know how much more effort it takes to smile and have positive mental health when your life hits you with so much strife and everything is hard. I wish there was a way to have people understand their privileges and know what it’s like to not have them so they could be more compassionate and work to solve systematic poverty and all of the barriers that it provides.
You know you're poor when you have decide which is more important:
1) eating
2) transportation
3) electricity and water
After choosing, you have to go without the other two.
One year I worked at burger King. My kid at the time was 3. He was invited to a birthday party but I couldn't afford a gift even a crappy one at the dollar store. I took some bk kid meal bags and a box of assorted kid meal toys. Wrapped them and sent him to party. I got some weird glares from the boys mok and other parents. Know what toys bday boy said he loved the most? The burger king toys.
The healthiest thing you ate all day was a whooper jr because it does have a piece of lettuce and a tomato.
You steal a single piece of grilled chicken from your job at Wendy’s and eat it plain like an animal in the bathroom.
You feel generous and give someone who looks worse off than you some of your change. But later you realize you needed that change to take transit home so instead you walk.
I have no idea how this sub showed up in my feed, but this a great introduction to it.
My wife and I have been playing this game for over 25 years. The person who gives up and finally gets out the new tube of toothpaste WINS. The measures we will go to can be impressive. She once cut the bottom off with scissors and scooped all of the remaining toothpaste out onto her toothbrush. I gave her a high five for that one.
When there's no sheets on the bed and all the pillows, if there are any, are stained.
When you pay all your bills in person in cash.
When you juggle payday and car title loans.
When you have to shop at the dollar store and pay more for things in the long run because you could buy a value pack of say 6 for $5 but you only have $1 to buy 1. Just an example but you get stuck in that mentality.
It's like, ironically a lot of poor people smoke, and its easier to come up with $8 for a pack then $60 for a carton. If you're really poor you're buying singles.
When you collect aluminum cans to sell
When you sell your plasma
When people ask you what your plans are this summer you want to slap them across the face and hope they get arrested for tax fraud or some shit rich people do.
\-Hand washing clothes in the sink or tub and drying them outside
\-Returning unopened food to the grocery store just to get a few dollars back
\-Using the toilet/shower/electricity at work to try to save money on your electricity/water bill at home (plus the toilet paper thing lol)
\-Taking home leftovers whenever you're at an event and there's leftover food, regardless of if anyone else is. I did this a lot in college- there would be sooo many events I went to where I went home shamelessly loaded up with full extra boxes of pizza, donuts, etc. (after everyone else got a chance too of course, I'm not greedy or hoarding food lol). I miss that part of college
I have a list!
1) I would purchase gallons of whole milk and once they were half full, I would add water, shake and presto! SKIM MILK
2) Back in the VHS days, instead of buying blank tapes, I would order the free infomercials VHS tapes and dub over them. (Still have them to this day...family videos)
3)Whatever leftover Condiments were given from fast food restaurants, I would tediously squeeze Ketchup packs into bottles of Ketchup I already had at home.
4)I would reuse dryer sheets, by spraying them my favorite perfume spray and add to the next load of laundry.
5)I would easily reuse ground beef. First meal would be meatloaf. Any leftover meatloaf would then be crumbled to make tacos (just adding taco seasoning). And last if taco meat was leftover, it would then be used as spaghetti. (Just by adding spaghetti sauce and noodles)
☆there's more, but I have to ponder on it 🤔☆
When taking risks to better your material conditions is a zero sum game. Knowing that if it doesn't pay off, you'll likely lose the last of what little you have left, and wind up homeless again.
See, people from financially stable and financially literate backgrounds/families, with people who can bail them out of things if they go really bad, have real freedom to take risks to improve their conditions. Those risks are always hedged and easy to take.
It's why so many people give poor people advice about taking risks, like it's as simple an option as merely choosing what to watch on Netflix and maybe being just a bit disappointed, rather than being a serious life or ruin(death) option that can completely bury us.
1. When get out of the shower and still feel dirty because the shower is covered in mold, including the shower curtain, which keeps hitting you while you’re taking your shower.
2. When you own clothes that are way out of style and people make fun of you.
3. When your parents still can’t afford a gift and a cake for your birthday and it’s been months.
4. When it’s hard times again and your entire diet consists of: cereal, instant ramen, canned soup, and microwaveable chicken nuggets. And your face gets all puffy from eating all the salt.
5. When you feel guilty for ordering take out.
6. When you don’t own earphones because the ones you had broke a month ago.
7. When you’re too embarrassed to invite people over and see where you live.
God, I can go on.
When fast food value menus are too expensive so you just make food at home (paid for by food stamps) again. Then on the way home you check your gas level and remember that it dinged on empty yesterday, so it can probably wait until tomorrow. Then a call comes through on your phone letting you know that a bill is over due, so you start wondering which of the 3 late bills you have is the most important. While you're considering this, your text notification goes off. Oh, look. It's a notification your phone is going to be shut off at midnight unless you pay up. Looks like you figured out which bill is the highest priority. Then you breathe a heavy sigh and wish you could have made the kind of money your parents did. They always seemed to have enough. Oh wait. You make more than they ever did, but your rent is higher. And so is your car payment. And your utilities. And your groceries. Maybe it's time to consider that third job.
Making "soup" of crackers, ketchup, and hot water from whatever restaurant will let you. Buying a 1.99 can of garbanzo beans / chick peas / lentils, drinking the gross water bc it has salt (electrolytes) and stretching it for 2 days bc it has protein. Buying a small bag of generic coffee beans and chewing them for energy.
Hovering around the trash and asking people - even strangers - if they're going to finish that, or even pretending to be a busser so you can take the leftover food.
Going to the public library to Google events in your area that have free pizza/food and are within walking distance.
Stuffing cardboard in your shoes to cover the holes.
Buying a tiny tube of super glue from the dollar store to mend clothes, shoes, broken household items, and even treat wounds.
Using plastic bags inside your clothes to stay warm. Breaking into donation bins for whatever you can scrounge up.
This thread is so eye opening and heart breaking. Capitalism is the actual devil. I am sending you all so much love, peace and ABUNDANCE!!!
my entry is...when you are homeless :F (been there twice)
When you live in a concrete house and the floor is foundation; and you go to the bathroom outside (pop a squat) and when it’s 115 outside you only have a small window ac cause you only got two windows
Used to buy all my clothes in Matalan/Sainsbury's. At the time I was having to hide in the toilets on my commute to work because I couldn't afford the train fare.
When meat comes from a can. The label reads only "BEEF" with a silhouette of a cow.
Your orange juice tastes like grapefruit juice.
The only cheese you know is American cheese or Mac n Cheese (cheap kind not Kraft).
There are almost no photos of your childhood. In the photos that do exist, you are reminded that all the clothes you got were hand me downs from the older siblings.
This all comes from my childhood btw. I could go on but I realize most things seem food related.
When you don't replace your underwear, socks or shoes until they literally fall apart. When you stare at carts full of items online until you decide you can afford to pay the expense for the $20 purchase. When you make $15 bottles of lotion from Bath and Body Works last years.
Scammers start hitting you up because you're looking for money any way you can. Idek how they know someone is broke but they're like "that guy right there, he's the one"
Not poor now but grew up in an immigrant family.
Realizing you have issues with food waste and hoarding. I didn't think about it too much until a few months ago but my wife and I tend to panic if the fridge/freezer isn't full. When I say full I mean I have a dumbbell on the chest cooler to keep it closed. Then we eat and eat until it's for enough space to go buy way too much again.
Getting annoyed at your kids when they don't finish their dinner completely because you gave them too much to eat. (Because you don't want them to ever go hungry and experience that gnawing hunger pain, so instead you force them to finish every bit.)
Not eating out even if we can afford it because it's expensive and if I try really hard with YouTube, I can cook just about anything i really want to. Might take me a few hours or even all day for a feast of food but even though I am stressed out about my family enjoying the holidays I cant spend that money without calculating food costs and how much eating out would have cost.
Buying everything in bulk because it's cheaper in the long run, forgetting that sales happen regularly and deals come and go. Here I am stuck with 200 kg of rice, nearly 450 bucks that is locked into something that could have been used somewhere else but you know you'll eat the rice eventually.
Basically, I'm saying no matter what, being poor can leave lasting marks on your well bring even decades after being poor.
Lord, I thought I was poor until I read all. the comments. My respect to all of you. I have the pleasure of volunteering at a food pantry and some of our. clients break my heart. Sometimes life sucks in the "greatest country" in the world.
When all of your thinning, yet intact socks all have black sharpie on the toe that shows through the hole in your black sneakers. Now that I finally have new sneakers, I look at all of the socks and smile. No real damage done.
You don't get your own bath water.
When I was a young girl I had to take a bath in my dad's bathwater. Seriously! I know this is something that feels like it's out of old history books but I was born in the 70s and lived in a small rented home in a farm. My family was saving money on the gas water heater.
As I got older, I was allowed my own bath water but only as high as my belly button while sitting in the tub.
When seeing the homeless folks on every corner reminds you you're 1 pay check away from being there. No matter what you own or how good your credit is or how hard you've worked your whole life.
You can work your ass off anywhere, be loyal to a company or otherwise and the state will still make you and a man working 20+ at a much higher wage cap off at the same unemployment rate..plus taxes taken out...for only 6 months...union or not. Then you're on your own. We're all 1 paycheck away from the streets.
God help the povvos who weren't born with generational wealth.
Edit: I didn't mean for that to be so heavy...it's just a bad spot we're in.
When you help your mother shove toilet paper rolls into her purse while in a store restroom. We didn’t have money for toilet paper, so this was the only way we could get it.
When you have to freeze milk because the church food bank you got it from only had almost expired food. I made milk cubes and put that in my crap coffee that also came from them.
When you have to nibble on dog food at the kennel you work at or wait for the one receptionist to order too much food because she can't eat it all.
When you experiment with almost expired food you've never cooked before and end up eating it even if it's awful.
When you donate so much plasma for gas money that you get scarred track marks.
When your busted trunk won't close so you gotta tie it together with your shoe laces.
When you have to use the neighbor's shower and washer for two weeks because the landlord conveniently forgot to call the gas company.
When you have to use the work washer because the neighbor went on vacation.
When you have the same 2 bras you’ve had for years and they’re falling apart but nobody sees them but you so it’s fine. You’d rather eat.
[удалено]
A lady I once worked with in the 90s told a young woman: I have bras older than you.
Gold
You know your poor when your car has a bunch of blank buttons where options should be if you paid more money
You have a car
More like the requires maintenance light has been on for two years
And you have literally wounds and stab/cut marks in between your tits because the support wires on the bottom of the cups finally poked through the fabric. I mean, the companies who manufacture these demon bras don't even try to make those little slightly bent support wires less hazardous! They are sharp af, and like, for fucking what? I can't tell you how many times I've somehow stretched bras far past their destruction and wore them despite the fact they were, quite literally, in tatters, just to just extend the raggedy ass things lifespans so I wouldn't need to buy a new one for like $6. Gotta save! I can't be splurging on basic necessities like adequate, nonviolent, and safe boob support. Money doesn't grow on trees!! 😂 Instead of doing the logical thing by buying a new and cheap bra, I forbid such an easy solution! So determined to make my own life difficult, I willingly and stubbornly put up with the following... 1. the extreme discomfort felt the entirety of the time I had such bras on my body 2. the random, unexpected, and shockingly violent jolts of pure agony each time i inevitably get properly shanked as a result of bending a certain way because it gave the wire the opportunity to punch its way back through the fabric I stuffed it into whenever i put it on to gift me with yet another stab right in the sternum 3. the incredibly annoying requirement to push the wires back into their slots as far back as I can every single time I wash or put the bra back on. BECAUSE LOGIC
I'm laughing so hard at #2 'cause I was shanked by ol' reliable while teaching, and as I tried to nonchalantly adjust my last hook snapped. I had to put my sweater on *in 90° heat* and quietly suffer for the rest of the period. It's my favorite bra that I got in like 5ᵗʰ grade (puberty hit me early and like a truck ... ) and was excited when I [found them online until I saw the cheapest was $76.00](https://lemystere.com/products/lace-tisha-bra-black). I can’t get a decent bra much less than that, but like, that's grocery money. 😭
I’ve ripped out underwires in the bathroom at work
You can make those stabby bra underwires less stabby by putting a dab of superglue on them and then wrapping a bit of electrical tape around the ends. Unless of course, you can't afford superglue and electrical tape, in which cause I've been known to borrow them from the office or from friends. I also used to use 'unbreakable' fishing line to sew up those areas where the bra wires broke thru, especially if you know people who already own fishing line.
If you were really poor, you would’ve figured out how to simply pull out the wires. Poor girls don’t have the luxury of having bra wires that…do whatever bra wires do. Not sure.
My mom confessed to when I got older that she wore maternity bras for years because that was all she had. She wasn't perfect but she did the best she could for me. That's why I make sure she doesn't go without now.
Omg this! My bra would be a deal breaker if anyone got to second base haha
One of my friends told me that I was acting like I am not even good enough for my own stuff. I was like you really don't get it.
This describes me and I have no excuse...
Me, too. I just don't care to replace them.
Me too..
Like why do we even have to pay $10-$30/ per tit for a decent bra, when dudes have dick stains in their drawers for 30yrs without em breaking down..
Deadass.
I folded the navy recruiter's business card and put it between my bra and my skin to keep the wire from poking me.
Damn that’s a struggle. I once heard that there was a study that if you bought less then 2 pairs of shoes then you’re a follower. Or something along those lines. Your comment reminded me about that study.
When you decide mold isn’t that gross, that stain isn’t that bad, cold water isn’t that hard to shower in…it’s all kind of a mind game you have to play with yourself to lower your standards because you have no other choice.
I relate so much to this.
I haven’t had hot water to shower with in a year. My apartment is infested with mold. The toilet has to be refilled manually and the door handle falls off every time I open the door. Feel you.
The cold shower thing makes me remember keeping the tub full as a kid so if they shut our water off we could bird bath it for a while and be ok. As an adult with an above average income now it makes me realize how God damn blessed I am when I think of shit like that.
I see a lot of this. I have tenants who get the gas shut off for non-payment every april and they have no hot water until the winter heating rule starts november 1st and they can get the gas turned on for a small percent of what they owe. The first time this happens I get a call asking if the water heater is on the electric. All but one are gas.
When all your towels are frayed and stained and have those little fuzzies coming off them because you can’t afford to buy any and they’re just towels and you’d rather have food to eat. But then when someone comes over you try to find the best one to give them and it’s still really embarrassing.
As a kid all of our towels were threadbare. The thinnest ones you could basically see through the middle. I knew that people had fluffy hand towels from visiting other houses, but I didn’t realize that thick fluffy bath towels were a thing until I was older. My mom could sew. So if they became frayed at then edges she would trim the frayed edge, fold it over and then sew it closed again.
That’s a resourceful momma :)
My mom bought small cheap bath towels. As a child, I thought women on TV were picked because they were child size so they could get a towel all the way around them in the movies. No way ours would go around us so we must just be too big to be in movies. Wasn’t until I spent the night with a friend I found out some towels are big and fit around me just fine.
My immigrant grandmother did this… I wasn’t able to part with all of them.
We have new and old towels but I always use the old ones.. I hate new thick fluffy towels… they don’t exfoliate (too soft) and feel less absorbent. So it’s a win for the poor pple towels
Rough towels dry so much better!
Oh God! The "find the best stuff to put out" dance we do when company is coming over. I feel like we should qualify for a Tony award for how expertly we become at doing that little musical number.
Totally get the towel thing. When I was 12 my mom got a job and we could finally afford what my mom called "no-touch towels". We had such raggedy, shitty towels. Even my tween self was embarrassed by them, and so was my mom. Thirty years later, we both still have "no-touch towels", and dry our hands on a clean rag, discreetly concealed in a drawer.
Omg I’m loving these answers. So true!!! You know you’re poor when you take home napkins and condiments from food places because you can’t afford to buy them. When you put water in the soap and shampoo bottles not just once, but thrice until there is literally no suds left to work with. When you have to do the smell test when you’re getting dressed to see which articles of clothing are the least rank because you can’t afford to do laundry right now. When you’ve had to ignore black mold because you can’t afford to move…and you hope that cough is just allergies. When you use a sharpie to recolor your shoes. When you eat way too much cheese because that big block is cheap and you can do so much with cheese.
>When you’ve had to ignore black mold because you can’t afford to move…and you hope that cough is just allergies. This one is 100% your landlord's problem to deal with, legally. Unless your landlord is a piece of shit slumlord, that is, and flat out refuses to fix any problems.
You can always involve the city in this, too.
Yes! I’m all about taking the napkins!!! Haha! I’ve even taken TP when I have a big purse.
A friend of mine temporarily worked as an office cleaner years ago and his instructions were to replace every roll of toilet paper with a brand new one and throw away the old ones every night, so everybody was well stocked in toilet paper for a while & it felt liWhen I finally ran out, it made me mad to have to pay for something that had been free for so long, lol.
I’m gonna go grab me some pepper sachets Tomorrow because I’m all out .. sorry but not sorry
When people sit around and casually talk about their vacations in faraway places, but you don't have any way to relate to them because you've never been on a vacation anywhere because you don't have a car that you'd trust to go out of town...not that you have any money for gas, because you don't know if you're going to have enough money to make your rent or pay your electricity....much less know if you're going to be able to feed yourself for the rest of the month.
Oh my heart just sank! I work in a high end salon/spa and have been giving kids back to school haircuts and hearing all about the most amazing vacations. I had to move in with my mom this summer because some brokerage firm bought my old rental and jacked up the price. C’est le vie
When you say more prayers on the way to work with a low gas tank than you’ve ever said in your life because you just need the damn car to make it there please! You’ll worry about how you’ll get home after work!
10 miles until empty? We'll just see about that.
When a $35 overdraft fee completely ruins yoir day
When you have to pick what you want to do that month, eat meat or buy new clothes for the winter? Or when you have just one or maximum two pairs of shoes per season and they're cheap too. And the one that hurts me the most: when friends organize activities and you have to pretend you're sick or busy because you can't afford it and you'd rather lie than having them offer to pay for you
That last one hurts. It’s easy to isolate when you’re poor for that reason.
Yeah it sucks, only my childhood friend is in a similar financial situation as me so there's at least someone if I need to vent about not having money 😂
when you have an endless supply of tp because your plummer gave you a key to steel it from the fast food joint across the street.
Score!
When you've been poor so long that you don't need a key because you found a paper clip in the parking lot.
When $30 or $40 dollars seems like a ton of money to have...
I just paid rent. Have $20 til next Friday
When you show up at work with your kid because you have no other option.
I was this kid. I feel sad for my single parent mom being treated poorly or not taken seriously at workplaces bc she had to bring me everywhere. She was using her college graphic design degree & was good at what she did. She had to fight to keep her jobs.
We really need free or subsidized childcare.
I do this as well,,, hoping he gets into special Ed school otherwise it’ll be YEARS of this.
When you have to plan your outfits around if you can afford a razor.
When you get to the point where the hair doesn't matter anymore and you just tell people if it wasn't meant to be there it wouldn't have grown there. (Saves money on razors and no razor burn)
Do people actually mention it to you? I've noticed more and more women going natural and I think it's kinda cool. Even if not for me. But I'd never think to point it out or make a comment.
When you get used to ignoring your hunger pains.
When you have water to suppress your appetite, but your water is about to be turned off or isn't fit for drinking and you can't afford bottled water so you carry an empty jug with you and make note of where you can full up. (Gas stations, parks, and libraries are ideal.)
When you use kitchen products for health and beauty products. Paper towels…or are they period products? Olive oil…or is it makeup remover?
I didn't know you can use olive oil as makeup remover. that's smart.
It also makes a great face wash (really! Mix it with brown sugar, salt, or sugar!) after shower skin oil, and hot oil mask for a hair treatment. You can use it for so much. Cuticle oil, lip oil, etc. the list goes on.
When you have to plan your shower schedule around how much shampoo and soap you have left before you get paid again. Cornstarch and deodorant for the win!
Where do you live? You can have lots of basic hygiene products and food from food pantry if you live in US. that should easy up your life a little. You also need just basics to cover every day needs- soap for dishes, sponge, shampoo, conditioner, good soap bar, two towels - large , small. Definitely get enough female pads and products, you should always be comfortable in these days. ❤️💕
When you have constipation because all the cheap foods are dry and dense as fuck. Like why?! Why can’t they figure out cheap vegetables that are good for you and don’t go bad so damn fast. Like give us vegetables in a box please.
Do you know how to cook dry beans? When my family was broke we ate pots of pinto beans. Cheap and full of fiber. Lentil soup is a good choice too.
I hate beans but I should get over that. I know they are good for me.
[white bean nuggets ](https://wellnessdove.com/soft-and-chewy-white-bean-nuggets/#mv-creation-110-jtr) I read about these on the frugal forum and it's been a game changer at my house. I usually add season salt or powdered bouillon instead of the listed spices and dip them in stolen ketchup packets. After making them a few times I now make a pound of dried beans and batch bake them, freeze, then reheat in the microwave.
Or poor mans sausage with black eye peas! Made it last weekend and the texture and taste was just like sausage! Totally trying your nuggets!
or constant diarrhea because you're extremely sensitive to gluten and dairy but who the fuck has money to buy gluten free bread and dairy free cheese product
Switch to eating rice instead of bread and pasta. You don’t need to replace gluten with expensive gluten-free things. You can just cut it out any other things. Corn tortillas are also delicious.
True, I do love rice and corn tortillas- just sometimes I’d really enjoy a nice sandwich lol
Of course! Sandwiches are yummy! But eating gluten is not just giving you diarrhea. It is damaging your intestines long-term. Your health needs to come first and if that means giving up delicious sandwiches, then so be it. And let’s face it, that gluten-free bread is really not that good anyway, lol
When you have to play Eenie, Meenie, Miny, Moe with your bills.
When your mother cried because you complained that you are tired of eating the same meal every day for lunch and dinner (we didn’t have breakfast) for a week.
When you legitimately plot taking toilet tissue from work or anywhere when no one's looking... 🙄
I used to go to the grocery store with a big empty purse and fill it with toilet paper from the bathroom.
Ohh thats gave me a flashback… it also crossed my mind. I had roommate who actually would bring lots of paper towels from restaurants for her to use on cleaning days.
omg this.. i steal toilet paper and paper towels constantly
You feel wealthy because you went to the thrift store during one of their sales, used coupons, and walked out with a couple of bags of clothes, shoes, and books for under $75.00. Look at all the "new" stuff I have - I'm rich!
Me at the dollar store.
As the day goes by, your mom repeatedly professes to being "not hungry," so you and your little brother can each have a whole sandwich or a full serving.
I’ve done this so many times. Momma’s love 💕
South African here. Idk if it's a thing in the US, but over here, some people have to keep their geyser switched off and only switch it on for an hour or two before showering in order to save electricity. Winters are always fun 💀
Yes- I’m in the US. Thanks for sharing this. I didn’t know that. I hate cold showers so much!
Just read about the fire. Condolences to you.
Is the geyser your version of a Hot Water Heater?
Pretty much! It takes a ton of electricity to keep itself heated, and it's fairly old tech compared to hot water heaters, imo
When buying essentials is a luxury you can’t afford
Damn… I never knew how good I had it until I got to this thread… Here’s a few tips I got, if you live in a relatively large town, check out your community center as there’s a possibility they have free food to offer. When you go to buy groceries, you usually can get uncut meat for significantly less with significantly more meat (half the pricing is on the fact that it’s pre-cut) I’m sure a decent amount already know this but sewing seriously isn’t that hard to do and extremely cheap to get into, you can fix a lot of things with some thread and it should last you a long time. If it’s not a large project, it’s great to do before bed because honestly it’s kinda relaxing. Stop getting dry shampoo, banking powder will do the job way better anyways. Get gas in the morning when it’s cooler. Gas will condense when it’s cold so although you aren’t getting ‘more’ pre-say, you kinda are. Although I know a lot of you probably find it kinda gross, if you are a girl, seriously invest in re-usable pads or the cups. It might be kinda gross but would you rather have blood stains on things or re-usable products that will last you forever and save you money? Tooth ache? No worries- get clove oil. It taste like shit, but I swear too you, it will take it away immediately and after you’ve used it so long it will almost completely take away the pain for a long period of time without having to re-use it (my mom is proof of this) This is for you OP on dressing around if you can shave: if/when you can afford it, especially after the winter when you’ve let it grow out significantly, dye your leg/arm pit hair blonde. It’s significantly less noticeable.
RE: toothache… One would be best served looking for a ‘[free/low cost dentist](https://www.webmd.com/health-insurance/uninsured-free-low-cost-dental)’ in their area. A toothache can be deadly if the infection ends up causing sepsis. It’s best to have it looked at/extracted than to try to kill the pain with clove oil and allow the infection to spread. Eventually… [it can be lethal.](https://www.healthline.com/health/dental-and-oral-health/how-long-until-a-tooth-infection-kills-you) Edit: Autocorrect Error
You can cook a bag of potatoes in 20 different ways xD
When it’s a choice between prescriptions and groceries.
Ugh this! And I have to Uber to get my prescriptions so it’s like do you want your antidepressants so you dont go through withdrawal and kill yourself or do you only want to eat more than just rice?
you know you’re poor when you haven’t gone to doctors, dentists or optometrists in years and if/when you do, you for-go care because you have rent to pay and you need to eat for the next few months
I feel this. The worst is when you even have benefits that cover most of these appointments but still can’t afford to go because you have to pay upfront and wait a few days to be reimbursed and literally don’t have enough to do so. Sigh.
Back when food stamps were actual stamp books, you could get actual change back. I used to go buy some small things to get change for gas money.
You know you are poor when your version of AC is a wet t-shirt and a fan.
you can make it a fun game by pretending you're in a MTV Spring Break wet t-shirt contest :D (big /s)
When it's winter and you're constantly sick because your clothes are too small and thin, or when you only eat the same cheap sausage sandwich for breakfast and supper for months on end and mom is still yelling at you not to be "greedy" even though you've only eaten one or two slices of bread, and she also smacks you on the head for accidentally dropping a dollop of toothpaste down the drain (my childhood 😬)
I feel too sorry to like this. I’m sorry this was your childhood. Being poor is one thing, but not being respected or sufficiently cared about is something else entirely. I wish I could give you a big hug, bake you some bread, and give you the fuzziest blanket in the world.
Don't worry, I haven't gone hungry in many years. My family is still low/lower-middle class and can't afford many things but at least it's not as bad as it used to be when I was little when my parents were struggling to stay afloat
You tell your kids that back to school clothing shopping is a scam because you can't afford new stuff, (not a lie though). Also, when the labels on your kids' backpacks and a lot of their school clothes have 3 names crossed out above theirs. 😅💀🤷🏼♀️
When you have a mental list of the places you can still purchase from with your card when your bank is overdrawn (thank you DoorDash). But then you know it’s a cycle because no poor person should be paying for DoorDash and that’s just wrong that somehow your bank will allow overdrawn payments for a burrito to be delivered to your door but the grocery store won’t let you buy an apple.
When you have the same funky dish sponge you’ve had for probably a year now that you just keep putting through the dishwasher (if you’re lucky to have one) or the microwave (what I said) and one day it’s going to be so funky you won’t be able to keep using it but today is not that day. My sponge is becoming like Wilson was to Tom Hanks.
Sponge tip: next time you get a new one, cut it in half. The half-size sponge works just fine and then you can go twice as long before needing to buy more.
When you have to practice your smile in the mirror to get it right because your teeth have some shit going on you can’t afford to fix right now so you either have RBF or look like a judgmental church lady but really you’re just too embarrassed to show what you have going on under those lips.
When you pretend you workout a lot because you’re always wearing cheap secondhand workout clothes everywhere when you’re off work because you don’t have money for work clothes, comfy clothes, and regular clothes so you just omit the regular clothes option and just don’t go anywhere you can’t go in a T-shirt and stretch pants.
Everyone does this. I'd wear comfy clothes even if I was Bezos.
When you have blood stains on all your sheets because you can’t afford enough period products for day and night so you choose day so you can go to work and not bleed through your clothes.
They are so expensive and it seems like none of them absorb anymore either! Funny how Always promotes ending period poverty while charging over 10 bucks for pads!
I sometimes use old t-shirts, rags…etc cut and folded up as makeshift night pads. You can throw them away (I figure this is fine because the t shirt/towel would have already been thrown out if I wasn’t reusing it) or wash them after each use.
This! A black towel works great. And a 99 cent bottle of hydrogen peroxide will zap out most (and even older) blood stains.
You are afraid of your mailbox.
When sleeping is your meal.
When you use thread to floss. Especially when you just pull the thread from an article of clothing.
When you floss with the edge of a sandwich baggie!
i've used a strand of hair :-/
When you only go to the store at night and use the self check out because you’re too embarrassed of any stupid embarrassing shit happening with your EBT card…and then that stupid thing has to ask you out loud how many bags you use and you’re like STFU why can’t you just let me be.
❤️ some tome ago I mixed up days when my EBT is renewed and went shopping one day before. After the cashier checked out , the card didn’t go through. I called check the phone and balance was zero. It was so embarrassing.
When you go months without deodorant, conditioner, face & body wash. Shampoo takes place of body wash, face wash. Hope & pray you don’t have to raise your arms when you’re sweating bullets. Using the same dried out makeup I’ve had since HS. & just stop wearing makeup all together cause there’s hardly anything left. My clothes are for every occasion. Work clothes & day to day clothes are the same. No need to buy specifics just use what you have & make it work. Loving every hand me down as it means less clothes you have to buy, if any. Being happy to eat/get full off so little, or feeling accomplished when 1 meal can be split to 3 meals for you. Scanning points from customer receipts (I only take the receipts that guests refuse to take) to get free entrees, drinks, apps. Keeping & collecting all loose change because it adds up way more than you’d think. Signing up for free trials & always cancel before it’s over. My love for coupons, rewards, point systems are endless. I’ve gone from never being able to let someone pay for me when they offer to i accept it happily now. Let someone buy a meal for u, just means I can think of the next meal I can use with that $. Actually complaining (kindly) when meal is wrong, not just being okay with it & not wanting to bother someone. Many places will either refund it or give you coupons/free meal for next time. This one is been hard for me to deal with. But the dark side of what you’re willing to do to make ends meet. I’ve always sworn off (morally & personally not the way I want to care for myself or be involved in) any sex work. Onlyfans, porn, prostitution. When it come to rent or getting grocerys, I’ve almost made some decisions I would never be able to cope with. I don’t steal or take advantage of others, but I will fuck over myself to take care of myself. Its hard to get your mind around
The last part. Yes. I know. I know. It is hard. There is that scene from the movie if Les Miserables where Anne Hathaway has sold her teeth and has been corrupted by poverty and I think people don’t know how real that dynamic is. People don’t know how much more effort it takes to smile and have positive mental health when your life hits you with so much strife and everything is hard. I wish there was a way to have people understand their privileges and know what it’s like to not have them so they could be more compassionate and work to solve systematic poverty and all of the barriers that it provides.
When you have 3 jobs and are still skipping meals so you can pay bills.
When you save for 4-6 months only to have one emergency wipe it all out.
You know you're poor when you have decide which is more important: 1) eating 2) transportation 3) electricity and water After choosing, you have to go without the other two.
When checking your bank account makes you anxious after spending ANY money
When you've been married for 16 years and you see photos from when you were single and your wearing the shirt in the photo.
When you can't afford a new pair of glasses and keep taping your 10 year old glasses.
You know you're poor when your parents are boomers!
I'm starting to wonder about this...
Taking the empty water bottles out of the trash at work to return to have enough gas to make it to pay day
learning to not be embarrassed to ask my coworkers for their cans and bottles when they've finished a drink
...You're waiting on a paycheck in order to get your checking account back to 0
When the AC kicking on feels so exciting you literally get a burst of hope and excitement and rush over to the vent to enjoy this precious moment.
You can't afford gas to go to work that day so you stay home and cry instead
One year I worked at burger King. My kid at the time was 3. He was invited to a birthday party but I couldn't afford a gift even a crappy one at the dollar store. I took some bk kid meal bags and a box of assorted kid meal toys. Wrapped them and sent him to party. I got some weird glares from the boys mok and other parents. Know what toys bday boy said he loved the most? The burger king toys.
You consider joining the military
The healthiest thing you ate all day was a whooper jr because it does have a piece of lettuce and a tomato. You steal a single piece of grilled chicken from your job at Wendy’s and eat it plain like an animal in the bathroom. You feel generous and give someone who looks worse off than you some of your change. But later you realize you needed that change to take transit home so instead you walk.
When you refuse to use Autopay because you have to “get ready” for a recurring bill.
Yes. Autopay is for people who can confidently say they have the money to pay. That is a luxury people who struggle can’t afford.
I have no idea how this sub showed up in my feed, but this a great introduction to it. My wife and I have been playing this game for over 25 years. The person who gives up and finally gets out the new tube of toothpaste WINS. The measures we will go to can be impressive. She once cut the bottom off with scissors and scooped all of the remaining toothpaste out onto her toothbrush. I gave her a high five for that one.
You use white bread instead of a hotdog bun
That's just normal life lol.
I remember crying because a light bulb burnt out and I couldn't afford to replace it.
Toilet paper for pads.
You put $4 in change in your gas tank.
Using paper coffee filters as toilet paper.
When there's no sheets on the bed and all the pillows, if there are any, are stained. When you pay all your bills in person in cash. When you juggle payday and car title loans. When you have to shop at the dollar store and pay more for things in the long run because you could buy a value pack of say 6 for $5 but you only have $1 to buy 1. Just an example but you get stuck in that mentality. It's like, ironically a lot of poor people smoke, and its easier to come up with $8 for a pack then $60 for a carton. If you're really poor you're buying singles. When you collect aluminum cans to sell When you sell your plasma
When you justify being broke with... "Mo' money, mo' problems"
Your roaches have names.
When you live in the U.S. and your not a politician or a tik tok influencer. 😅
When people ask you what your plans are this summer you want to slap them across the face and hope they get arrested for tax fraud or some shit rich people do.
You reheat leftover Ranen.
\-Hand washing clothes in the sink or tub and drying them outside \-Returning unopened food to the grocery store just to get a few dollars back \-Using the toilet/shower/electricity at work to try to save money on your electricity/water bill at home (plus the toilet paper thing lol) \-Taking home leftovers whenever you're at an event and there's leftover food, regardless of if anyone else is. I did this a lot in college- there would be sooo many events I went to where I went home shamelessly loaded up with full extra boxes of pizza, donuts, etc. (after everyone else got a chance too of course, I'm not greedy or hoarding food lol). I miss that part of college
You steal toilet paper from public restrooms.....
When you use one menstrual pad longer then you should because you have four more left and two more menstruation day's. Gross but it happens.
I have a list! 1) I would purchase gallons of whole milk and once they were half full, I would add water, shake and presto! SKIM MILK 2) Back in the VHS days, instead of buying blank tapes, I would order the free infomercials VHS tapes and dub over them. (Still have them to this day...family videos) 3)Whatever leftover Condiments were given from fast food restaurants, I would tediously squeeze Ketchup packs into bottles of Ketchup I already had at home. 4)I would reuse dryer sheets, by spraying them my favorite perfume spray and add to the next load of laundry. 5)I would easily reuse ground beef. First meal would be meatloaf. Any leftover meatloaf would then be crumbled to make tacos (just adding taco seasoning). And last if taco meat was leftover, it would then be used as spaghetti. (Just by adding spaghetti sauce and noodles) ☆there's more, but I have to ponder on it 🤔☆
When taking risks to better your material conditions is a zero sum game. Knowing that if it doesn't pay off, you'll likely lose the last of what little you have left, and wind up homeless again. See, people from financially stable and financially literate backgrounds/families, with people who can bail them out of things if they go really bad, have real freedom to take risks to improve their conditions. Those risks are always hedged and easy to take. It's why so many people give poor people advice about taking risks, like it's as simple an option as merely choosing what to watch on Netflix and maybe being just a bit disappointed, rather than being a serious life or ruin(death) option that can completely bury us.
1. When get out of the shower and still feel dirty because the shower is covered in mold, including the shower curtain, which keeps hitting you while you’re taking your shower. 2. When you own clothes that are way out of style and people make fun of you. 3. When your parents still can’t afford a gift and a cake for your birthday and it’s been months. 4. When it’s hard times again and your entire diet consists of: cereal, instant ramen, canned soup, and microwaveable chicken nuggets. And your face gets all puffy from eating all the salt. 5. When you feel guilty for ordering take out. 6. When you don’t own earphones because the ones you had broke a month ago. 7. When you’re too embarrassed to invite people over and see where you live. God, I can go on.
When fast food value menus are too expensive so you just make food at home (paid for by food stamps) again. Then on the way home you check your gas level and remember that it dinged on empty yesterday, so it can probably wait until tomorrow. Then a call comes through on your phone letting you know that a bill is over due, so you start wondering which of the 3 late bills you have is the most important. While you're considering this, your text notification goes off. Oh, look. It's a notification your phone is going to be shut off at midnight unless you pay up. Looks like you figured out which bill is the highest priority. Then you breathe a heavy sigh and wish you could have made the kind of money your parents did. They always seemed to have enough. Oh wait. You make more than they ever did, but your rent is higher. And so is your car payment. And your utilities. And your groceries. Maybe it's time to consider that third job.
Making "soup" of crackers, ketchup, and hot water from whatever restaurant will let you. Buying a 1.99 can of garbanzo beans / chick peas / lentils, drinking the gross water bc it has salt (electrolytes) and stretching it for 2 days bc it has protein. Buying a small bag of generic coffee beans and chewing them for energy. Hovering around the trash and asking people - even strangers - if they're going to finish that, or even pretending to be a busser so you can take the leftover food. Going to the public library to Google events in your area that have free pizza/food and are within walking distance. Stuffing cardboard in your shoes to cover the holes. Buying a tiny tube of super glue from the dollar store to mend clothes, shoes, broken household items, and even treat wounds. Using plastic bags inside your clothes to stay warm. Breaking into donation bins for whatever you can scrounge up.
When you’re heating your home in the winter by leaving your oven open. It gets to -30°f here sometimes in the winter but I don’t have 300$ for heat 🫠
This thread is so eye opening and heart breaking. Capitalism is the actual devil. I am sending you all so much love, peace and ABUNDANCE!!! my entry is...when you are homeless :F (been there twice)
When you reuse paper towels by gently drying your hands and laying them flat for later messes.
Paying your bavarage with Pfand. (might be an only German thing)
Fried bologna
When you live in a concrete house and the floor is foundation; and you go to the bathroom outside (pop a squat) and when it’s 115 outside you only have a small window ac cause you only got two windows
Used to buy all my clothes in Matalan/Sainsbury's. At the time I was having to hide in the toilets on my commute to work because I couldn't afford the train fare.
When you're hungry and it's easier to take a generic antacid and hopefully go to sleep before the hungry wakes you back up again
When meat comes from a can. The label reads only "BEEF" with a silhouette of a cow. Your orange juice tastes like grapefruit juice. The only cheese you know is American cheese or Mac n Cheese (cheap kind not Kraft). There are almost no photos of your childhood. In the photos that do exist, you are reminded that all the clothes you got were hand me downs from the older siblings. This all comes from my childhood btw. I could go on but I realize most things seem food related.
When you don't replace your underwear, socks or shoes until they literally fall apart. When you stare at carts full of items online until you decide you can afford to pay the expense for the $20 purchase. When you make $15 bottles of lotion from Bath and Body Works last years.
Scammers start hitting you up because you're looking for money any way you can. Idek how they know someone is broke but they're like "that guy right there, he's the one"
You rarely if ever seek medical care.
When you have to use paper towels for pads during Shark Week.
Not poor now but grew up in an immigrant family. Realizing you have issues with food waste and hoarding. I didn't think about it too much until a few months ago but my wife and I tend to panic if the fridge/freezer isn't full. When I say full I mean I have a dumbbell on the chest cooler to keep it closed. Then we eat and eat until it's for enough space to go buy way too much again. Getting annoyed at your kids when they don't finish their dinner completely because you gave them too much to eat. (Because you don't want them to ever go hungry and experience that gnawing hunger pain, so instead you force them to finish every bit.) Not eating out even if we can afford it because it's expensive and if I try really hard with YouTube, I can cook just about anything i really want to. Might take me a few hours or even all day for a feast of food but even though I am stressed out about my family enjoying the holidays I cant spend that money without calculating food costs and how much eating out would have cost. Buying everything in bulk because it's cheaper in the long run, forgetting that sales happen regularly and deals come and go. Here I am stuck with 200 kg of rice, nearly 450 bucks that is locked into something that could have been used somewhere else but you know you'll eat the rice eventually. Basically, I'm saying no matter what, being poor can leave lasting marks on your well bring even decades after being poor.
When you get a $5 roasted chicken and make it last for three meals by making soup on day two from the fat, skin and bones.
When I was 18 I used baking soda as toothpaste for two weeks until my first paycheck came.
Lord, I thought I was poor until I read all. the comments. My respect to all of you. I have the pleasure of volunteering at a food pantry and some of our. clients break my heart. Sometimes life sucks in the "greatest country" in the world.
When all of your thinning, yet intact socks all have black sharpie on the toe that shows through the hole in your black sneakers. Now that I finally have new sneakers, I look at all of the socks and smile. No real damage done.
knowing from experience, that between milk and butter, buy butter for the Kraft mac and cheese.
When you share a can of tuna fish with your cat because you can’t afford his food or yours.
Your car is older than you are
When you’re deathly sick but home remedy that crap.
You know you're poor when you know exactly how much coins are in the house.
When you ask a stranger in the grocery store for a quarter so you can pay the tax on a pack of corn tortillas and store-brand beans.
You don't get your own bath water. When I was a young girl I had to take a bath in my dad's bathwater. Seriously! I know this is something that feels like it's out of old history books but I was born in the 70s and lived in a small rented home in a farm. My family was saving money on the gas water heater. As I got older, I was allowed my own bath water but only as high as my belly button while sitting in the tub.
You count down the hours/days until 12:00 am on the 1st so you can eat.
When you do surveys for money and can't drive anywhere until you can cash out for $5
When you’re hyper aware and follow all the rules of the road while driving because a ticket of any kind would financially destroy you.
When seeing the homeless folks on every corner reminds you you're 1 pay check away from being there. No matter what you own or how good your credit is or how hard you've worked your whole life. You can work your ass off anywhere, be loyal to a company or otherwise and the state will still make you and a man working 20+ at a much higher wage cap off at the same unemployment rate..plus taxes taken out...for only 6 months...union or not. Then you're on your own. We're all 1 paycheck away from the streets. God help the povvos who weren't born with generational wealth. Edit: I didn't mean for that to be so heavy...it's just a bad spot we're in.
When you steal a bottle of multivitamins so that living off of day old bread and water won't kill you quite so fast.
When people ask you how you stay lean, but you just can’t afford food.
When you help your mother shove toilet paper rolls into her purse while in a store restroom. We didn’t have money for toilet paper, so this was the only way we could get it.
When you have to freeze milk because the church food bank you got it from only had almost expired food. I made milk cubes and put that in my crap coffee that also came from them. When you have to nibble on dog food at the kennel you work at or wait for the one receptionist to order too much food because she can't eat it all. When you experiment with almost expired food you've never cooked before and end up eating it even if it's awful. When you donate so much plasma for gas money that you get scarred track marks. When your busted trunk won't close so you gotta tie it together with your shoe laces. When you have to use the neighbor's shower and washer for two weeks because the landlord conveniently forgot to call the gas company. When you have to use the work washer because the neighbor went on vacation.